Ryan Bourne: Beware these new Keynesians who claim more spending is always the answer – whatever the state of the economy

As the man himself famously did not say: “When the facts change, I find new reasons to advocate for stimulus packages.”

Ryan Bourne: It’s time for the Tories to deliver on childcare deregulation

It won’t fix the problem on its own, but this is an opportunity to drive through worthwhile reform.

Ryan Bourne: There are much more effective ways to help young people than a tax break

Better to actually fix housing costs and student loan repayments than devise a complex subsidy.

Ryan Bourne: Fiscal drag remains the Government’s stealth tax of choice

It allows politicians to squeeze voters whilst lying about being tax-cutters at election time.

Ryan Bourne: The huge scale – and implications – of the private sector boycott of Russia

Focusing on state sanctions risks understating the scale of the West’s economic response to Vladimir Putin’s war.

Ryan Bourne: Here’s another reason for planning reform. Ministers won’t realise their post-Brexit and levelling up ambitions without it.

The system deters labour mobility, impedes cutting-edge logistics, constrains growing industries, and prevents businesses from repurposing quickly.

Ryan Bourne: The Government is wrong to end no fault eviction. The change will mean fewer landlords and renter homes.

It’s the worst form of gesture politics in practice – that substitutes for the urgent need for more housing.

Ryan Bourne: A government that wants to Build Back Better must address supply-side constraints on the economy

The pandemic has destroyed the idea that macroeconomic problems can be solved by throwing more stimulus at things.

Ryan Bourne: Sunak’s instincts are right. The Government should avoid slashing VAT on domestic fuel.

It will, for one, open the door to numerous other interest groups, who will demand for such a policy to be maintained or used again in the future.

Ryan Bourne: For Sunak, cutting the basic rate of income tax shouldn’t be a political priority right now

The Chancellor’s team reportedly wants to cut it from 20 per cent to 19 per cent in 2023. Here’s why that wouldn’t be a good idea.

Ryan Bourne: It’ll take decades, not years, to determine whether Brexit was a success

Leavers and Remainers have been premature to judge this major constitutional change.

Ryan Bourne: Why Sunak should think twice about a central bank digital currency

Last week, one of the many dangers of such a project became clear: the possibility of its use for rampant paternalism.

Ryan Bourne: Don’t write off the Budget. It showed that the Treasury is taking incentives and tax coherence seriously again.

The Chancellor extolled principles that point to the possibility of meaningful pro-growth reform of how revenues are raised.

Ryan Bourne: Cut immigration to raise wages? If only it were all so simple.

Pay is a business cost and, in reaction, profit-seeking firms will raise prices, cut worker benefits, slash services, or leave the sector if profits are squeezed.

Ryan Bourne: Housing. Gove is poised to dump radical supply side reform. And subsidise younger peoples’ mortgages instead.

Faced with political resistance, the Conservative Party seems to be abandoning not just the policy but its understanding of the problem.