It’s “Living Wage Week”. For seven days, the Living Wage Foundation’s campaign for employers to pay workers at least £8.25 … Continue reading “We need a ‘Living Cost Week’, not a Living Wage Week”

The battle for the soul of the Conservative party post-election has already begun. This week, commentator and conservative activist Tim … Continue reading “There’s very little evidence that you can shrink government by expanding it”

Aside from the much-expected arms race to win the pensioner vote with a host of taxpayer-funded goodies, all parties (bar … Continue reading “Childcare costs: Politicians need to do less”

Earlier this week the Institute for Fiscal Studies published the results of two related research projects evaluating the effects of … Continue reading “Why childcare subsidies have been ineffective”

Earlier this week, I outlined the red herrings that distort the debate about low pay and the cost of living. … Continue reading “A real agenda to reduce the cost of living”

Since the publication of Kristian Niemietz’s seminal work Redefining the Poverty Debate in 2012, many of us have been arguing … Continue reading “The red herrings which distort the cost of living debate”

In this video the IEA’s Senior Research Fellow Kristian Niemietz outlines a free-market approach to the cost of living squeeze. … Continue reading “Cost of living crisis: causes and solutions”

Why do politicians advocate policies which deal with the symptoms of problems rather than the underlying issues directly? In the … Continue reading “Faulty rent control plans reflect the shallowness of UK politics today”

Pay growth at 1.7 per cent, inflation at 1.6 per cent on the consumer price index (CPI), real wages increasing. … Continue reading “The cost of living crisis isn’t over – but Ed Miliband still won’t solve it”