We’ve just published a new review of the impacts that the recent downturn has had for women at work, and examining how proposed public sector cuts might have a heavy impact on working women and families.

I’ve written a post about the issue for Progress Online, which you can read over here.

   Filed under: Equality, Labour market, Public services, Public spending, Recession, unemployment | 1 Comment »

Funny thing, journalism. The Daily Telegraph reports today that the Japanese Foreign Minister has backed the idea of a financial transactions tax – following up earlier reports of support from more junior ministers. It then says that the idea has failed to gain “major traction among leading governments”. And then cites other supporters of the idea – UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy. So, no leading Governments there then! The Japanese coming on board of course puts the Robin Hood Tax on the table in a majority of the G7 richest nations on the planet. The USA remains to be persuaded, but campaigners there, including the AFL-CIO, are working on that.

   Filed under: Environment, International development, Public spending, Tax | No Comments »

In the FT today, over 60 senior economists have written to demand that Alistair Darling and George Osborne refrain from making premature cuts to public spending. We agree with them that the deficit should be financed until the economy is more stable and that if spending cuts are made at this point, the UK could spiral into a disastrous ‘double-dip’ recession.

We’re backing a campaign, Don’t Risk the Recovery, along with 38 Degrees, the Fabian Society, Left Foot Forward and IPPR. You can help by taking action now at the 38 Degrees site. They have an urgent petition to Darling and Osborne,  asking them not to play short-term electoral politics and gamble the recovery we need so badly.

Please take a minute to sign the petition now, and tell your friends about it.

   Filed under: Politics, Public spending | No Comments »

It seems George Osborne was a bit hasty to claim that: “we now have a consensus of economic opinion aligned with the Conservatives saying that dealing with the deficit is essential to create jobs and sustain the recovery”.  His comment followed the widely publicised publication of a letter from twenty economists in The Sunday Times.  The Financial Times has two letters today signed by over sixty economists attacking the Sunday Times letter.  The letters urge politicians to put the restoration of growth before the cutting of the deficit.  Whatever one’s view on the deficit, it is clearly wrong in the light of this to claim that there is anything like a consensus amongst economists backing the idea of early action on the deficit.

   Filed under: Economics, Public spending | 1 Comment »

Richard Branson was in yesterday’s Evening Standard, voicing his support for immediate cuts in public spending to address the deficit:

“We are going to have to cut our spending and I agree with the 20 leading economists who said we need to start this year. The next government, whatever party that is, must set out a plan to reduce the bulk of the deficit over a Parliament by cutting wasteful spending and must not put off those tough decisions to next year. These factors threaten to undermine the confidence of international and UK business, UK consumers and the global financial markets. That could cost jobs and reduce investment in Britain.” Read more »

   Filed under: Public spending, Tax | 1 Comment »

There’s a very, very old joke about a man in a hot air balloon who runs out of fuel and suddenly has to ditch in the middle of a farm.  Unhurt, he brushes himself off and calls out to a passing rambler asking if he can enlighten him as to his whereabouts.  The rambler thinks for a few seconds and then replies, “you are situated on arable land characterised by cereal growth and  livestock husbandry which is itself located in the  countryside close to the south coast of England”.

Rolling his eyes, the balloonist asks if the man might not by any chance be an economist.  “I am”, says the rambler, “how on earth did you know?”.  “Simple”, replies the man, “what you have just told me is completely accurate and totally, bloody useless”. Read more »

   Filed under: Economics, Financial crisis, Monetary policy, Public services, Public spending | 5 Comments »

The IFS data - which I looked at yesterday - also has a useful table showing which sectors have seen growth in public sector staff since 1997, and by how much.

The small-state right would like us to think that these were all pen-pushers – somewhat oddly as I doubt that many people in either the private or public sector have a pen as their main workplace tool any more.

And of course efficient public services need their share of administrators and managers too. I suspect most people would prefer to get a renewed passport on time, rather than be told we’ve shut the passport service down as it was full of bureaucrats. Read more »

   Filed under: Labour market, Public services, Public spending | No Comments »

The Institute for Fiscal Studies published their Green Budget last week in which they look at the Chancellor’s options in the forthcoming budget. It is not exactly a bundle of laughs.

But they do have an extremely useful round up of trends in public sector pay. Richard has already drawn attention to their statement:

Overall, pay levels in the public sector are probably not significantly out of line with those of similar workers in the private sector, once you take into account factors such as their age, education and qualifications.” Read more »

   Filed under: Earnings, Public services, Public spending | 2 Comments »

It is a strange logic that concludes that a financial crisis that started in the top echelons of banking should be resolved by freezing the pay of nurses, teachers and social workers. Yet since early last year a growing clamour of voices, led by much of the press and then followed by many shades of politicians, have called for public sector pay freezes to resolve financial instability caused by the economic crisis. As part of this process there has been a widespread misreading of the official earnings statistics to try to show that all public sector workers earn more than all private sector workers. Read more »

   Filed under: Earnings, Public spending | 1 Comment »

Back when cuts mania was all the rage during the conference season of 2009, only the TUC, others on the left and serious commentators like Martin Wolf argued that cuts came with major economic consequences.  The TUC argued particularly strongly that to start measures to address the deficit when the economy was still fragile threatened a double dip recession.  These views were of course rejected by the small state right in the form of the Institute of Directors, the Taxpayers Alliance and the Conservative Party itself. Read more »

   Filed under: Politics, Public services, Public spending, Recession | 4 Comments »