On Wednesday (25th) the Chancellor will announce the results of a one-year Spending Review, setting departmental limits for 2021-22. This will not be a full Budget – let alone a multi-year programme of tax increases or spending cuts. But there is still a huge amount of (mostly unhelpful) speculation about what might be in it, … Continue reading The Chancellor should continue to let the deficit take the strain
Category: Taxation
Fiscal and monetary policies in a time of Covid
Here’s a presentation I gave on 19th October (to A-level economics and business students) on fiscal and monetary policies in the UK, covering topics such as the impact of Covid on the public finances, whether taxes will have to rise to pay for it, whether the BoE should ease further, the pros and cons of … Continue reading Fiscal and monetary policies in a time of Covid
A(nother) critique of ‘Modern Monetary Theory’
Imagine that the government could simply print whatever amount of money it needed to guarantee everyone a decent income, fantastic public services, and a secure job if they wanted one – with enough left over to save the planet too. That, for many, is the promise of a new economic paradigm known as “Modern Monetary … Continue reading A(nother) critique of ‘Modern Monetary Theory’
IEA Debate: Should Capital Gains Tax be abolished?
The Chancellor has asked the Office for Tax Simplification to undertake a review of Capital Gains Tax (CGT) to ‘ensure the system is fit for purpose’ and to look again at how capital gains are taxed compared to other types of income. But should he go further and simply abolish CGT completely? Philip Booth, the IEA’s Senior … Continue reading IEA Debate: Should Capital Gains Tax be abolished?
Plain-speaking Economics 