The future of the welfare state is now firmly at the centre of public debate. Its seeming inability to conquer poverty,despite an annual budget of £100 billion, provokes many to question whether a system designed in the 1940's is up to the challenges of today. The Adam Smith Institute argues that we need a completely different approach - replacing our collectivized state pensions and national insurance scheme with a system of personal lifetime fortune accounts, competitively provided.
Bailouts of banks are to blame for the huge budget deficits of Western nations, says Vuk Vukovic.
Read more... Dr Eamonn Butler investigates the productivity report which argues the productivity in Britain is 20 % that of France of Germany. He points out what he feels the reason for this may be and looks to the poor education system and the increasing public sector as major issues.
A complete guide through the theory, strategy, and record of rolling back the state in the UK - privatization, internal markets in health education, making executive agencies more independent, and the Citizen's Charter.
As Britain prepares to re-negotiate its position in the European Union, with the possibility of a full withdrawal if negotiations are unsuccessful, we outline some of the key points for negotiators to focus on. Paradoxically, the UK might well end up with a better deal if it is willing to contemplate life ‘out’, as EU negotiators are likely to stick to their guns if the UK is determined to stay ‘in’.
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".
A new Adam Smith Institute briefing paper based on a YouGov poll commissioned by the Institute reveals that large majorities of the British public reject many aspects of the nanny state and prefer to make their own decisions.
The government's vision of 'Broadband Britain' will never be achieved without fundamental reform in telecoms regulation. The report Broadband Britain: Finding a Way Forward says that broadband could become a major driver of wealth creation within ten years, improving education and business performance. Britain lags behind, 21st out of the richest 30th countries in terms of broadband penetration. The institutes points to the need for a more aggressive regulatory regime that will deliver a level playing field for profitability in telecommunications. Opportunities created by this will give BT and its shareholders the option to review the break up of the service into two parts. One for services (Servco) and another for network infrastructure (Netco).
The US Department of Justice's lawsuit against Standard and Poor's is misguided, says our legal writer Lawsmith. It was the market's confidence in the ratings agencies that was at fault, not the agencies themselves.
Read more... The American bank robber, Willie Sutton, was asked why he persisted in robbing banks.
"That's where the money is," was his rather puzzled reply.
And why do our museums spend so much time dogging the heels of
politicians? Because in their world, government is where the money is.
After all, if you can't charge people to come in, then visitors become
no more than a necessary nuisance, wearing out the carpets and
fingering the exhibits.
The Adam Smith Institute is the UK’s leading libertarian think tank...
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