How large were cuts to government spending during the last parliament? The answer may surprise you. Overall real expenditure fell … Continue reading “Forget horse-trading over cuts: The Spending Review is an opportunity to rethink the state”

‘Britain’s poorest families have been abandoned today and left to face the worst’, goes the opening line of the Child … Continue reading “When is a cut not a cut? When it is a cut in a projected increase”

The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) was not particularly comprehensive. It will reduce spending as a proportion of national income to … Continue reading “Pensioners should suffer their share of the cuts”

The welfare section of the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) contains many elements which are “pragmatic” rather than strategic. This includes … Continue reading “Work incentives for single parents will worsen – thanks to child poverty targets”

Much of the analysis of the Comprehensive Spending Review focused on the big picture and the multi-billion pound savings the … Continue reading “Coalition should stop funding anti-smoking groups”

Back in 1981, the IEA published State Forestry for the Axe: A Study of the Forestry Commission and De-nationalisation by … Continue reading “Why the Forestry Commission deserves the chop”

Last week’s Comprehensive Spending Review has reignited the debate on how much the government can save by cutting waste. To … Continue reading “Winning the war on government waste”

I must confess to being taken aback by the emphasis in popular comment about the impact of the CSR on … Continue reading “How to be pro poor – learn from President Obama, and do the opposite”