Robert Peston, the BBC’s economics editor, has recently made his contribution to the rapidly growing genre of polemical inequality documentaries … Continue reading “The rich versus the super-rich”

In my new IEA monograph Selfishness, Greed and Capitalism, I discuss some of the most common straw men and myths … Continue reading “Myths and straw men”

One hundred years ago today, President Woodrow Wilson approved the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act, the US’s first national legislation designed … Continue reading “The war on drugs began 100 years ago today: Let’s hope it doesn’t last another century”

My report about pub closures was generally well received when it was published yesterday, with the notable exception of the … Continue reading “How not to lie with pub closure statistics”

The UK has lost 21,000 pubs since 1980, with half of these closures taking place since 2006. In Closing Time, … Continue reading “Who’s killing the British pub?”

Recently, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation released an updated version of its Minimum Income Standard (MIS) which looks at what modern … Continue reading “The Minimum Income Standard: the wisdom of crowds?”

A group of charities and campaign groups have written a letter to The Times complaining about what they regard as … Continue reading “Where does the state end and civil society begin?”

On Sunday, the Observer reported that ‘Inequality costs Britain £39bn a year’. This is based on the belief that ‘a … Continue reading “The Spirit Level and the imaginary £39 billion (part 1)”

The recent suggestion by the chief medical officer Sally Davies that ‘we may need to introduce a sugar tax’ is … Continue reading “Resist temptation: a sugar tax won’t make us healthy”