National Needs Assessment: when is evidence good enough?

Leading Economist Bridget Rosewell says that judgement will still need to play a big part in assessing our infrastructure needs of the future in her article National Needs Assessment: when is evidence good enough? Published recently on the Infrastructure Intelligence website, you can read the article HERE. Bridget Rosewell is a member of the National Infrastructure Commission, […]

Bridget Rosewell speaker in the 2016 World Traders’ Tacitus Debate

Bridget Rosewell was invited to be a guest speaker at The 2016 World Traders’ Tacitus Debate on Thursday 28th April 2016.  This year’s debate returned to the London premises of DLA Piper at the invitation of the Tacitus subcommittee Chairman, Lord (Tim) Clement-Jones. Following Sir Paul Tucker’s Lecture at Guildhall, theme was “Should International Monetary Policy […]

Surviving the pensions crisis means encouraging work

The Queen’s 90th birthday has quite rightly dominated the media over the past week.  Her Majesty continues to break all sorts of records, spending longer on the throne than Queen Victoria and being our oldest ever reigning monarch.  But longevity should no longer give cause for surprise.  The oldest participant in the London Marathon was […]

Forget avoidance outrage: this is what we really think about tax

Rather like a quantitative version of Hello! magazine, the Panama papers made headlines everywhere. Read all about the vast amount of money a particular celeb has got stashed away. Salivate, be titillated or be outraged, according to your fancy. The story was covered heavily by the Guardian, the in-house newspaper of the metropolitan liberal elite. […]

Bank bail outs are no model to follow for British steel

The potential closure of the Tata steel plants, and the plight of Port Talbot is a tragedy for those directly affected. A key question is: if the banks could be saved, why not steel?  From a purely political perspective, the topic has legs.  The loyal, hard working Welshmen, fearful for their families’ futures, contrasted with […]

Scotland’s fiscal fantasy and the impact of an OUT vote

A short visit to the Highlands last week was refreshing. The scenery is just as spectacular as ever, and the people just as welcoming.  But elsewhere, the tectonic plates are shifting.  Last week, a televised debate took place amongst the political leaders contesting the elections to the Scottish Parliament in May.   It resembled a bidding […]

What game theory tells us about David Cameron’s EU deal

Game theory is the study of how rules and tactics affect outcomes, and it is pervasive in academic economics. The opening sentence of one of the economics courses at Cambridge pontificates: “Optimal decisions of economic agents depend on expectations of other agents’ actions”. Translated into English, this means that, for someone in a negotiating situation […]

‘No ifs, No buts’ … no decisions on airport expansion

Prior to the 2010 general election, David Cameron clearly stated his position on London airport expansion: ‘no ifs, no buts’ there would be no expansion of Heathrow. Now, more than half a decade later, the only decision that has been made has been to delay the decision making. Amid much controversy concerning delaying the publication […]

Do markets solve the problem of discrimination?

The Prime Minister recently announced that the civil service will now introduce name-blind recruitment.  When people apply for public sector jobs, their name will not appear on the documents sent to the appointment panel.  Major companies such as HSBC, KPMG, the BBC and the NHS are following suit.  Economists have produced a substantial body of […]