Gordon Brown’s Economic Record

Written by | Tuesday 27 April 2010

Gordon Brown has claimed his management of the economy is the main reason why his Government should be re-elected. In view of his responsibility for the recession and the wreckage of the public finances, this is a breathtaking claim. For Mr Brown to claim credit for managing the economy during the recession is rather like a driver responsible for a major road crash claiming credit for taking the survivors to hospital.

Wealth inequality and the Hills Report: a critical assessment

Written by | Monday 12 April 2010

Synopsis

The National Equality Panel recently released it inaugural report. Called the Hills Report after the panel’s chairman, it manages to specifically and directly ignore strictures offered by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) on how to measure the gender pay gap, overstates income inequality and wildly and grossly overstates wealth inequality. They have also ignored all of the things that we already do to try and narrow the wealth gap.

A timely way to dismantle the pensions pyramid

Written by | Friday 19 February 2010

An obvious choice, denied to voters

Imagine you were forced to pick between two options: Option one – you give me £10 today for me to safeguard for you, but there is a very high likelihood that tomorrow, when you wish to claim, I will default. Option two – you give me £5 today, and can invest your remaining £5 on your own, again with the assumption being that I will likely default tomorrow.

Robin Hood Tax: why 350 economists are utterly wrong

Written by | Monday 15 February 2010

The Tobin Tax, which is now dubbed the "Robin Hood Tax" in an attempt to increase its appeal, has attracted the support of "350 economists from across the world". They have written to G20 leaders calling on them to introduce a financial transactions tax on speculative dealings in foreign currencies, shares and other securities.

Royal Mail: Universal Failure

Written by | Monday 21 December 2009

Some months ago I was asked to comment on a BERR paper about “The Future of the Universal Postal Service in the UK". The first paragraph said “The Government is firmly committed to the universal postal service; the ability of 28 million homes and businesses across the country to receive mail six days a week, with the promise that one price goes everywhere".

The wide gaps in the pre-Budget report

Written by | Friday 11 December 2009

Alistair Darling’s pre-Budget report revealed several huge gaps. For a start, the gap between what the government takes in and what it puts out has widened to £178bn. The Chancellor’s optimistic forecasts for growth after next year are not shared by City experts, some of whom put the future gap as a further £70bn higher than Darling says he expects.