The Honourable Joe Hockey, Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia, sat down with ieaTV to discuss how Australia has managed … Continue reading “An interview with Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey”

Zero-hours contracts. High prices. Benefit cuts. Unemployment. Childcare costs. According to the international development charity Oxfam, the combination of these … Continue reading “Oxfam are one club golfers – for them more government is always the answer”

I am reading the Economist and Financial Times 2013 book of the year, Stephen D. King’s When the Money Runs … Continue reading “What to do before the money runs out”

The issue of tax avoidance cannot be divorced from the nature of the tax system, and that in turn cannot … Continue reading “Reform the tax system and rein in government spending”

The UK has been put on a credit-rating downgrade watch. This is not surprising, but one wonders whether Moody’s is … Continue reading “This medium-termist government needs to think long-term – now”

With a clear majority, the House of Lords has voted against the proposed changes to Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), … Continue reading “The opponents of the ESA cuts are right for the wrong reason”

‘Support for UK cuts plummets’ screams a hyperbolic headline in today’s Financial Times. It relates to a poll carried out … Continue reading “Never mind the buzzwords – cuts are both necessary and desirable”

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”

Ed Miliband is taking the line that the coalition is cutting “too far and too fast”. The news that the … Continue reading “‘Too far and too fast’ or too little, too late? Why Osborne needs a plan B”