British politics

Uncategorised

Mind the Gap – Assessing UK regeneration policy

28/03/2008
The regeneration of entire cities, and even regions, is one of the most ambitious objectives of public sector action. It requires picking through large-scale social and economic trends and reversing the effects of anything up to several decades of decline. James Swaffield and Oliver Marc Hartwich, from the think-tank Policy Exchange, argue that the results are not as impressive as many people have thought – and that we may need to start using a new set of policies.

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Inside Politics

The Economic Outlook

14/03/2008
Before the Budget, there was widespread agreement around what to expect. It was to be a tight plan for difficult times with not much room for manoeuvre, let alone the opportunity of fiscal stimuli. This forecast was pretty accurate, but hardly anyone seemed to notice.

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Uncategorised

Budget 2008: No room for manoeuvre?

09/03/2008
Constrained public finances should not be an excuse to surrender to the seemingly unavoidable. It is times like these that ask for the boldest, most courageous solutions. And it is times like these that Parliament should play a greater role in developing ideas for a better economic future. After all, that is what Parliament is all about.

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Inside Politics

On a tight Budget

07/03/2008
The Budget comes at a time when there are dark clouds on the economic horizon – a contrast to the sunny days when Gordon Brown, as Chancellor, would eulogise over his part in producing unprecedented periods of continuous economic growth.

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Research reports

Quelling the Pensions Storm – Lessons from the Past

02/03/2008
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.

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Inside Politics

The rock that became a millstone

22/02/2008
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.

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Research reports

Towards Better Transport

15/01/2008
According to Towards Better Transport, traffic congestion is now endemic, affecting not just large cities but also the core motorway network and small towns. It currently costs the UK economy in the region of £20bn per year, a figure set to rise significantly in the coming years, harming our future economic competitiveness and growth.

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Uncategorised

Sharing the proceeds of what?

15/01/2008
“Sharing the proceeds of growth” has always been a nice, if also a little vague formula. It does not set the degree to which growth should be shared between tax cuts and public spending. Unfortunately – and almost by definition – it becomes an impossible task if there is no or only little growth and consequently not much to share.

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Inside Politics

Taking the biscuit

24/12/2007
Take a biscuit, put a layer of marshmallow on top and cover the whole thing in chocolate – what do you call that? The answer: this is not just a biscuit, this is an M&S biscuit. At least that was what HM Treasury thought. To Marks & Spencer, however, these chocolaty creations were something very different. The retailer insisted that they were in fact teacakes.

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