America’s decision to support the suspension of patents on Covid-19 vaccines is being hailed by some as victory for public health – but it is also a win for copyright pirates, misguided NGOs, and other vested interests that have long sought to undermine property rights. Waiving the WTO’s Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) will […]
On New Year’s Day, there was more to celebrate than just the end of 2020. It was also the day that thousands upon thousands of works, by creators long dead, finally entered the public domain. Among them were George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion, and George Orwell’s classics Animal Farm and 1984. Why? Because the authors died […]
When I walked out of Number 10 Downing Street for the last time I was optimistic about my future. I was about to become a father and, as former business adviser to the Prime Minister specialising in technology and entrepreneurship, I didn’t think I’d struggle to work out what I wanted to do next in […]
Netflix’s Street Food appears at first to just be a series about grilled meat, fresh empanadas and quick bites from food carts around the world. The latest series, set in Latin America, is a reminder though that behind every business is a personal story — overcoming loss, challenging your limits, not accepting the pernicious idea […]
Rishi Sunak’s first Budget was confidently delivered, politically astute and, for the most part, economically sound. As usual, it will take a while to work through the details of every announcement and no doubt some of these will fail to live up to the headlines on the day. But the big picture has three big […]
The first budget after an election is rarely the time that governments start cutting taxes. According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, on average over the last three decades tax rises worth £13 billion have been announced in the first year of each parliament. Governments often come in on the back of major spending pledges […]
Almost all the commentary ahead of the Bank of England’s monetary policy meeting at the end of the month has focused on whether interest rates should be cut, or left on hold. In contrast, I would be itching to vote for a hike. There does at least appear to be an emerging consensus that the […]
They probably don’t agree on much else at the great economists’ dinner parties in the sky, but Karl Marx and Adam Smith would both argue that studying work is the key to understanding society. Nor would either be particularly shocked to see an analysis of occupational changes in the last decade reveal the changing face […]
A political leader who has just secured a large majority has rarely regretted doing too much, too quickly. Boris Johnson’s extraordinary opportunity for radical reform of the structures of government and economy must not be wasted. The challenge of delivering a successful economy for everyone is immense. So here are five ideas for the new government […]
A little over two weeks ago, in typically unorthodox fashion, Dominic Cummings uploaded his thoughts about the ongoing election onto his personal blog. For the most part, the Prime Minister’s strategist stuck largely to his campaign’s core script, albeit with more capital letters and tirades about Dominic Grieve. Yet towards the end of the article, […]
From the self-employed entrepreneur to the biggest boardrooms, British bosses should have one thing on their agenda tomorrow: to stop a Corbyn-led government pulling out not just the rug from under their feet but the floorboards, joists and the foundations too. Whatever else can be laid at their door, Corbyn and his allies have been […]
Recently released Government housebuilding data contains a pleasant surprise – the number of new dwellings in England was over 241,000. This is the highest rate of housebuilding in England since the target for 240,000 new homes a year for the UK was set back in 2007. This is good news for housing affordability, and national […]
Entrepreneurship policy might not grab the headlines when each party sets out its stall in an election, but if you get it right, it’s a heck of a lot easier to do everything else. Entrepreneurial endeavours have taken humanity from subsistence to relative affluence and it is entrepreneurs who will raise the living standards of […]
In an election campaign of extraordinary claims, perhaps the most extraordinary is that if the Tories get re-elected then child poverty will rise to the levels of the 1950s, something the Resolution Foundation have argued today. This is not just extraordinary, it’s nonsense. Since the 1950s there has been a considerable change to the definition […]
Counterpoint: To read the case for scrapping HS2, click here The problems that HS2 solves are far-reaching and complex and it is for this reason that many politicians and commentators have failed to make the case for the project. The West Midlands has seen a 121% increase in rail use in the last decade and […]
The use of data will revolutionise our world. It can remind us to set an alarm before we go to bed, save us countless hours choosing what to watch, and even reduce our energy use, saving money and the planet. But at what cost? Most of what we hear about data is alarming. It seems […]
