If crises are the test of a nation, Western Europe is failing
The financial crisis and the pandemic have shown how Western Europe deals with crises. And it’s not pretty, writes Paul Ormerod Karl Marx certainly had the ability to encapsulate a complex phenomenon in a pithy and memorable paragraph. In a pamphlet on the Crimean War of the 1850s he wrote: “The redeeming feature of war […]
Starmer must remember humans respond to incentives, not rules
Rules are important to any civilised society, but Starmer has forgotten that humans respond far better to incentives, writes Paul Ormerod. As the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, often reminds us, his father was a toolmaker. He himself is a lawyer. The two professions have a lot in common. Both require the following of well-established rules […]
Forget the big infrastructure projects, SMEs are the key to unlocking growth
Dear Chancellor, forget the big infrastructure projects. Boosting the productivity of SMEs is the key to growth, writes Paul Ormerod The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has reportedly asked Cabinet colleagues to come up with ideas to boost economic growth. We might reasonably wonder why this exercise was not carried out during Labour’s long period of opposition. Still, something […]
Recent Conservative governments have been more left wing than Attlee
Here’s a Christmas quiz: Which has been Britain’s most left-wing government? According to Paul Ormerod, it’s not the one you think…. The extended Christmas holidays loom. One way of filling the time is to think about crucial questions such as who is England’s greatest ever batsman, which football club side is the best the world […]
It’s time for England to stop subsidising Scotland and Wales
The devolved nations are living on another planet economically because England essentially pays for their deficits. This has to stop, says Paul Ormerod Every single pensioner will continue to receive payments towards their winter fuel. This is not some fantasy world in which the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has abandoned one of her flagship policies. It […]
Office for Value for Money: Can more bureaucracy really improve productivity?
The public sector’s productivity record is abysmal, and Rachel Reeves’ new Office for Value for Money shows she knows it. But will more bureaucracy really solve the issue, asks Paul Ormerod There are some parts of the British state which function with admirable efficiency. Any driver with the temerity to stray a yard into a […]
Borrowing to invest is all very well but what about value for money?
The precise contents of the budget are still secret. But a widely trailed theme is that the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, wants to create as much scope as possible for extra public sector investment. She appears to be willing to rewrite the existing fiscal rules in order to accommodate the increase. In principle of course there […]
Will carbon capture work? Nobody knows – and that’s the problem
The government confirmed this month the funding for the UK’s first carbon capture sites. The technology, it is claimed, captures CO2 emissions before they reach the atmosphere and stores them away safely. Based on Merseyside and Teesside, the project will have almost miraculous powers. It will create 4,000 jobs directly, as many as 50,000 in […]
The threat of higher taxes is already harming growth
The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, had made no secret of her desire to make economic growth her top policy objective. She reinforced the message this week in an interview with the Financial Times, using the mantra “invest, invest, invest!”. Perhaps unwittingly, this carries echoes of Karl Mark’s memorable phrase in Das Kapital: “Accumulate, accumulate. That is Moses and the […]
Haldane is right – the Chancellor’s doom-mongering is dangerous
The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, often mentions her experience as an economist at the Bank of England. But she has been taken to task by no less a figure than the former chief economist of the Bank, Andy Haldane. Haldane notes that “just after the election, there was a sense of refresh, a sense of renewal, a […]
