Why the UK pensions triple-lock is a costly economic – and political – mistake October 19, 2015 Politicians spend much of their time worrying about repeating the political mistakes of their predecessors. In recent weeks, Conservative MPs have mused over whether changes to tax credits could have the same impact on support for the government as Gordon Brown’s abolition of the 10p tax rate, or could even be their “poll tax”. Yet [...]
NHS GP charges: Switzerland shows why charging to visit a doctor needn’t be politically toxic September 7, 2015 The economic case for user charges in healthcare is easily explained. A well-designed system of charges for people accessing services can encourage cost-consciousness and reduce overuse. If people had to pay a share of their healthcare costs out of pocket, they would start asking their GPs (and other sources of information) about whether a [...]
US oil and gas M&A falls to 12-year low as oil prices fall June 11, 2015 Mergers and acquisitions in the US oil and gas sector were at their lowest since 2003 in the first half of this year, new data has suggested. A survey by Dealogic showed M&A volume fell to $29.5bn (£19bn) over 202 deals in the six months to the end of June, down 50 per cent from [...]
US oil production posts largest increase in over a century March 30, 2015 Last year US oil production posted its largest volume increase since record keeping began over a century ago. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said it increased to1.2m barrels per day last year, pumping out a total 8.7m barrels per day. This was the largest volume increase since record-keeping began over a century ago. "Most of the [...]
Hysterical Keynesians need to ditch the hyperbole if they don’t want to be ignored June 15, 2015 History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme. On Friday, 79 economists wrote to the Guardian condemning George Osborne’s plans to run budget surpluses “in good times”, claiming this would risk “a liquidity crisis that could also trigger banking problems, a fall in GDP, a crash, or all three”. Signed by well-known hydraulic Keynesians such [...]
NHS orthodoxy is dying: Here’s how to put patients at the heart of healthcare September 1, 2015 Surveys often suffer from what is known as “social desirability bias”: when people sense that an opinion they hold, or a habit they engage in, is unfashionable, they are unlikely to be entirely honest about it in a survey. Instead, they may simply tell the interviewer what they think they are socially expected to [...]
Here’s everything we learned about the oil market today April 15, 2015 Oil prices rose to a three-month high today after data from the International Energy Agency (IEA) showed a lower than expected build of crude oil stocks in the United States. It said crude stocks had risen by 1.29m barrels to 483.69m barrels in the week to April 10, coming in below a forecast for a 4.1m barrel [...]
Millions of UK jobs NOT at risk from Brexit: Free market think-tank busts pro-EU myth March 11, 2015 The oft-repeated claim that 3m British jobs depend on Britain's membership of the EU has been challenged in a new report by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA). The report's author, Ryan Bourne, calls on the public and commentators to challenge the assertion frequently made by pro-EU supporters. "It can be said with certainty that [...]
Three reasons oil prices are climbing May 6, 2015 Oil prices jumped by over a dollar today, taking the price of the black stuff to its highest level this year, and it also comes on the back of a month rally. Here's why oil prices are pushing upwards: 1. US crude stocks Industry group American Petroleum Institution (API) yesterday said US crude oil stocks fell [...]
Iraq crisis unlikely to lead to rising oil prices, says IEA report August 12, 2014 Despite a slew of international crises the price of oil is unlikely to rise in the near future thanks to rising production from North America, according to the International Energy Agency's (IEA) monthly report. The advance of Islamist militants in northern Iraq and the increasingly unstable situation in Libya have put many investors on edge [...]