Sunday trading restrictions are arbitrary, harmful to employees and unfair to consumers | Kate Andrews writes for Conservative Home

Head of Communications at the Adam Smith Institute, Kate Andrews, wrote an article for Conservative Home discussing the drawbacks of Sunday trading restrictions.

The rules around Sunday trading hours look archaic compared to Britain’s relatively progressive attitude towards the private and social lives of its citizens. The tight restrictions on large businesses hold workers back from having more flexible and well-compensated hours, and they keep families on strict shopping schedules, putting pressure on their daily plans and their bank accounts.

Read the full article here. 

ASI comments on tax credit cuts feature in The Daily Mirror and The Times

The Adam Smith Institute's blast against tax credit cuts has featured in The Daily Mirror and the The Times: From The Daily Mirror:

Even the right-wing Adam Smith institute came out against Osborne's cuts today.

Sam Bowman, the free market think tank's deputy director, said: "Working tax credits are the best form of welfare we have, and cutting them would be a huge mistake. The government has long claimed to want to make work pay for everyone, but cutting tax credits would disincentivise work and hurt those at the bottom of society."

Read the full article here.

From The Times:

Adding to pressure from the right, the Adam Smith Institute and Institute of Economic Affairs both warned that cutting the credits in April would undermine incentives to work.

Read the full article here.

ASI comments on tax credits feature in the Mail Online and the Yorkshire Post

The Adam Smith Institute's blast against tax credit cuts has featured in the Mail Online and the Yorkshire Post: From the Mail Online

From the Yorkshire Post

ASI comments on tax credit cuts were featured by the Press Association

The Adam Smith Institute's blast against tax credit cuts were picked up by the Press Association and featured in over 100 local papers.

Adding to pressure from the right, the Adam Smith Institute and Institute of Economic Affairs both warned that cutting the credits in April would undermine incentives to work.

Press Release: Reverse proposed tax credit cuts now, says Adam Smith Institute

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Head of Communications Kate Andrews: kate@adamsmith.org | 07584 778207. Commenting on the tax credit debate taking place in Parliament, Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute Sam Bowman said:

Working tax credits are the best form of welfare we have, and cutting them would be a huge mistake. The government has long claimed to want to make work pay for everyone, but cutting tax credits would disincentivise work and hurt those at the bottom of society.

Contrary to the government’s claims, the National Living Wage will do little to help those affected by these cuts and, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, it risks adding insult to injury by pricing tens of thousands of workers out of the labour market altogether.

There is little evidence that tax credits ‘subsidise’ employers, except to the extent that they make more people willing to work in the first place, creating a larger pool of workers. The politics of this looks dangerous, too: when it’s working families at the bottom of the income distribution that are being hit hardest, it’s hard to say that we are ‘all in this together’. We urge the Chancellor to rethink these cuts and find savings elsewhere instead.

Notes to Editors:

ASI publication Abolish the Poor finds that tax credits are not a subsidy to employers and offers evidence that they may induce employers to offer higher wages.

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

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

Sam Bowman discusses TTIP on BBC 5 Live

Deputy Director of the ASI, Sam Bowman, took part in a debate for BBC 5 Live on the merits of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). He argues the benefits of TTIP will outweigh any potential costs, for example an increase in UK GDP and job creation.

The gains to the EU, if we got a really successful agreement, are about 120 billion pounds every year. The gains to British families are about 400 pounds every year.

Listen to the full interview here. (Starts 02:47:24)

The Democrats’ pot shots are unlikely to win over American voters | Kate Andrews writes for City AM

Kate Andrews, Head of Communications at the Adam Smith Institute, wrote an article for City AM on the first Democratic debate of 2015. She particularly highlights the profound lack of any economic discussion in the debate.

According to Gallup, 86 per cent of Americans say the economy will be “extremely or very important to their vote next year”, and with no proposal laid out on Tuesday night for how such projects will be financed, it’s hard to believe the Democrats’ magic money-tree pitches will be met with enthusiasm by anyone other than the party’s far-left base.

Read the full article here.

Is Labour right to abandon support for Osborne’s fiscal charter? | Ben Southwood argues NO in City AM

Head of Research, Ben Southwood, featured in City AM for his critique of John McDonnell's decision to withdraw his support for the fiscal charter.

Signing up to the chancellor’s charter made it look non-partisan. Backing down now looks indecisive, incompetent, and has drawn heavy criticism from his own side.

Read the full article here. 

Kate Andrews critiques modern feminism on Sky News

Kate Andrews, Head of Communications at the Adam Smith Institute, took part in a debate on modern feminism on Sky News, critiquing the divisive nature of the movement.

Feminism like any other ism, like Marxism or Liberalism, has to be taken as a political movement, so it isn't the case that if you believe in equality between men and women you're automatically a feminist. You have to look at their policies and who their leaders are, and at the moment I think its one of the most divisive and exclusionary groups out there.

Ben Southwood on BBC Radio Oxford discussing gender wage gaps

Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute, Ben Southwood, discusses gender pay gaps and discrimination against women for top jobs on BBC Radio Oxford. He argues that although discrepancies exist, they are usually for legitimate reasons.

Women get approved for applications for top academic roles at a higher rate than men, its just that far fewer women apply.

Listen to the full interview here. (starts 1:25:15)