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The Adam Smith Institute
The Adam Smith Institute is the UK's leading innovator of free-market policies. Named after the great Scottish economist and author of The Wealth of Nations, its guiding principles are free markets and a free society. It researches practical ways to inject choice and competition into public services, extend personal freedom, reduce taxes, prune back regulation, and cut government waste.
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UK spending outstrips OECD
By Dr Eamonn Butler
 You might think the UK government report Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis sounds pretty boring, but ex-CBI economist Douglas McWilliams has uncovered a few interesting items in a report for his Centre for Economic and Business Research [subscription only, unfortunately]. McWilliams shows that public expenditure has reached 52% of GDP in Scotland, which sounds high enough - but it is now a staggering 59% of GDP in Wales and the North East. He also shows that the growth of public expenditure as a percentage of GDP has grown faster in Britain (at 4.2%) than in any of the 27 OECD countries - 17 of whom actually reduced their spending figure over that period. Although the Treasury glibly calls this 'investment,' it is, in fact, spending. At some stage someone has to pay for all of this. No prizes for guessing who that will be. Feedback
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Adam Smith Institute Tel +44 (0)20 7222 4995  Adam Smith (1723-1790)
Adam Smith was the great Scottish philosopher and economist best known for "The Wealth of Nations", his pioneering book on free trade and market economics.
A wide selection of material about Adam Smith is now available on the Adam Smith website. This includes the full text of his two major works, The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations. |