The forthcoming Budget will be a seat-of-the-pants affair. Former Chancellor Sajid Javid handed his successor, the suave Rishi Sunak, an extraordinarily difficult balancing act: somehow, Sunak has to deliver on the implied promises made to those who voted Tory for the first time in the December election, while still paying lip service to the Government’s […]
Migration is unfashionable. Not only from outside the UK, but within it, too. Norman Tebbit’s famous mantra “Get on your bike” is being replaced with “Stay where you are.” Your family, your community needs you. And you shouldn’t have to get on your bike, anyway. The right job should come to you. If capitalism won’t […]
Unskilled immigration is a problem, we are told. People argue about how to restrict unskilled immigration, and by how much: lots of people favour points-based immigration systems so we can restrict unskilled immigration while continuing to import “the skills the economy needs”. But no-one ever questions whether Britain should be importing skills. Those proposing skills-based […]
For the last decade, central banks in developed countries have been pursuing policies designed to raise inflation. Quantitative easing, cheap funding for banks, tinkering with yield curves, low and negative interest rates – all aim to raise inflation to the ubiquitous 2 per cent target. Understandably, central banks’ inflation forecasts assume that their policies will […]
