How could Brexit help engagement with emerging economies?
The share of UK exports destined for the EU fell 10 percentage points between 1999 – 2014. Declining terms of trade with the EU has continued to deteriorate the UK’s overall trade balance, leaving Britain with the 2nd largest trade deficit in the world reaching £61.6 billion in 2014 compared ...
A British policy for countering Russia: A new Jackson-Vanik amendment
During the annexation of Crimea, the invasion of eastern Ukraine and the Syrian campaign, Britain was less involved in Ukraine than its European counterparts despite being a member of the UN Security Council. While Merkel and Hollande negotiated the Minsk accords with Ukraine and Russia, the British government originally confined ...
Budget 2016: Chancellor still has get out of jail free cards
This article is taken from the CPS Economic Bulletin. To receive the bulletin to your inbox before it is published online, subscribe here.The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has revised its borrowing forecasts upwards for the five year spending review period (2016/17 – 2020/21) by £56.3 billion since the Autumn Statement. The ...Budget 2016: Time to Reduce Complexity of the UK's Tax System
David Martin’s new Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) paper “A new, simple, revenue neutral tax code” highlights the ever-increasing complexity of the tax code, which now has over 12 times as many words as the King James Bible.Our Budget 2016 ‘wishlist’ seeks to reduce the uncertainty created by tax complexity, ...Are the doommongers right about the UK economy?
This article is taken from the CPS Economic Bulletin. To receive the bulletin to your inbox before it is published online, subscribe here. The technical definition of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Since 1990, the UK has experienced two technical recessions. Consecutive negative ...European Commission Proposals Threaten UK Ports Industry
This article is taken from the CPS Economic Bulletin. To receive the bulletin to your inbox before it is published online, subscribe here. Next Tuesday, the EU Parliament will debate the Ports Services Regulation (PSR), put forward by the European Commission. This could be one of the last chances for the regulation to ...
Is Trump Really the Republicans’ Last Best Hope?
Super Tuesday marks the beginning of the end. Donald Trump has leads in almost every state going to the polls today. With these victories under his belt, Trump will have enough momentum to deliver further victories in this month’s most important contests. By end of March the Republican party will ...Spare Room Subsidy Reform has Improved Social Housing Allocation
Last month, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Government’s spare room subsidy – introduced in 2013 – is discriminatory against domestic violence victims and families with disabled children needing overnight care. This case will now be considered by the Supreme Court, which is expected to deliver a judgement this ...Break BT's Monopoly on Broadband Infrastructure
This article is taken from the CPS Economic Bulletin. To receive the bulletin to your inbox before it is published online, subscribe here. In 2014 Ofcom set up a Digital Communications Review, which will examine – among other issues – the role of BT Openreach in the provision of broadband in the UK. ...Hinkley Point Debacle is Just Latest Example of Failed Government Intervention in Energy Market
After months of delay, it appears that EDF will not make a final investment decision on the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant later this week. If an investment decision does eventually get the go ahead, evidence suggests that this deal would be terrible value for money for consumers.Peter Atherton – ...My Myanmar Days
Deputy Director, Jenny Nicholson, reports on a recent trip to Myanmar.Will Aung San Suu Kyi become President? That is the question on everyone’s mind. Aung San Suu Kyi is barred from the presidency as she has foreign children. Negotiations are taking place with the Chief of Staff for the change ...
Learning the facts about maths
Early in 2005 Nick Gibb asked to see me after reading my CPS publications advocating synthetic phonics. At the time he was serving on the Commons Education Committee, and he understood that our primary schools were sending vast numbers of pupils to secondary school with literacy skills that would be ...
Why Australia Should Shift its Burden of Taxation
Across the world governments are decreasing tax on capital income and increasing tax on consumption. In the OECD, the average rate of Value Added taxes rose from 16.7% to 19.2% between 1990 and 2015, while the average OECD company tax rate dropped from 38.7% to 25.0% over the same period. ...We must keep the Tax Avoidance Scandal in Perspective
Google’s tax arrangements have rightly caused concern amongst the British public. Some digital companies have been taking advantage of an international tax system – set up in 1928 at the League of Nations – which has been reliant on the idea that companies are taxed where profits are created, not ...Trump’s Blue Collar Takeover of the GOP
On the eve of the presidential primaries which will test the mettle of the Republican candidates, Trumpism is on the verge of transforming the Republican Party for a generation.For many conservative advocates of limited government, both in America and Britain, the rise of Donald Trump has been baffling. What was ...