Ahead of the Budget, Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute Sam Bowman appeared as a guest BBC Radio 4's Today programme to discuss tax reforms and the ASI's Budget 2015 wishlist.
Sam Bowman's comments on the rise in minimum wage for apprentices features in CityAM
Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute Sam Bowman was quoted in City AM on the minimum wage rise for apprenticeships.
And Sam Bowman from the Adam Smith Institute said it could do long- term harm to would-be apprentices. “Raising the minimum wage usually hurts people’s job prospects because it makes them costlier to employ,” he said. “The apprentice National Minimum Wage is very low to reflect that training apprentices is costly to employers.”
Ahead of the Budget, Sam Bowman discusses changes to annuities on Sky News
Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute Sam Bowman spoke to Sky News about Osborne's plan to allow pensioners to cash in existing annuities on Sky News.
Sam Bowman defends zero-hours contracts on BBC Look North
Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute Sam Bowman highlighted the benefits zero-hours contracts for workers who need flexibility on BBC Look North.
Kate Andrews comments on YouGov's nationalism poll in CityAM
Head of Communications at the Adam Smith Institute Kate Andrews was quoted in City AM on YouGov's recent nationalisation poll.
Head of Communications at the free market Adam Smith Institute, Kate Andrews, told City A.M.:YouGov's poll question was rooted in fantasy: it's easy to choose ideology over pragmatism when you're guaranteed a high standard of service in either case. But the public and private sector do not offer the same standards of service.
Railways, utilities, and many of the other services polled by YouGov have proven to be more expensive and less efficient when run by the state. As long as policy is determined by ideological biases towards providers, consumers will continue to get the short end of the stick.
Press Release: Labour's energy policy misconceived and irresponsible
For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Head of Communications Kate Andrews: kate@adamsmith.org | 07584 778207 Commenting on Ed Miliband's upcoming announcement on energy policy, Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute Sam Bowman said:
The recent collapse in wholesale oil prices and the resulting fall in retail energy prices has highlighted Labour's price freeze policy as misconceived and irresponsible. Energy companies raised prices when Labour first announced this policy and it is possible that prices would be falling more quickly now if these firms did not have to safeguard against a price freeze under a Labour government.
According to Ofgem, 46% of the cost of a dual fuel bill is wholesale costs, which British energy firms have no control over at all. Network costs, operating costs and taxes account for almost all the rest of energy bills, with only 5% going to energy firms as profit.
Fixing a price that is almost entirely driven by shifts in the global market is stupid and counterproductive and is likely only to hurt consumers through brownouts and higher prices in the long term.
The Adam Smith Institute is an independent free market think tank based in London. It advocates classically liberal public policies to create a richer, freer world.
Kate Andrews calls for further deficit reduction on Channel 4 News
Head of Communications at the Adam Smith Institute, Kate Andrews, spoke to Channel 4 News about how the UK's financial priority should be to cut the deficit. Starts 2:58
Author of ASI paper "The Green Noose" argues for rolling back the Green Belt on BBC Radio 4
Senior Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute and author of “The Green Noose: An analysis of Green Belts and proposals for reform”, Tom Papworth, spoke to BBC Radio 4 about the benefits of rolling back the green belt to make room for the millions of homes needed to solve London's housing crisis. Listen to the interview here. (Starts 05:52)
The ASI report, The Green Noose: An analysis of Green Belts and proposals for reform, looks at the Green Belt’s impact on England’s housing shortage. After a comprehensive review of the causes of the housing crisis, it concludes that the planning structure is out of date and in need of radical reform.
Press Release: Plain packaging vote marks illiberal new extension of nanny state
For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Kate Andrews, Head of Communications, at kate@adamsmith.org / 07584 778207. Commenting on today's vote in favour of plain packaging in the House of Commons, Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute Sam Bowman said:
Today's vote marks an illiberal new extension of the nanny state.
Plain packaging infringes on people’s freedom of expression, curbing the rights of adults to advertise and be advertised to. It seems likely that things like alcohol and fatty foods will be next, and plain packaging is probably a step towards a complete ban on smoking in public.
Even the public health lobby must admit that freedom of expression should only be curbed in extreme circumstances, but plain packaging does not work on its own terms. After its introduction in Australia, household expenditures on tobacco rose, and illicit tobacco seizures rose by 60 percent. The tobacco industry opposes plain packaging because it shifts smokers to cheaper brands, not because it deters them from smoking overall.
The public health lobby simply does not care about people’s freedom to smoke or drink or eat fatty foods. Freedom of expression is being thrown under the bus in the name of ‘public health’. Anyone who values their personal freedoms, whether they are smokers or not, should oppose plain packaging.
The Adam Smith Institute is an independent free market think tank based in London. It advocates classically liberal public policies to create a richer, freer world.
Dr Eamonn Butler highlights the inefficiencies and expenses of 'Buying British" on BBC Radio Sheffield
Director of the Adam Smith Institute, Dr Eamonn Butler, spoke to BBC Radio Sheffield about the benefits of a global economy, which enable consumers to buy cheaper, better products from specialised vendors throughout the world. He argued that too much emphasis is put on 'Buying British', when often it is more expensive and less efficient to do so. Listen to the full interview here. (Starts 01:24:10)