We should expunge the term “public service broadcasting”

Philip Booth
16 November 2020
Economic Theory

We should expunge the term “public service broadcasting”

The Government has appointed a panel to review the future of public service broadcasting. We can be wholly confident that they will report that little should change. The panel is made up largely of industry insiders and ex-insiders, and they tend to revere the status quo. The licence fee stops the BBC competing effectively for ... Continue reading
Philip Booth
16 November 2020
Share
Leave a comment on We should expunge the term “public service broadcasting”

How strong are British banks?

Professor Kevin Dowd and Dr Dean Buckner
31 July 2020
Research

How strong are British banks?

and can they pass the Covid-19 stress test?

Summary The Bank of England maintains that UK banks are strongly capitalised. The evidence from banks’ share prices and market values contradicts this claim. Banks are more fragile now than they were going into the last crisis. The Bank of England’s failure to ensure the resilience of the banking system suggests a need for radical ... Continue reading
Professor Kevin Dowd and Dr Dean Buckner
31 July 2020
Share
Download
PRESS RELEASE

The Information Commissioner has extensive powers but is not being held to account

Victoria Hewson
16 July 2020
Regulation

The Information Commissioner has extensive powers but is not being held to account

The Information Commissioner and its Office (the ICO) are among the most high profile regulators in this country. They oversee and enforce compliance of data protection regulations that not only impact organisations here in Britain but, at least in theory, anywhere that the personal data of UK citizens is processed. They can impose huge fines, ... Continue reading
Victoria Hewson
16 July 2020
Share
Leave a comment on The Information Commissioner has extensive powers but is not being held to account

Who Regulates the Regulators?

Victoria Hewson and James Tumbridge
15 July 2020
Research

Who Regulates the Regulators?

No 1: The Information Commissioner's Office

Summary The Information Commissioner has wide ranging functions and powers. They are not always parameterised clearly in the relevant legislation. The Information Commissioner’s reporting shows little evidence that objectives are being met, or even measured. The Parliamentary Committee responsible has not performed its scrutiny function of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) well and a forum ... Continue reading
Victoria Hewson and James Tumbridge
15 July 2020
Share
Download
PRESS RELEASE

Liberalising planning rules would help the economy adjust to changing business patterns

Philip Booth
14 July 2020
Regulation

Liberalising planning rules would help the economy adjust to changing business patterns

Milton Friedman once said that “Only government can take perfectly good paper, cover it with perfectly good ink and make the combination worthless”. Other amazing achievements of the turning wine into water variety include presiding over a planning system that simultaneously has empty high streets and unaffordable housing. In the post-Covid world, there could be ... Continue reading
Philip Booth
14 July 2020
Share
Leave a comment on Liberalising planning rules would help the economy adjust to changing business patterns

Recovery from the pandemic will require a single-minded focus on maximising growth

Sinclair Davidson
9 June 2020
Regulation

Recovery from the pandemic will require a single-minded focus on maximising growth

The COVID-19 pandemic will be a global trauma that people talk about – argue about – for decades. Debate is beginning to rage about whether governments made the correct choice to “flatten the curve” and relieve the expected disease burden on public health services. To buy time sounded like a good idea in March. In ... Continue reading
Sinclair Davidson
9 June 2020
Share
1 Comment on Recovery from the pandemic will require a single-minded focus on maximising growth

To make banks strong, do away with the regulator

Kevin Dowd
13 May 2020
Regulation

To make banks strong, do away with the regulator

As the UK economy enters the COVID-19 downturn, the Bank of England (BoE) continues to maintain that the UK banks are strongly capitalised. The BoE’s claims are not to be believed. As ex-Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) regulator Dean Buckner and I set out in our new report on the state of the UK banking system, ... Continue reading
Kevin Dowd
13 May 2020
Share
5 Comments on To make banks strong, do away with the regulator

Liberty After The Lockdown

Christopher Snowdon
4 May 2020
Research

Liberty After The Lockdown

Summary Laws passed in late March 2020 to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic are the greatest restrictions on liberty in modern British history. Any benefits that have emerged as a side effect of the restrictions have been far exceeded by the costs to the economy and to civil liberties. Civil society and the media should ... Continue reading
Christopher Snowdon
4 May 2020
Share
Download
PRESS RELEASE

The case against price controls during the pandemic

Klaus Ulrich
16 April 2020
Regulation

The case against price controls during the pandemic

Periods of economic crisis are a breeding ground for all sorts of “populist” ideas, often ones that have been discarded in the past due to their dire practical implications. During the turbulent first half of the twentieth century, economic measures from interventionist doctrines became widespread, plunging many developed or developing societies into poverty. The rise ... Continue reading
Klaus Ulrich
16 April 2020
Share
Leave a comment on The case against price controls during the pandemic

Rules Britannia

Victoria Hewson
10 March 2020
Research

Rules Britannia

Analysing Britain's regulatory burden

In our political discourse there is much discussion of red tape, frequently phrased in terms of ‘challenges’ and ‘bonfires’ to reduce and cut it. Supporters of free markets often have a general feeling that there is too much regulation or that it is too intrusive, badly formulated and ineffective. However, proponents of these positions are ... Continue reading
Victoria Hewson
10 March 2020
Share
Download
PRESS RELEASE