Philip Hammond’s decision in this week’s budget to abandon the Private Finance Initiative has been regarded by some commentators as … Continue reading “PFI’s defeat stems from poor government provision – not market failure”

The idea of the “Entrepreneurial State” or the “state as investor” has taken off in recent years – following the … Continue reading “Debunking the ‘State-as-Investor’”

In all the finger pointing that has followed the collapse of Carillion, in Parliament and the newspapers, it is hard … Continue reading “The interface of the private and the public sector: impressions from the front line”

Students who cheat are more likely to want public sector careers. That is the core finding of Rema Hanna of … Continue reading “Dishonest students prefer government careers”

As we move towards the budget we will be hearing more and more warnings about the impact of further cuts … Continue reading “Do public sector job cuts hit women disproportionately?”

Last week saw large scale strike action from public sector workers here in the UK, campaigning against changes to pension … Continue reading “Cuts, Responsibility and the Public Sector”

The strikes and protests witnessed in Britain’s cities this week may well signal the start of a phase of industrial … Continue reading “Public sector largesse in the UK”

In the 15 years to 2007, the British economy had on average faster growth (by about 0.5% to 0.75% a … Continue reading “Reasons to be negative about the UK’s growth prospects”

A big fanfare this week for the employment and unemployment data from the Office of National Statistics. Overall unemployment fell slightly – … Continue reading “Are women being disproportionately hit by job losses?”