There’s a silver lining to Britain’s certain Juncker defeat June 26, 2014 THINGS aren’t looking too rosy for David Cameron in the EU – or at least for the short term. He is heading towards defeat at today’s European Council Summit, as it looks almost certain that EU leaders will elect the former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker as the president of the European Commission. The series [...]
Are the Bank of England’s planned mortgage lending restrictions likely to prove ineffective? June 26, 2014 Shehan Mohamed, senior economist at the CEBR, says Yes. Mark Carney’s new measures are unlikely to have an impact. Lenders are already operating within the proposed cap on the number of new high loan-to-income mortgages, and most are already undertaking stress tests on a possible rate rise. The macroprudential tools seek to provide tighter lending [...]
Letters to the Editor – 26/06 – Making work pay, Choose Gatwick, Best of Twitter June 25, 2014 Making work pay [Re: Significantly extending the Living Wage is not the best way to help the poorest, yesterday] As the cost and complexity of hiring low-paid workers continues to rise, so does the grey market for labour. We need to accept that there is a limit to what the government can do to solve [...]
We need a futuristic vision of genuine capitalism to halt the expanding state June 25, 2014 CAPITALISM is under attack and its defenders need to fight back. Most defences of capitalism begin and end with economic efficiency, and for good reason. The case is overwhelming. Last week, I moved onto the moral case, which is equally compelling. This week, I want to set out the third pillar of the defence, namely [...]
What Keynes can teach us about England’s World Cup failure June 25, 2014 SO FAREWELL, then, England! Yet another failure by our boys at the highest levels of football. Despite their stupendous salaries, our players were once again unable to exhibit the necessary skills, a point which seems to exercise many fans of the game. Tens of thousands, if not millions, of words have been written about the [...]
How the Office for Budget Responsibility could decide Britain’s next government June 25, 2014 THIS summer, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) will review its estimates of the supply-side potential of the economy. Not exactly something that will have the tabloid headline writers holding their breath. But the implications of this largely technocratic exercise could be significant in the context of next year’s general election. The coalition staked its [...]
Has David Cameron been damaged politically by the conviction of Andy Coulson? June 25, 2014 Ben Harris-Quinney, director of Conservative Grassroots, says Yes. The phone hacking saga is still unfolding, but it is unlikely that the verdict on David Cameron’s hiring of former News of the World editor Andy Coulson as director of communications at Number 10 will change. The whole episode puts a question mark over the Prime [...]
Letters to the Editor – 25/06 – Mansion taxes, Best of Twitter June 24, 2014 Mansion taxes [Re: Balls unveils mansion tax and promises to hit the rich hardest, yesterday] While I agree that the purchaser of the £140m flat in Westminster ought to pay more tax than the inhabitants of an average-value property in the area, I disagree with the arguments put forth by Ed Balls regarding his mansion [...]
Bretton Woods: How stable monetary order was created and then destroyed June 24, 2014 NEXT month, financial history enthusiasts will commemorate the seventieth anniversary of the Bretton Woods Agreement. In the 1940s, Bretton Woods was a somewhat faded New Hampshire resort town, but it is now forever associated with the three-week conference held there between 1 and 22 July 1944. The conference’s purpose was to set out a new [...]
Why significantly extending the Living Wage is not the best way to help the poorest June 24, 2014 JOHN Sentamu, the charismatic archbishop of York, has again thrown his weight behind the recommendations of the Living Wage Commission he chairs. Not to be confused with the government’s Low Pay Commission, which recommends the statutory minimum wage, the Living Wage Commission is a private pressure group funded by trade unions and faith organisations. Its [...]