Do we need a welfare state at all?

Carolin Bollig
29 July 2019
Welfare

Do we need a welfare state at all?

Given the manifold problems with both the implementation and the design of Universal Credit (UC), as well as similar problems in other welfare systems, one feels tempted to take a step back, and ask: is all this really necessary? Has the state created an overly complicated system where private initiative would have sufficed? Or more ... Continue reading
Carolin Bollig
29 July 2019
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Universal Credit: what went wrong? (Part 3: lessons from Germany)

Carolin Bollig
17 July 2019
Welfare

Universal Credit: what went wrong? (Part 3: lessons from Germany)

Parts 1 and 2 demonstrated that while Universal Credit (UC) has the potential to increase efficiency, improve employment incentives and promote recipient independence, there are flaws both in its implementation and the underlying system. At this point, it seems helpful to consider developments in the welfare models of other countries. Take Germany, for example. Its ... Continue reading
Carolin Bollig
17 July 2019
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Universal Credit: what went wrong? (Part 2: the design)

Carolin Bollig
11 July 2019
Welfare

Universal Credit: what went wrong? (Part 2: the design)

...continued from Part 1   The issues of implementation described before should largely go away once UC is finally rolled-out completely and the old “legacy benefits” are gone. However, some issues with UC go deeper; they are a matter system design rather than teething trouble. One is that after going through the strains of a ... Continue reading
Carolin Bollig
11 July 2019
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Universal Credit: what went wrong? (Part 1: the implementation)

Carolin Bollig
9 July 2019
Welfare

Universal Credit: what went wrong? (Part 1: the implementation)

Universal Credit has several objectives, some more, some less explicit. Overall, these seem to fall within two categories: increasing employment and decreasing cost. To achieve the first, UC aims to improve predictability as well as increased self-management of recipients. The predictability of a benefits system is an important factor in reducing disincentives to work, as ... Continue reading
Carolin Bollig
9 July 2019
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Scrap the free TV licence – and scrap the TV licence

Philip Booth
17 June 2019
Welfare

Scrap the free TV licence – and scrap the TV licence

On Question Time last week, the issue of the restriction of television licences to over-75s was raised. Nobody spoke in favour of the decision. This is a triumph of special interests over rationality or justice – a problem that was predicted to occur as the population ages in various IEA publications. Let us put aside ... Continue reading
Philip Booth
17 June 2019
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Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short?! (Part 3)

Richard Norrie
7 June 2019
Welfare

Solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short?! (Part 3)

Continued from Part 2... Alston makes many claims about living standards. Some turn out to be without foundation and based on repeating what advocates have told him. For instance, Alston writes: “It is hardly surprising that civil society has reported unheard-of levels of loneliness and isolation, prompting the Government to appoint a Minister for Suicide ... Continue reading
Richard Norrie
7 June 2019
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Food banks and food insecurity (Part 2)

Richard Norrie
6 June 2019
Welfare

Food banks and food insecurity (Part 2)

Continued from Part 1… Alston points to rising food insecurity and calls for the government to “systematically measure food security”. However, he ignores the only time-series data we have on this. Eurostat surveys ask respondents if they are unable to afford a meal with meat, chicken, fish or a vegetarian equivalent every second day. It ... Continue reading
Richard Norrie
6 June 2019
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Is the special rapporteur right about poverty? (Part 1)

Richard Norrie
5 June 2019
Welfare

Is the special rapporteur right about poverty? (Part 1)

The United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty, Philip Alston, recently published his second and final report on poverty in the United Kingdom. He offers up a bleak picture, with rising levels of poverty, particularly among children, spelling out “a social calamity and an economic disaster rolled into one”. The social fabric is unravelling and ... Continue reading
Richard Norrie
5 June 2019
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Is happiness all that matters?

Jamie Whyte
28 May 2019
Economic Theory

Is happiness all that matters?

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, the former King of Bhutan, declared in 1972 that “gross national happiness (GNH) is more important than gross national product”. The Centre for Bhutan Studies dutifully constructed a survey-based measure of GNH, whose increase is now the goal of Bhutan’s five-year plans. Wangchuckism has slowly caught on outside of the happy Kingdom. ... Continue reading
Jamie Whyte
28 May 2019
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Wages are rising – and here is why it’s bad news for Europe

8 April 2019
Labour Market

Wages are rising – and here is why it’s bad news for Europe

Len Shackleton quoted in The Telegraph

Len Shackleton, Institute of Economic Affairs' Research Fellow, is quoted in The Telegraph on the subject of increasing minimum and living wages. He warns that pushing up pay for lower paid workers does not “really impact a great deal on poverty”. “Most people in poverty are either not working or only working part time and ... Continue reading
8 April 2019
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