Press Release: An extra charge on skilled workers would be a poison pill for UK businesses

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Head of Communications Kate Andrews: kate@adamsmith.org | 07584 778207. Commenting on the Migration Advisory Committee report, which has suggested an annual charge of £1,000 on skilled workers from outside the EU, Executive Director of the Adam Smith Institute Sam Bowman said:

This charge would be a poison pill for businesses. Good, skilled workers are crucial to the success of businesses, large and small. If British firms are to compete around the world they also need to be able to hire the best people from around the world.

Charging them £1,000 per year and raising the earnings threshold, as the Migration Advisory Committee is proposing, would cripple British firms’ ability to hire the staff they need. It is simply a fantasy to assume that we can train enough British workers to do all the skilled jobs that we need when we need them.

This would also mean much higher staffing costs for the NHS – 11% of all staff and 26% of doctors are non-British (though some of these are from the EU). It’s an anti-business, anti-British proposal and it underlines how wrong-headed the government’s overall immigration stance is.

Notes to Editors:

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.

Kate Andrews discusses Donald Trump on BBC Radio 4's The Long View

Kate Andrews, head of communications and research fellow at the Adam Smith Institute, was on BBC Radio 4's The Long View discussing Donald Trump and his bid to become the Republican party's nominee.

NB this is just a clip of the extended interview, for the full thing  please click here.

Ben Southwood discusses Oxfam's inequality statistics on Scotland Tonight

Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute, Ben Southwood, was on BBC 2 Scotland this morning discussing the misleading nature of Oxfam's global wealth inequality statistics.

Kate Andrews argues against the 'Ban Trump' petition on BBC World News

Research Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute Kate Andrews spoke to BBC World News about the problems with the 'Ban Trump' petition, arguing that it is wrong to restrict someone's travel based simply on their ideology, when there is no threat of criminal activity.

So what if 62 people are rich? Inequality is falling | Ben Southwood writes for City AM

Head of research at the ASI, Ben Southwood, has writen for City AM on the misleading nature of Oxfam's inequality statistics:

Each time they release the new number there is much wailing and gnashing of teeth, but their numbers are nonsense, and on top of that they tell the wrong story.

Firstly, adding up negative numbers gives some paradoxical results. For example, as far in debt as the most indebted person is (i.e. the poorest person by Oxfam’s measure) they are still richer than the next two billion people all put together, because all of those people have small negative net wealth.

Secondly, and more importantly, it cannot measure human capital. For most people, their most valuable assets are their talents and skills.

Read the full article here.

Ben Southwood's comments on Oxfam's inequality stats feature on the Spectator and BBC

Head of research at the ASI, Ben Southwood, has had his comments on Oxfam's inequality statistics featured in articles for the BBC and the Spectator. Ben argues that the statistics they publishes are deeply misleading. From the Spectator:

Ben Southwood from the Adam Smith Institute makes the following observation:

‘Oxfam is once again misleading everyone with its punchy wealth inequality stats.

‘By Oxfam’s measures, the poorest people in the world are recent Harvard graduates with student debt piles. The bottom 2bn don’t have zero wealth, but rather about $500bn of negative wealth.

Read the full Spectator piece here.

From the BBC:

The Adam Smith Institute's head of research Ben Southwood also said the data was "misleading".

"More meaningful measures show greater equality. Those in the middle and bottom of the world income distribution have all got pay rises of around 40% between 1988-2008. Global inequality of life expectancy and height are narrowing too—showing better nutrition and better healthcare where it matters most.

Read the full BBC article here.

Is France the sick man of Europe? | Sam Bowman argues NO in City AM

Executive director of the ASI, Sam Bowman, argued against France being the 'sick man of Europe' in City AM, although he pointed out that France still has significant downfalls with regards to the labour market:

France may not be the sickest man in Europe, but by any normal standard the country is in deep trouble. The reform package announced by Francois Hollande is better than nothing, but only just.

Read the full article here.

Senior fellow Tim Worstall discusses the steel industry on BBC 5 Live

Tim Worstall, a senior fellow at the ASI, was on BBC 5 Live discussing the decline of the UK steel industry, following Tata Steel's decision to cut another 1050 jobs this morning.

"The underlying problem is that we recycle much more iron and steel now than we used to, and this is a technological change that's been a century in the making. The plants that are having the big job losses are blast furnace sites. If you recycle more iron and steel, then you need fewer blast furnaces."

"We won't help anybody by saying no actually we're going to keep this blast furnace that we don't need anymore"

Listen to the full clip here (Starts 00:16:00)

Press Release: Oxfam's wealth inequality stats are deeply misleading

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

Commenting on Oxfam's latest inequality report (An Economy For the 1%), Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute, Ben Southwood, said:

Oxfam is once again misleading everyone with its punchy wealth inequality stats.

By Oxfam's measures, the poorest people in the world are recent Harvard graduates with student debt piles. The bottom 2bn don't have zero wealth, but rather about $500bn of negative wealth. The poorest person in the world is richer than the next 30% put together. Having negative wealth may actually be a sign of prosperity, since only people with prospects can secure loans.

But there is a bigger issue with the narrative: more meaningful measures show greater equality. Those in the middle and bottom of the world income distribution have all got pay rises of around 40% between 1988-2008. Global inequality of life expectancy and height are narrowing too—showing better nutrition and better healthcare where it matters most.

What we should care about is the welfare of the poor, not the wealth of the rich."

Notes to Editors:

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.

Kate Andrews debates whether Donald Trump is presidential material for Sky News

Kate Andrews, head of communications and research fellow at the ASI, took part in a debate on Sky News over the issue of Donald Trump's presidential campaign. Kate argues Trump's policies and public image make for him to be an unsuitable president.