Ryan Bourne occupies the R Evan Scharf Chair in the Public Understanding of Economics at the Cato Institute.
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Stateside narratives have a tendency to be imported into UK politics – one of the knock-on effects of this messy Presidential election outcome.
Together with tax cuts and less regulation, higher or more extensive benefits look like better support for hungry children than vouchers.
We should judge the desirability of a pro-wind energy policy by the social value added, not the numbers employed in the sector.
It was “the most commonly reported activity in the two to seven days prior to symptom onset” for infected individuals in the contact tracing system.
I was regaled with horror story after story on access to even existing testing. Confidence in the “moonshot” is non-existent.
Modest consolidation over decades is one thing; large increases over a Parliament would be quite another.
Wind and nuclear power both produce electricity. But if someone said we needed a tax on wind power to subsidise nuclear, you’d think they were mad.
Precisely what does Johnson think was wrong with the 2010-2018 deficit reduction agenda? Who knows? The Tories don’t have a clear economic story.
What normalisation should mean is the return to a functioning market economy where our wants and needs are met in today’s circumstances.
He wanted the CMA to be both an aggressive consumer champion and decision-maker – “too much prosecution, judge, and jury” according to some.
The Government can avoid worsening it. But that requires as bold a deviation from ordinary policy as the extraordinary relief efforts we saw before.
Impacts on the margin shouldn’t be used to mask the big picture: private activity mimicked shutdowns before they happened.
If it proves a temporary blowout rather than permanent, accumulated debt levels being modestly higher looks manageable.
Absent a clearly articulated strategy business uncertainty will heighten, and severe non-compliance is risked
None the less, while lockdown alleviates the worst, it doesn’t deliver the best. The Government should probe less costly ways to achieve the same ends.