Ryan Bourne

Washington, D.C.

Chair, Public Understanding of Economics at Cato Institute

Columnist, Telegraph Business at The Telegraph

Columnist, Times Business at The Times

Economics @CatoInstitute. Times Business columnist. S*bstack: The War on Prices. 🐏 fan.

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Articles

New AI-assisted Study on the Gender Pay Gap

3 weeks ago | ryanbourne.substack.com | Ryan Bourne

The gender pay gap—the widely-cited statistic showing that the median female worker earns less than the median male worker—remains a lightning rod in policy debates. Many politicians and advocates seize upon simplistic figures (like the oft-repeated claim that women only earn "84 cents on the dollar") to push government regulatory solutions. The implicit claim is that the pay gap is driven by employer bias and discrimination against women, akin to them being paid less than men for the same work.
What Nigel Farage gets right about economic policy

3 weeks ago | thetimes.com | Ryan Bourne

Nigel Farage certainly has momentum. Fresh off a successful local election campaign, Reform UK’s irrepressible leader rolled out some retail policy offers last week designed to heap pressure on both Labour and the Conservatives. In a punchy speech, Farage promised to scrap the two-child limit on child benefit, restore winter fuel payments, create a more generous marriage tax allowance and raise the income tax personal allowance to a princely £20,000.
No More Excuses, US Politicians Deserve their Ratings Downgrade

3 weeks ago | cato.org | Ryan Bourne

Moody’s recent downgrade of US government debt wasn’t only well justified — it was arguably long overdue. Despite America’s economic strength and the dollar’s global supremacy, the decision to cut the debt rating to AA1 was unarguable: America’s fiscal position is deteriorating, both relative to its history and to other countries. Crucially, there’s no political appetite to change course. The numbers speak for themselves.
No more excuses, US politicians deserve their ratings downgrade

1 month ago | thetimes.com | Ryan Bourne
Is the New Right Embracing Degrowth Economics?

1 month ago | cato.org | Ryan Bourne

There was a time, not so long ago, when the concept of “degrowth” belonged strictly to the eco-left. A luxury ideology for environmental activists and sandal-wearing dreamers, the basic idea was that pursuing economic growth was a destructive obsession. Rising GDP didn’t improve ordinary people’s lives, but fuelled economic inequality and ecological ruin. Degrowthers thus wanted policymakers to deprioritise growing GDP, with the public accepting a simpler, less abundant life.
The Right-Wing Greedflation Myth Begins...

1 month ago | ryanbourne.substack.com | Ryan Bourne

In recent weeks, the White House has been the main aggressor in The War on Prices. First came the public outrage over Amazon daring to label price hikes as the direct result of President Trump's tariffs—an accurate but politically inconvenient truth that quickly led the company to retreat. Then, in the surreal theatre of Saturday-night Truthing, Trump demanded that Walmart "EAT THE TARIFFS," warning them publicly to swallow higher costs rather than raise prices for consumers.
Donald Trump's drug price controls give Labour another headache

1 month ago | thetimes.com | Ryan Bourne

Last week, ministers hailed a new era for economic relations between the United States and Britain. Their freshly inked "Economic Prosperity Deal" wasn't a full-blown trade agreement, but it reduced some barriers for British cars and beef entering America, slashed UK tariffs on US ethanol, and offered some diplomatic warmth amid President Trump's chilling global trade battles. Sadly, the honeymoon didn't last long.
Rachel Reeves Has a Cunning Plan to Make Shopping More Expensive

1 month ago | cato.org | Ryan Bourne

If you made a ranking of Labour’s priorities, what would you put near the top? Reviving our anaemic economic growth rate, perhaps? Slashing NHS waiting lists? Tackling Britain’s catastrophic housing shortfall? You’d probably get many pages down before writing: “Making online shopping pricier for ordinary families.” Yet, remarkably, Rachel Reeves has precisely this goal in mind.
Does DOGE Show That There's Little Government Waste?

1 month ago | cato.org | Ryan Bourne

Matt Yglesias makes a point that we will hear a lot from Democrats in the coming months. Progressives will claim that because DOGE “failed” to live up to its ambitions to slash government spending by trillions, there must be little government waste. Indeed, economist Alan Blinder even says that Elon Musk should examine Social Security as a model of efficiency, given its administration costs only 0.5 percent of benefits paid out. Hmm.
Please Stop Feeding the Insatiable Film Subsidy Monster

1 month ago | cato.org | Ryan Bourne

British TV and film producers have developed one skill beyond storytelling: extracting cash from taxpayers. Our politicians seem hypnotised by the glamour of high-end shows and movies. The latest culture, media and sport select committee report regurgitates industry complaints, calling for even more subsidies.