The Adam Smith institute has told the civil aviation society that Uk airports are over regulated and under-competitive. A report by former airport director David Stanley says that the CAA should focus on safety regulation, that Uk airports should be opened up to more competition, and the economic regulation of airports should be passed to a new, independant regulator. Mr Stanley is an airport Professional who has successfully completed 130 airport commissions in 26 countries over the last 12 years. Full details can be accessed at: www.stanleyassociates.co.uk.
5 per cent of doctors are estimated to be making the wrong decisions - that amounts to 5,000 doctors with 100,000 patients. There is a need for improved regulation of the medical profession with the emphasis centred on the patient. Currently the public is untrusting of the medical profession, This briefing paper sets out guidelines for a new shape to regulation.
Synopsis: Radical changes to housing benefit are required in order to stem the £840 millon of tax payer's money lost annually to fraud and error, and to make the housing market fairer and more responsive to the needs of tenants. Housing benefit should be taken out of the hands of local authorities, and instead paid out by social security offices along with income support. Today's very complicated payment rates, which depend on the tenant's rent level, family circumtances,and the type of property occupied; would be replaced by a uniform benefit for all low paid people. The report's author, housing expert Dr Peter King of DeMontford university in Leicester, says that prehaps £350 million in adminastrative cost and payment errors could be saved by there simplifications alone.
With Party Political funding hitting the headlines (again), suggestions have been made for the State to contribute to campaign costs. Such calls are misguided. Confidence in the UK's political system can be restored through the provision of information about funds, rather than through costly, bureaucratic measures paid for by the unwilling taxpayer. This paper urged the Neill Committee to reject all forms of State subsidy and to avoid premature answers to an important question.
Britain in 50 years time still be independent, still a monarchy, and still close to America, but will no longer be influential, and may no longer make waves in science, technology, art or culture. These are among the findings of the new survey conducted by MORI for the Adam Smith Institute. It presents a detailed picture of how the British public see the unfolding century. The report covers issues such as progress, living standards and the welfare state. The young are noticeably different from their elders. They are more optimistic.
Amongst the events that predictably lead to demands for government action are business failures and corporate scandals. Demands for government action to improve corporate governance are, however, based on a dual mistake. They wrongly presuppose that the problems have been caused by a lack of sufficient regulation, and they erroneously assume that government regulation can make things better.
1. The current consensus
Who, what, and why?
A recent note from the House of Commons Library suggests that there is really no argument about the need for affordable housing. It states: "The provision of affordable housing is viewed as a fundamental component of sustainable development."
In her first 2,000 days Margaret Thatcher changed the world. She privatized state industries, lowered taxes, deregulated the economy, and tamed the unions. The miners were conquered at home, the Falklands liberated abroad. By late 1984, after decades of decline, Britain was back and booming.
Cambridgeshire proposes to convert the 23-km disused St. Ives to Cambridge rail line to a "guided busway", open only to specially-equipped buses.
Road space is an asset like any other. Users should be charged for using it, at the point of consumption. That means a system of road congestion pricing, rather than the mixture of vehicle and fuel taxes that we have at present.
The Adam Smith Institute is the UK’s leading libertarian think tank...
