Occasionally, a statement by somebody catches the spirit of the times and sets tongues wagging. Such is the case in the City of London this week with the call by John McFarlane, the chairman of Barclays, for banks to pull their socks up, challenge politicians, and to create a European investment banking giant. He followed […]
Socialism, as Thatcher told the 1976 Christian Democratic Union Conference, sees the “state take more in tax and leave less for the individual” and results in “decisions affecting people’s lives” being “taken from them, instead of being taken by them”. Such socialist ideals have seemingly inspired Jamie Oliver’s declaration of war on sugar in his […]
I’m not a medical expert but I am pretty sure that if someone gave me a free summer house or bought me, say, a pedalo ride or an iPad, it would probably make me feel better. So it comes as no surprise that our esteemed medical professionals have discovered that, by handing out millions of pounds […]
In a recent, thought-provoking CapX article, Alex Verkhivker and Hugo Winn argued that free-marketeers should support the introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT). Verkhivker and Winn make three key arguments in favour of an FTT: it would curtail damaging high frequency trading, it would increase liquidity and it would force the financial sector to […]
Benjamin Franklin once said, “The only thing guaranteed in life is death and taxes”. We can all find ourselves moaning about taxes from time to time. But looking back on Britain’s tax history, here are 5 direct levies that we can be grateful about not having to pay for. 1. The window tax (or glass […]
The idea of a Robin Hood Tax – a tax on the purchase and sale of securities and derivatives – is hardly new. Since Hunter Logan proposed the idea in 1998, everyone from Bill Gates to Pope Benedict XVI has endorsed it. The European Union is set to impose their version on banks by the […]
Utrecht plans to experiment rolling out an unconditional basic income to a few of their welfare claimants by January 2016. Recipients will receive a basic income, set to be €900 for an adult per month, and €1,300 for a couple or family, with no restrictions on how it must be spent, unlike traditional welfare models. This will […]
“Sweden is often used in my country as an argument for why socialism works”. This is roughly what many people abroad have told me after reading Scandinavian Unexceptionalism. In a previous columns for CapX, I have argued for why Sweden and other Nordic countries are not exception from the laws of economics, wherein high taxes […]
A few years ago the US National Public Radio ran a story “about a country that seems to violate the laws of the economic universe.” It had “one of the lowest poverty rates in the world, low unemployment, a steadily growing economy and almost no corruption” although it had high taxes. The country in question […]
Last week George Osborne reduced tax credits for working parents and increased the minimum wage from £6.50 to £7.20, rising to £9.00 by 2020. Several commentators called the move a masterstroke. It allows Mr Osborne to cut the welfare budget without outraging those devoted to the welfare of the working poor. It may well be […]
The European Commission recently re-launched plans for a compulsory EU-wide tax code for multinationals operating in more than one member state. The scheme, known as the Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCTB), would calculate a multinational company’s taxable income across the EU, and then assign shares of it to the different member states where that […]
This article was originally published by the Foundation for Economic Education, and can be found here. June 15, 2015 marks 800 years since a fateful day along the River Thames just twenty miles west of central London. It’s a good thing to note such anniversaries. They encourage us to discover things we should have learned […]
How high is the tax burden? The most common way of comparing different countries is to look at how much of the total economic value created in each country – that is, the GDP – goes to taxes. In the UK the tax rate is 33 per cent of GDP. This is considerably less than […]
Tax Freedom Day is upon us again. In 2015 the average person stops paying tax, and starts paying themselves, on 31st May. Every penny they earned from 1st January to 30th May, inclusive, went to the taxman. Well, not quite. Firstly, and quite obviously, people pay tax throughout the year, not in one big block […]
“Creative destruction” is probably the most accurate and pithy definition of capitalism ever. The expression was coined by Joseph Schumpeter when he taught Economics at Harvard. Without destroying obsolete activities, no progress can occur. One could see that in the former Soviet Union, where no factories were ever shut down. “Destruction” however, bears a cost: managers […]
Britain risks losing its way. Prolonged shame and anger over the financial crisis have turned all political parties against the City and even against wider business and wealth creation. In small ways here and there, it is starting to show, with weak investment levels and hints that the global rich are looking for more welcoming […]
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