The left is wrong: The welfare state didn’t make Scandinavia successful June 22, 2015 Bruce Springsteen may have been “Born in the USA”, but he says he’d prefer the US to be more like Sweden. With its generous welfare state, many hold up the Swedes, and other Scandinavian countries, as role models for what can be achieved by a large redistributive state. With high life expectancy and relative income [...]
This map shows why airstrikes in Yemen are pushing up oil prices March 26, 2015 Yemen doesn't actually produce that much oil compared to some other Middle East nations. But news that it been hit by air strikes from Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies sent global oil prices berserk today. Nervous investors helped push Brent crude, the global benchmark, as high as $59.78 per barrel, or a two-and-a-half week high. But [...]
Conservative manifesto: David Cameron gives “absolutely no detail” of major cuts, says IFS April 14, 2015 The plan David Cameron hopes will win the Tories the General Election back has been blasted by the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) over a "lack of detail". The Tory leader presented his party's manifesto in a speech delivered in Swindon earlier today. The document was brimming with goodies for the electorate, including an [...]
Queen’s Speech 2015: Business community and others react to announcements on immigration, housing, employment, tax, Scotland and English devolution May 27, 2015 The Queen's Speech – the first full-Tory state opening of Parliament since 1996 – has come and gone. But what is the business community making of it all? Here are the best reactions so far. On the tax lock: Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of tax at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants says: “This is a [...]
Pensioner bond website crashes due to demand January 15, 2015 THE CHANCELLOR has proclaimed the launch of £10bn worth of guaranteed growth bonds for over 65s as a “huge success”. A rush of interested investors caused the National Savings and Investments (NSI) website to crash after the bonds were launched yesterday morning. The bonds offer market leading rates, at 2.8 per cent interest over one year or [...]
Oil drops again as the International Energy Agency slashes its growth forecast December 12, 2014 Is £1-a-litre petrol about to become a reality? Oil prices fell again this morning, after the International Energy Agency (IEA) slashed its forecast for growth in the oil sector. According to the IEA's monthly oil market report, global growth in the market will hit 900,000 barrels a day next year, 230,000 fewer than previously expected. [...]
The 2014 Corporate Christmas Card Oscars December 21, 2014 It's Christmas week, which means most of us will be packing down our desks for the Christmas break today or tomorrow – heading home for some festive cheer. But which of your corporate Christmas card collection will you be taking home to join your mantelpiece and which ones will you be leaving behind? Welcome to [...]
IEA says Chinese gas demand set to double in next five years June 10, 2014 CHINESE demand for gas was set to almost double over the next five years, offsetting a slowdown in growth in other parts of the world, said the International Energy Agency today. Air quality concerns were pushing the Chinese government to reduce pollution, with gas emerging as a key part of the solution, said the independent [...]
Tory veteran David Davis attacks government tax avoidance crackdown as threat to the rule of law December 4, 2014 The government has become the biggest threat to the rule of law, according to veteran Tory backbencher and former minister David Davis. Speaking at a briefing organised by the Taxpayers' Alliance and the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) he slammed the government's attempts to limit tax avoidance through laws such as the General Anti Avoidance [...]
Beware the headline costs of Brexit: We’ll thrive if we’re open to the world March 23, 2015 You have to be careful with headlines. They are so often highly selective about the message they want to convey. Take an example from yesterday: The Guardian’s story on a report analysing the costs or benefits to the economy of the UK leaving the EU was headlined “Thinktank tells Ukip departing from EU would cost [...]