Dr Eamonn Butler investigates whether recycling certain materials is actually worth the effort. If one looks in closer detail of how these materials are actually created, they may be just as, if not more harmful, to the environment than the materials we have substituted.
According to Anthony Seldon, head of Wellington College, Berkshire, fee-paying private schools have a “moral duty” to help run failing government schools in deprived areas. However, says James Stanfield, private schools are right to question the wisdom of this approach.
"To offer people the chance to work and contribute their bit to the community must be better than trapping them in a depressing state of enforced idleness that leaves them less and less able to get back to work." So wrote Ralph Howell in 1991. Following on from Why Unemployment, he argues for radical changes to the welfare system so people can get back to work.
MigrationWatch says that immigration causes youth unemployment. In this article, Henry Oliver looks at the facts behind the headlines.
Read more...
Dr Madsen Pirie's speech in opposition to the motion: "Karl Marx was right. Capitalism post-2008 is falling apart under Its own contradictions."
"Like many public figures who leave a legacy, either in their writings or their deeds, Karl Marx was sometimes right and sometimes wrong. I concentrate on some of the things about which he was wrong."
Read more... This briefing calls on the next government to pass an Economic Responsibility Act, which would place legally binding restraints on government’s fiscal policies. Specifically, it would: (1) cap government spending at one-third of GDP; (2) cap the budget deficit at 3% of GDP; (3) cap the national debt at 40% of GDP; (4) require that off-balance-sheet obligations were fully calculated and openly stated; and (5) allow government to borrow only to invest in capital projects, not to fund current expenditure. This briefing also recommends that new rules be introduced to limit government’s ability to raise taxes.
This briefing, published in advance of the Chancellor's 2008 pre-budget report, calls for the personal income tax allowance to be raised from £6,035 to £12,000 for all UK taxpayers. This would take 7 million people out of paying income tax altogether, and ensure no one earning the minimum wage or less would pay income tax at all. It would be equivalent to giving the average worker an extra £1730 per year in gross pay, making them £100 per month better off. This policy could be implemented at a cost of £18.9bn to the Exchequer – a sum which should not require increased government borrowing.
Archeology has suffered from an increase of state intervention and subsidies since 1973. Moves away from the traditional treasure trove solution to wipe out looting will only serve to promote it. The answer is to 'amateurize' archeology and resist all temptations to nationalise Britain's heritage. The report advocates 'Independence Impact Statements' before government funds are channeled into projects from archeological digs to operatic productions. It offers solid proposals for a more cost-effective and consumer friendly Arts, Heritage and Culture policy.
We should privatize the past. We should take control of the nation's cultural treasures out of the hands of bureaucratic 'professionals' and give it to enthusiastic independents. That is the view of Andrew Selkirk in his Adam Smith Institute book, Who Owns the Past?
The Adam Smith Institute is the UK’s leading libertarian think tank...
