Public spending debate: the UK economy will be left behind if this continues

Public debate in Britain has very rapidly become dominated by an obsession with cutting state spending.  Not only has Cameron made the notion of swingeing cuts to reduce public debt his sole offer to the electorate, David Davis has now waded in with a list of bits of the public sector to chop. We should [...]

links for 2009-04-30

The ‘brain drain’ scare tactic should be ignored Paul Sagar at Liberal Conspiracy argues that the 50p tax brain drain scare probably won’t happen, and even if it does it probably won’t be that big, and even if it is it probably won’t make any difference, and even if it did we’d probably actually want [...]

50p tax rate and waste: a top earner tells the truth

There’s  a fantastic letter in the Financial Times today by Simon Hallett, who has bucked the trend of people likely to be affected by the new 50p tax rate for those on over £150,000 a year. Since the budget, the FT has been full of articles about how greedy rich people will feel the pain of punitive [...]

links for 2009-04-29

RIBAJOURNAL.COM – Vote for the RIBA Journal/Schüco Stirling of Stirlings The TUC's Congress House headquarters has been nominated for the ‘Stirling of Stirlings’ architecture prize – a prestigious one-off award being run by RIBA, the Royal Institute of British Architects. We’re shortlisted in the early modernism section covering 1934-1958. There is an on-line vote, and [...]

Directors savage higher rate tax: what would they have said to a minimum tax?

Alistair Darling has robustly defended the new 50 per cent tax rate to the Institute of Directors this morning. He didn’t get a very warm reception for this. I doubt whether he will be surprised. Their Director-General Miles Templeman has made the predictable criticisms that it will not yield very much and drive people out [...]

links for 2009-04-28

New cultures & the post-bureaucratic age Another contradiction in David Cameron's speech from Chris Dillow Scandanavian Social Democracy = Excellent Business Climate | Inclusionist It turns out that regulation doesn't destroy economies and that Denmark is best for business (tags: Employment law) Women take a back seat in David Cameron’s Tory party – Times Online [...]

50p Tax Rate: Is Byers right?

Stephen Byers has attacked the Government for introducing the 50p tax band for those earning over £150,000 as a “cynical, political” move that serves no wider economic or fiscal purpose. 

Where were the shareholders in the financial crisis?

In a useful and timely contribution to the financial crisis debate, PIRC – the Pensions Investment Research Consultants – has published a manifesto outlining its recommendations for reform of corporate governance and capital markets. PIRC recognises that alongside a catastrophic failure of financial regulation, the financial crisis represents a failure of corporate governance, and its [...]

links for 2009-04-27

The national roll-out of a money guidance service could not come at a more urgent time A little noticed progressive policy in the budget package

The politics of austerity

David Cameron’s proclamation that we are now in the age of austerity will please much of his grassroots. The small state right may be in a minority in the electorate, but they remain strong in the media and among those Conservative core voters who hanker for a return to Mrs Thatcher (though actually she spent [...]

Conservatives and public spending: it’s pretty weak stuff

I don’t deny that the Tories seem to be on to a political winner with their very tough line on public spending (it’s hard not to be when the country’s media has lined up behind you).  But a read of David Cameron’s much hyped “age of austerity” speech at the Conservative Spring Conference makes one [...]

Adaptation to climate change

Today over 200 trade unionists and green campaigners are gathering at Congress House for the TUC’s annual climate change conference.  They’ll be the first to get their hands on the new TUC publication Changing Work in a Changing Climate, which is the result of a major new piece of research into what adapting to climate [...]

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