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If we learn our history then we can repeat it — Adam Smith Institute

1 day ago | adamsmith.org | Tim Worstall

The “Great Depression” in the UK was not in fact a depression nor very great. The economy recovered within 18 months so it was a recession. It’s not even necessary for Labour to lose an election. They’ve a sufficient majority to be able to do this themselves. Slash government spending - and yes this does mean benefits -, close the budget deficit, free the building industry to house the nation and we can then repeat that history of the 1930s.
An FTT and pensions taxation, well, no, not really — Adam Smith Institute

2 days ago | adamsmith.org | Tim Worstall

Larry Elliott tels us that as Rachel really needs more tax revenue maybe then and therefore:But there are other options. A tax on financial transactions is one. Limiting pension tax relief to the basic rate of income tax – as suggested by the tax expert Richard Murphy – is another. To describe Richard Murphy as a tax expert is a category error. But beyond mere jeering it’s necessary to grasp his misunderstanding of pensions. He thinks - insists - that money that goes into pensions is just dead money.
Another £15.6 billion up against the wall then — Adam Smith Institute

3 days ago | adamsmith.org | Tim Worstall

We might have noted this before but there’s really nothing, nothing at all, as conservative as a British progressive. Rachel Reeves is set to announce £15.6 billion for transport projects outside London in an attempt to tackle a surge in support for Reform UK. The money will be spent on tram, train and bus projects in Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and Tyne and Wear. We’re just on the cusp of a technological revolution in transport.
Polly Toynbee stumbles into a good idea - then fluffs it, of course — Adam Smith Institute

4 days ago | adamsmith.org | Tim Worstall

So, what are we going to do about the state eating everything? Who in their right mind would want to be Rachel Reeves right now? Her spending review out next week will feel like austerity all over again. Even if, in reality, it’s not a cut but more spending, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies emphasises. After an uplift in everyday spending at the budget, here comes a much-needed capital slab of £113bn. Yet whatever the numbers say, painful cuts to most things will be the story and the feeling.
Anyone else preparing their little list? — Adam Smith Institute

4 days ago | adamsmith.org | Tim Worstall

It’s not true that all and everything done by past governments is or has been wrong. Sadly, government can’t even gain a perfect record in that, being wholly and totally wrong always. But it is also obviously true that some things done by past governments were not good, not right, even not worth doing. It has just reversed its ban on oil and gas exploration. It has liberalised its mining laws, sparking a boom in mineral production.
Don’t Tell Him, Pike! — Adam Smith Institute

6 days ago | adamsmith.org | Tim Worstall

First as comedy, then as tragedy, isn’t it? Britons could be forced to give details of their jobs, earnings and health status to officials as a slump in responses to surveys undermines Whitehall’s ability to judge the state of the economy. Professor Denise Lievesley, who ran a major review of statistics for the Government, said the proposal could ensure that Britain’s economic data – which is critical to making decisions on policies including interest rates – could be relied upon.
The traditional pub does more than serve drinks — Adam Smith Institute

1 week ago | adamsmith.org | Madsen Pirie

Some in the anti-alcohol and anti-tobacco lobby have their sights set on the traditional British pub. But it plays an important social and cultural role. George Orwell had a strong appreciation for traditional British pubs, particularly the type that fostered a sense of community and provided a space for social interaction.
Kingsley Amis was right - more means worse — Adam Smith Institute

1 week ago | adamsmith.org | Tim Worstall

Amis was referring specifically to universities but we can widen this a bit to government involvement in education itself:The government is promising more training for under-21s in England, as it presses ahead with controversial plans to scrap funding for postgraduate apprenticeships. Only students under the age of 21 will qualify for funding for level 7 apprenticeships – the highest level, considered equivalent to a master's degree - under the plans confirmed on Tuesday.
The Twentieth Century’s most benign leaders — Adam Smith Institute

1 week ago | adamsmith.org | Madsen Pirie

Most people would agree on the Twentieth Century’s most evil leaders with relative ease. Up there would be Josef Stalin, Mao Zedong and Adolf Hitler, all of whom murdered millions. Two were Communists and one was a National Socialist. Pol Pot murdered 1.7-2 million, a quarter of Cambodia’s population, in an attempt to impose a classless Communist society. In the second rank might come Idi Amin, Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein, all of whom were disasters for their countries.
We’re so glad Mike Berners-Lee has caught up with us on climate change — Adam Smith Institute

1 week ago | adamsmith.org | Tim Worstall

This is very welcome:People should confront their family members who read news from “nefarious” sources, suggests the environmentalist Mike Berners-Lee.