There may not be many reasons for optimism about the economic outlook, but one is the relative flexibility of the UK labour market. This should help unemployment to fall back and activity to recover more quickly – provided the government gets out of the way. There is no doubt that many jobs are being lost … Continue reading The UK’s labour market needs to be allowed to work
Category: Labour markets
‘Intervention is essential, but does not signal a socialist state’
The coronavirus job retention scheme is the biggest step the Chancellor has taken so far, both in terms of its nature (subsidising the wages of millions of private sector worker) and cost (potentially many tens of billions of pounds). This raises three questions. Is this degree of state intervention justified? What more is needed? And … Continue reading ‘Intervention is essential, but does not signal a socialist state’
Why zero-hours contracts are a good thing
The news that the number of people working on zero-hours contracts has risen to a new record high has prompted fresh calls for a ban. If you're employed on one of these contracts and like it, tough. How on earth did we come to this? To recap, a 'zero-hours contract' is simply a form of … Continue reading Why zero-hours contracts are a good thing
Let’s try to keep politics out of setting minimum wages
The auction continues. One week, Chancellor Philip Hammond is said to be contemplating a large increase in the national minimum wage in an attempt to ‘end low pay’. Next, Labour has responded by extending its plans for a higher £10-an-hour minimum wage to include workers under the age of 18. These might sound like great ideas, … Continue reading Let’s try to keep politics out of setting minimum wages
Plain-speaking Economics 