Year: 2008

Britain is in the midst of a pensions storm. Public sector pensions have soaring costs. Many private schemes have closed to new members, and stakeholder pensions have not hit their target. The state pension system is overly complicated and relies too much on means testing.

Quelling the Pensions Storm argues that the Government should learn from the past and make additional reforms to every part of the system. They should make it easier for employers to provide good pensions, confront the risks in personal accounts and introduce a new Single-Tier State Pension. The goal is better pensions for all.

The formal nationalisation of Northern Rock is only the logical conclusion to the Government’s months-long involvement with the failed mortgage lender. Since it was bailed out after last year’s run on its deposits, the people ultimately in charge of it have been Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling, and it will be them who will pick up the political bill for any mistakes.

Angesichts der Dimensionen der aktuellen Krise nimmt es nicht wunder, dass das Vertrauen in Marktwirtschaft und Globalisierung erschüttert ist. Ob es jemals besonders verbreitet war, ist eine andere Frage. Aber selbst entschiedene Anhänger freier Märkte sind irritiert.

Bei näherer Betrachtung zeigt das britische Experiment eher die Schwierigkeiten als die Vorteile staatlicher Niedriglohnvorgaben. Als Vorbild für Deutschland taugt es jedenfalls nicht, und die ökonomischen Gesetze bleiben auch auf den Britischen Inseln weiterhin in Kraft.

The economic case for road pricing might be strong but the public is resolutely hostile to the idea. The answer is to show them what they would get for their money, argue Richard Wellings and Oliver Marc Hartwich

This has not been a good week for transport in Britain, and it is not only because a British Airways jet crashed at Heathrow. Not a day goes by without our roads, rails and airports being stretched beyond their intended capacity.

There is no economic law that says that share prices should never fall. It would be wiser if central bankers stepped back and let the markets clear up the mess that was first and foremost caused by loose monetary policies.

Die englische Gesellschaft begegnet der Holocaust-Leugnung auf urbritische Art: mit den Mitteln der freiheitlichen Zivilgesellschaft.