Corbyn and McDonnell’s delusional tax plan would cut revenue and harm growth
The income tax system in the UK is highly progressive. Not many people know that, to use a catch phrase attributed, rightly or wrongly, to the great actor Michael Caine. The top one per cent of earners contribute 27 per cent of all income tax receipts. To put it in context, just 300,000 people pay […]
How to stop tech hubs in urban hotspots from intensifying geographic inequalities
Perhaps George Osborne’s most abiding legacy from his time as chancellor will be the creation of the concept of the Northern Powerhouse. Certainly Manchester, its principal focus, is booming. The landscape of the centre is being altered dramatically by skyscrapers. Peel Holdings, the huge investment and property outfit, is planning to double the size of […]
Does the productivity gap actually exist?
Whoever wins the election tomorrow will have to grapple with what appears to be a fundamental economic problem. Estimated productivity growth in the UK is virtually at a standstill. The standard definition of productivity is the average output per employee across the economy as a whole, after adjusting output for inflation – or “real” output, […]
Why companies fail: Don’t look to economic textbooks to master dynamic capitalism
Is setting up a micro brewery a licence to print money? This month, a private equity company acquired 22 per cent of BrewDog for just over £200 million, netting a neat £100 million for the founders. Last year, the owners of Budweiser, AB InBev, bought Camden Town Brewery for a reported £85 million. This follows […]
