Here we go again. The Daily Telegraph is reporting that Treasury officials are “drawing up plans” for a pensions tax raid in the autumn to help pay for Covid. It might be more accurate to say that old plans are now being ‘dusted off’, but the quality of debate does not seem to have improved. For a … Continue reading A pensions tax raid isn’t just bad politics, it’s awful economics
Tag: public debt
Think! presentation on Covid and the value of a human life
Here are the slides from a talk I gave on 12th June at the IEA Think! Conference... covid-and-the-value-of-human-life-think-presentation-12-june-2021-2Download
Why I’d vote against the cuts to UK aid
MPs will hopefully soon have the chance to vote on whether the UK should restore spending on foreign aid to the mandated level of 0.7% of GNI (gross national income). This is surely the right thing to do. First, the arguments in favour of cutting the target to 0.5% are weak. The Government’s case is … Continue reading Why I’d vote against the cuts to UK aid
Is there any money left?
In 2010, Liam Byrne left a note to his successor as Chief Secretary to the Treasury which famously read “I’m afraid there is no money”. After all, annual borrowing had just peaked at a record £158 billion, and the stock of debt was about to top £1,000 billion for the first time. Roll forward a little over a … Continue reading Is there any money left?
