Canada's government is proposing to raise corporation tax rates. Some simple, but crucial, lessons from economics and history tell us why this is a bad idea.
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London as a case study for a spontaneously planned future.
The Town and Country Planning Act has failed. Restrictions on development, the Green Belt and the nationalized planning permission system have all helped to create a national housing crisis. In this report, an advance paper from the forthcoming Adam Smith Institute book A Manifesto for London, Tom Papworth argues for a radical reform of the British planning system, replacing it with a local, contractual and pluralist system to allow development whilst conserving areas of natural beauty and national heritage.
The government is considering the introduction of a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR). In this article, writer and retired actuary Terry Arthur considers the case for this measure. He argues that the GAAR would hurt living standards and its advocates fundamentally misunderstand the nature of taxation.
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‘Keynes Hayek: The clash that defined modern economics’ is a commendable effort to bring economic thought to the attention of the general reading public, says Mikko I Arevuo. Its publication is also well timed, but readers should not expect any great insight into how Keynesian or Hayekian economics could be applied in today’s economic situation.
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What is the true aim of taxes on alcohol, tobacco, fatty foods, and other "vices"? Are smokers, drinkers and fat people burdens on society who should be discouraged from enjoying their habits by taxation? Do these "sin taxes" actually work? In The Wages of Sin Taxes, Chris Snowdon tackles these questions and shows that sin taxes do not achieve their stated aim, offer no tangible benefit to society, and hit the poorest hardest.
In recent years, believers in a small state have largely failed to convert good intellectual arguments against interventionism into concrete political achievements. Whig argues for a change of gears by liberals, away from politics and towards a focus on single-issue group campaigning.
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The New Economics Foundation's Happy Planet Index ranks Costa Rica (1st), Vietnam (2nd), Bangladesh (11th) and Iraq (18th) among the world's most "sustainable" places to live. Chris Snowdon asks: Are these people for real?
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We need a real market for corporate control, argues Elaine Sternberg. Private firms may have good reason to pay their executives highly, and shareholder sovereignty should be protected. The most important thing the government can do is to remove state restictions on shareholder power — and stop meddling in how private companies are run.
Should "consumerism" be a term of abuse? No, argues our blogger Whig — it is exactly what we should be striving for.
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Jersey Finance's Jeff Cook discusses the role of tax havens in the economy and defends Jersey's status.
Read more...The Adam Smith Institute is the UK’s leading libertarian think tank...
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