For once, Humza Yousaf has set an example other politicians should follow

Humza Yousaf, the First Minister of Scotland, does not often attract plaudits. But last week he overrode the advice of his officials. Shock, horror. Surely Sir Humphrey and the “experts” always know best.   Officials recommended a donation to UNICEF to finance water programmes in Gaza. Instead, Yousaf decided that the money should be given to the United […]

Interest rates aren’t as influential as you think

Criticising the Bank of England has become fashionable in City circles. From persisting too long with quantitative easing, to completely missing the upsurge in inflation to the condescending group think displayed on the validity of its discredited New Keynesian models, the Bank under Andrew Bailey has done plenty to make itself fair game. But when […]

Ricardian Equivalence and why Britain’s really in a recession

News that we have entered a technical recession will come as no surprise to anyone who has even a passing acquaintance with the British economy. But what is less well understood is how personal spending – or rather the lack of it – is contributing to low growth. Household incomes have been squeezed by rises in energy […]

There’s a solution to dire public services: make our public sector more productive

Pre-election blows are being traded with increasing ferocity by both the main parties. Do the costs of Labour’s energy policies bear scrutiny? And can the Conservatives really afford to cut taxes? All of these questions relate back to the state of the public finances. Taxes are already at a post-war high relative to the size […]

Marriage: Romantics bemoan its demise but so should economists

The dramatic erosion of marriage in the UK is one of the key social changes of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.   Last week, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published data showing that for the first time the proportion of the population aged over 16 who were married had fallen to below 50 per cent. […]

Port Talbot closure highlights uncomfortable truth about clinging onto the past

The decision by Tata Steel to shut the blast furnaces at the steelworks in Port Talbot, South Wales, has provoked outrage. Almost three quarters of the 4,000 workers at the plant will lose their jobs. On the same day that the news broke, the government announced a £500m subsidy for Tata’s £1.25bn proposed investment on the […]

They may be annoying, but Gen Z’s quarter life gap years are economically rational

Generation Z has been getting a lot of bad press recently. Allegations that they enjoy “quiet quitting” and boast of their “lazy girl jobs” were gathering momentum last year. These were given a huge boost in November when the American television personality Whoopi Goldberg made headlines with her claim that they just were not willing […]

A look at Germany shows the UK’s growth problem is not a Brexit phenomenon

We English are notoriously bad at languages. But, like magpies, rather than bothering to make the effort, we steal words from others. That is why there is no word in our language for “Schadenfreude”, taking pleasure in the misfortunes of others. And all but the most diehard of Remainers, eyes firmly closed to the evidence, […]

May Cameron’s Wellbeing Unit rest in peace, money can buy happiness after all

Last month, the government announced that the What Works Centre for Wellbeing, set up with great fanfare by David Cameron in 2014 with the mission to boost national happiness, is to be shut down. Ever since the concept was first launched after the Second World War, the main focus of the policy of governments of […]