Super-SMEs are Britain’s growth dynamo - Director of TEN writes for CityAM

Director of The Entrepreneur's Network, Philip Salter, wrote an op-ed for CityAM explaining how high growth small businesses are the driving force behind recent growth in the economy.

A NEW report from Octopus Investments and the Centre for Economics and Business Research reveals that high growth small businesses (HGSBs) are the driving force behind recent growth in the economy and employment.

The High Growth Small Business Report shows that HGSBs – firms with an annual turnover of between £1m and £20m, growing at more than 20 per cent over three years – generated 36.4 per cent of economic growth in 2013, as well as 68 per cent of all new jobs between 2012 and 2013. This is despite comprising of just 30,000 businesses.

London is leading the charge. In 2013, 139,703 jobs were created by HGSBs, more than any other region. And this great city boasts the highest absolute number of HGSBs, with almost one in 25 workers in the capital employed by one of these fast growing companies. In contrast, just one in 80 workers in Wales work for HGSBs.

Read the full article here.

Dr Eamonn Butler discusses the future of local councils on BBC radio Nottingham

Director of the Adam Smith Institute, Dr Eamonn Butler, spoke to BBC radio Nottingham about the future of councils and public services in the UK. Listen to the full interview here. (Starts at 01:12:34)

Sam Bowman's comments on CReAM's immigration report feature in The Sun Online

Research Director of the Adam Smith Institute, Sam Bowman, was quoted by The Sun Online on his comments regarding UCL’s Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration's new immigration report: 

The mammoth academic report claimed EU migrants had benefited Britain to the tune of £20billion between 2000 and 2011. It buried the revelation that non-EU migrants had cost the public purse £120billion since 1995. The Adam Smith Institute said the report proved the decision to open up our borders to Eastern Europe was “one of the best things the last Labour government did".

Read the full article here.

The immigration debate has been poisoned – Sam Bowman writes for CityAM

Research Director of the Adam Smith Institute, Sam Bowman, wrote an op-ed for CityAM, criticising the way in which facts and figures are manipulated in the immigration debate for political purposes.

This weekend, people across Europe will commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. They will celebrate the end of communism in Europe, the liberation of millions from totalitarianism, and the opening up of a continent to free movement between nations.

In Britain, however, the politics of migration has become grubbier. Everybody is now obsessed with immigration – that is, how to cut it. Where once we welcomed Polish pilots who had fought bravely in the Battle of Britain, now we fear that Polish benefit tourists will drain our tax coffers.

Read the full article here.

Kate Andrews discusses the US midterm elections on Sky News

The Adam Smith Institute's Communications Manager, Kate Andrews, appeared on Sky News to discuss the US midterm elections and campaign financing.

Press Release: New report proves that immigration is vital to the wealth of the nation

Commenting on the UCL's Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration's new report "Fiscal Effects of Immigration to the UK", Research Director of the Adam Smith Institute, Sam Bowman, said:

This report shows that immigration from the European Union (and other EEA countries) is extremely good for the UK. Since EEA immigrants pay more in tax than they use in services, they are not a burden on the welfare state – in fact they are helping to prop it up. Opening the UK up to Eastern European immigration was one of the best things the last Labour government did. Restricting EU immigration now would mean higher taxes for Britons and is a very bad idea.

Immigrants’ fiscal contribution is only a small part of the story, though. By bringing new skills to the UK and allowing for a deeper division of labour, immigration boosts Britons’ productivity and wages. And the evidence shows that immigrants are more entrepreneurial on average, so they create jobs by setting up new businesses.

On the other hand, non-EEA immigrants were a large net cost to the Exchequer over the 1995-2011 period studied. This is partially because non-EEA immigrants tend to have more children on average than EEA immigrants and partially because the data includes immigrants who had at this point retired. In both cases the immigrants’ lifetime net cost is likely to be much lower than the data suggest. However, to increase non-EEA immigrants’ fiscal contribution we should make it much easier for skilled workers to immigrate to the UK. That would help the British economy by allowing British firms to hire the best talent available, and help to subsidise the welfare state by importing the best taxpayers the world has to offer.

Notes to editors:

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Kate Andrews, Communications Manager, at kate@adamsmith.org / 07584 778207.

The Adam Smith Institute is an independent libertarian think tank based in London. It advocates classically liberal public policies to create a richer, freer world.

Charlotte Bowyer highlights the failures of UK drug laws on Sky News

The Adam Smith Institute's Head of Digital Policy, Charlotte Bowyer, argues that UK drug laws have failed and that decriminalisation and legalisation policies need to be considered on Sky News.

Ben Southwood exposes the myths around Equal Pay Day on BBC radio Newcastle

Head of Policy at the Adam Smith Institute, Ben Southwood, speaks to BBC radio Newcastle about the faulty statistics that fuel Equal Pay Day. Listen to the interview here. (Starts 01:55:05)

UK drug policy is decades out of date – Charlotte Bowyer writes for CityAM

Head of Digital Policy for the Adam Smith Institute, Charlotte Bowyer, explains how UK drug policy has failed in CityAM.

After months of delays and political squabbles, the Home Office yesterday released its survey of international approaches to drug control. Examining the policies of 13 countries around the world, it failed to find “any obvious relationship between the toughness of a country’s enforcement against drug possession, and levels of drug use in that country”.

The report’s conclusions are at odds with 40 years of government policy, which centres upon the belief that harsh criminal penalties deter the (mis)use of drugs. It must have made for uncomfortable reading.

Read the full article here.

Inequality Is Not the Fed’s Priority - ASI Senior Fellow writes for the New York Times

Senior Fellow of the Adam Smith Institute, Tim Worstall, contributes to the Room for Debate, NYTimes Opinion Pages.

There's very little in the monetary toolbox of a central banker that can affect inequality. True, quantitative easing and low interest rates are great for those who own assets, as they can soar in value. But the Fed is doing that to try to stop the economy from worsening, which would be bad for rich and poor alike. The impact on inequality is a very second, even third, order effect. Other than that, there's not really a great deal that the Fed can do about it.

Read the full article here.