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Patently Absurd
Despite world-class universities and a strong science base, Britain produces fewer patents per person than most major economies. More concerning still, innovation in Britain is declining at the same time as it is accelerating in other global markets.
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Changing Track
Just over two years ago the United Kingdom went into its first national lockdown. Overnight, rail lost its monopoly on commuting. Journeys fell from 1.7 billion to 388 million and the industry faced an unprecedented revenue crisis which has burdened taxpayers with a £14 billion bill. Despite the UK being one of the most open societies… View Article
Solving the Childcare Challenge
Britain has the highest childcare costs in the developed world – a typical two-earner family in the UK spends around 30% of their household income on nurseries and childminders, twice as much as in France and three times higher than in Germany or Japan. This is despite the state subsidising childcare to the tune of… View Article
Economic Bulletin: Back to the 1970s?
The Cost of Living Crisis The cost of living squeeze is already hurting British households, and it’s only going to get worse. Inflation – which reached 5.5% in January – is outpacing wage growth, leading to a decline in real incomes. Interest rates are going up. At least two thirds of adults are reporting cost… View Article
National Insurance: A Plan to Blunt the Pain
With every week that goes by, the depth of the cost of living crisis becomes clearer – and the impact on households worsens. So the Government’s planned 1.25% rise in National Insurance Contributions, set to come into force in just two weeks, could not come at a worse time. The Centre for Policy Studies has… View Article
Trading Up
SMEs make up 99.9% of UK businesses, employing 16.3 million people. They are at the heart of the UK economy. Yet historically, they have been far more reluctant to export than their international rivals. Only one in 10 British businesses export; far fewer than many of our European counterparts. In a major new paper, CPS… View Article
Economic Bulletin: Is there any money left?
With Covid restrictions finally lifted, the country’s attention is turning from public health back to the economy. Cost of living pressures, the balance between tax, spending and debt, and the pressing need to raise Britain’s mediocre long-term growth rates are once more at the forefront of the policy debate – and rightly so. Britain faces… View Article
Clearer, Fairer, Better: The case for UK subsidy transparency
A joint paper by the Centre for Policy Studies and Centre for Public Data, backed by the Government’s Anti-Corruption Champion, John Penrose MP, argues that the Government should slash the new threshold for declaring subsidies from £500,000 to £500
Looking East: The Case for UK Membership of CPTPP
In a new report for the Centre for Policy Studies, Anthony Mangnall MP makes a robust case for British membership of the CPTPP trading area
Levelling Up and Zeroing In
A new report by the Centre for Policy Studies says the Government can level up and decarbonise the economy simultaneously by introducing a carbon border tax, alongside a selection of other policies
The Value of University
The report, ‘The Value of University’, looks at the economic returns of a range of university courses, and finds huge discrepancies in the amount of taxpayer money being spent on those courses which do not improve the lifetime earnings of the students.
Budget Briefing: The Age of the Trillion-Pound State
In a comprehensive briefing note, the Centre for Policy Studies’ research team set out the most important takeaways from the Budget – including the fact that Boris Johnson is set, by 2025-6, to usher in the age of the trillion-pound British state.
The UK’s International Tax Competitiveness
In an interview ahead of this week’s Global Investment Summit, Boris Johnson claimed that the UK is ‘a colossally attractive place for people to come and invest‘, and promised that it ‘will be even more attractive as a place to invest and do business‘ in future. But new analysis from the Centre for Policy Studies and the US-based… View Article
Regulating the Regulators
Quangos are increasingly powerful. But the accountability of many is increasingly patchy. The scale of the quango-related work now expected of parliamentary committees, along with other distractions, has left far too many important decisions under-scrutinised and remote from those most affected: the electorate and the consumer. The result is a decline in public trust, and… View Article
Getting Results
In the aftermath of Covid, the government must control public spending and draw on private sector investment and innovation A new report by Julie Marson MP shows how Social Impact Bonds, and other outcomes-based approaches, could deliver better services for less money Social Impact Bonds were invented in the UK but have struggled to take off in… View Article
The Case for Freezing Excise Duties
New CPS briefing note urges the Chancellor to avoid raising fuel and alcohol duties or risk aggravating the cost of living crisis Raising excise duties in line with RPI would add 2.4% to the typical price of a tank of petrol, 2.2% to a bottle of wine, 3% to a case of beer, 3.1% to a bottle… View Article
Pricing Pollution Properly
Britain has made impressive progress on decarbonisation – but the most painful part of the process lies ahead The consensus behind Net Zero could fracture if decarbonisation is perceived as unfair, or if it raises costs for consumers excessively Evidence shows that market mechanisms such as carbon pricing have been successful at delivering decarbonisation cost… View Article
