An oft-overlooked effect of wage floors is that they permit and even encourage various forms of discrimination. Discrimination is an … Continue reading “How minimum wages encourage discrimination”

In social policy debates, collective memory is extraordinarily short-term. Once a transfer instrument has been around for a few years, … Continue reading “If the minimum wage cannot be scrapped, at least make it predictable”

In the March issue of Economic Affairs, a paper by Karthik Reddy analysed the empirical literature on the employment effects … Continue reading “How and how not to debate minimum wages”

A key part of promoting supply-side improvements in the UK economy has to be the loosening-up of employment regulation. Although … Continue reading “If we want to improve the supply-side we need greater efforts to deregulate the labour market”

It is not easy running a business in this country. You might think I’m making reference to the recession, and, … Continue reading “Cut out the red tape and get us back on track”

As Mervyn King suggested last night, the prospects for living standards in the near future are grim. Higher economic growth will … Continue reading “Rational pessimism, Mervyn King and supply-side liberalisation”

Nearly one million Britons will see their pay rise to £5.93 this week, from £5.80 per hour last week – … Continue reading “Minimum wage hike will harm job growth and competitiveness”

With youth unemployment rising to 1 million, the government – or more realistically the Tories – need a radical rethink … Continue reading “The Tories need a rethink on the minimum wage”

According to Keynes, sticky prices in markets lead to a phenomenon whereby we can get disequilibrium in the labour market … Continue reading “It’s government that gums up markets”