Should the wealthy get away with less tax?
Should we tax wealth more? The UK’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reevs wouldn’t be drawn o the question at an FT forum recently. She said the UK is already a high taxing country. But around the world the ...
15 Maj 202440min
UK Labour’s Half-Baked Nationalisation Plans
UK Labour leader Keir Starmer has said if he wins the next general election, within 5 years he will have re-nationalised Britain’s railways. Phil asks Steve whether it naturally follows that this will...
8 Maj 202444min
Cheap news is bad news
The new industry is struggling to survive, with far reaching consequences on public accountability and democracy. Steve says part of the problem could have been fixed with a suitable micropayments sys...
1 Maj 202447min
Fool’s Gold
There are two types of people who buy gold. Speculators who see it as a risk-adverse asset class to buy when other investments look a little shaky. There are also those who hold onto gold because they...
24 Apr 202438min
Will America ever be great again?
Sadly for Donald Trump, America seems to have been doing quite well in his absence. It has weathered the pandemic and inflation better than most. GDP pr capita is rising faster than most places and co...
17 Apr 202445min
Feige’s automated transaction tax – the simple answer?
For a while now Dr Edgar Feige has been a proponent of an automated transactional tax. The idea is that we get rid of all taxes – income tax, sales tax, corporate tax, excise, capital gains, import an...
10 Apr 202441min
Does immigration slow inflation?
There’s been a lot of speculation lately about the role of immigration and its impact on inflation. Does a flood of foreign workers push down wages, which contains cost and keeps prices down? Converse...
3 Apr 202440min
End of the Rising Sun
The Bank of Japan has just lifted interest rates for the first time in 17 tears. The central bank has kept rates in negative territory in the mistaken belief that it would encourage banks to lend an p...
27 Mars 202439min
