In this article, Dr Eamonn Butler argues that the UK is facing another financial crisis as early as 2019. He claims the next crisis will be caused by us promising ourselves state healthcare, pensions, and other benefits that our taxpaying children won't be able to afford to pay off.
In this extract from his new book, Chasing Rainbows, Tim Worstall fires a broadside against the environmentalist lobby and argues that the conventional 'solutions' to climate change don't even meet the environmentalists' own standards and defy their own advice. The book takes on the global warming alarmists on their own terms by accepting the IPPC’s science and using logic and economics to argue that the ends that environmentalists want is best achieved through more globalization and freer markets, not government interventions like cap-and-trade.
Jon Moulton is a top businessman and insolvency expert. In this think piece, adapted from a speech to the Economic Research Council, he argues that the government's current policies amount to a deferral of pain onto the next generation through borrowing and artificially-low interest rates. This will ultimately lead to much worse pain in the long run.
Can countries leave the eurozone? Yes, says Gabriel Stein, but with some difficulty. In this article, the Director of Lombard Street Research outlines the challenges and mechanics of leaving the Economic and Monetary Union of the EU. It wouldn't be easy, but it might be some eurozone countries' only hope of economic recovery.
No country has suffered more because of the euro than Ireland. In this think piece, David Howden argues that Ireland and Iceland offer contrasting paths from financial collapse, with Iceland on the road to recovery and Ireland on the road to nowhere. If Ireland wants to change course, it's time for it to say goodbye to the euro.
Most supporters of the free market agree that high taxes are harmful to overall living standards and economic activity. But it is often less than clear why this is, even to opponents of taxation. In this think piece, Terry Arthur uses insights from the Austrian school to demonstrate clearly why it is that taxes are so bad, and that anybody who believes in free trade between countries cannot but follow that through to also believe in free trade within countries through lower taxes.
Ahead of the VAT rise to 20% in January 2011, Tom Clougherty wrote this article arguing that the hike is a regrettable step in the wrong direction. It will dent consumer confidence and undermine economic growth.
In this article, Dr Eamonn Butler warns that the UK needs to get a grip on its welfare spending if it wants to avoid fiscal crisis. His exploration of our debt problem and possible solutions follows the release of Miles Saltiel's report for the ASI "On Borrowed Time".
Who is to blame for the Irish crisis? The question goes to the heart of Ireland's current situation and offers guidance to policymakers in Britain who wish to avoid a similar fate. David Howden argues that the blame lies both with the European Central Bank, which created perverse incentives for investment through low interest rates, and with the Irish investors who reacted to those incentives.
In this think piece Ruth Lea, Economic Advisor to the Arbuthnot Banking Group and Senior Fellow of the Adam Smith Institute, discusses what 2011 holds for the British and global economies. There is some room for optimism, she says, but overall the near future isn't bright.
The Adam Smith Institute is the UK’s leading libertarian think tank...
