The Government has announced that all social housing managers in England will now be required to gain formal housing qualifications. … Continue reading “The Social Housing (Regulation) Bill: an expensive smokescreen”

Faced with the twin problems of NHS staff shortages and slow vaccine rollout, the fact that 50,000 retired medics have … Continue reading “Relax occupational licensing laws to speed up the post-Covid recovery”

Earlier this month, the government announced its intention to expand the number of healthcare professionals who could legally administer vaccines … Continue reading “How to cure doctor shortages without breaking the bank”

Summary Following the Covid-19 lockdown, the UK labour market faces much higher unemployment and reductions in labour force participation as … Continue reading “How to create new jobs”

Assaults on economic freedom come so thick and so fast it is difficult to keep up with them. Here are … Continue reading “Scrap the Low Pay Commission, not dishwashers”

Following my piece about Mrs May’s proposals for ethnic pay monitoring, a correspondent has asked me how we can resolve … Continue reading “Free markets, not ethnic monitoring, offer the best defence against racism”

The latest push to license an occupation concerns the building trade. In line with Milton Friedman’s observation, the initiative comes … Continue reading “Occupational licensing – again”

Sajid Javid has recently announced that in future, estate agents will be required to hold a professional qualification, thus adding to … Continue reading “Occupational licensing of estate agents will restrict competition, and protect incumbents”

Occupational regulation protects incumbent members of an occupation, reduces access to jobs and frequently raises costs to the public with … Continue reading “‘Voluntary’ worker certification is occupational licensing by stealth”