Recovery? Duncan uses LabourList to warn the government not to overdo the talk of recovery. More expecting economy to improve than any point since 1997 MORI find “For the first time since the turn of the millennium, those who think the economy will get better over the next 12 months now outnumber those who think [...]

Filed under: Web links | Comments Off

A new survey from Pricewaterhouse Coopers  suggests that there is to be a further round of pension scheme closures. This is what I have said about this today: “Companies are using the recession as an excuse to make savage cuts in pensions. But recessions are short term, and pensions are long term investments that can [...]

Filed under: Pensions | Comments Off

There has been understandable and predictable outrage at the size of Stephen Hester’s pay packet at the Royal Bank of Scotland. But, while I share the anger, it is not entirely a straightforward issue. The government can at least claim that he will only get top whack if he helps the tax-payer make a profit of [...]

Filed under: Corporate governance, Financial crisis, Recession | Comments Off

Read the TUC Recession Report for June 2009 Today we have published a special edition of our Recession Report. As well as the regular analysis of the most recent unemployment data, we have considered how this recession compares to those of the 1980s and 1990s. The news is not great. In contrast to some commentators, [...]

Filed under: Recession, Recession Report | 2 Comments »

Swiss offer millionaires a haven away from the poor | World news | The … This is almost funny. The Swiss canton of Obwalden is broke because it's a tax haven. So it's ruining its natural beauty by selling it off to the super-rich. They then won't pay any tax because it's a tax-haven, so [...]

Filed under: Web links | Comments Off

Preferences in politics What role should expressed preferences play in politics? Two apparently separate things raise this issue.First, Danny Finkelstein The ‘Final Third’ levy: public or private asset? Calvin has more to say on paying for universal broadband and Nigel has commented in reply.

Filed under: Web links | Comments Off

Yesterday the government launched the UK Climate Projections, a major set of new scientific data that sets out how the UK’s climate is likely to change over the coming years. The headline messages of the projections are stark, showing a future of heatwaves, floods and storms.  They add yet more urgency to the need for governments to [...]

Filed under: Environment, Safety | Comments Off

One way to save billions Richard Murphy helps take a PFI contract to pieces

Filed under: Web links | Comments Off

To the launch of the new All-Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change (APPGCC), where Ed Miliband announced the details of his new coal consultation. Listening to the carefully worked out strategy, which even Greenpeace described as “promising” today, it all seems a long way from the policy doldrums of January ’09 when a true sense [...]

Filed under: Environment | 1 Comment »

In these troubled times, the last thing we really need is a dose of Thatcherism, yet that is what we are offered in today’s FT. John Reed, in ’Back on the road’, an article about the state of the motor industry, uses a full page when a paragraph would have sufficed. His argument boils down to this:

Filed under: Economics, Financial crisis, Manufacturing | 1 Comment »

Ensuring the whole country has access to broadband is extremely sensible. I would not go quite as far as Gordon Brown as saying it is as important as fresh water, but it is essential to full participation in modern life. And as there is clear market failure – otherwise everyone would already have it – the state [...]

Filed under: Media, Tax, Technology | 3 Comments »

update: the TUC is now the lead comment on the BBC piece mentioned below. I – of course – withdraw any hint of criticism of the wonderful BEEB who should be allowed to keep all the license fee. But there is still a serious point to be made about city experts.  I’ll leave my expert colleagues to [...]

Filed under: Economics, Labour market, Media, Recession | 1 Comment »