
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 occupies the R Evan Scharf Chair in the Public Understanding of Economics at the Cato Institute.
Follow @As the man himself famously did not say: “When the facts change, I find new reasons to advocate for stimulus packages.”
It won’t fix the problem on its own, but this is an opportunity to drive through worthwhile reform.
Better to actually fix housing costs and student loan repayments than devise a complex subsidy.
It allows politicians to squeeze voters whilst lying about being tax-cutters at election time.
Focusing on state sanctions risks understating the scale of the West’s economic response to Vladimir Putin’s war.
The system deters labour mobility, impedes cutting-edge logistics, constrains growing industries, and prevents businesses from repurposing quickly.
It’s the worst form of gesture politics in practice – that substitutes for the urgent need for more housing.
The pandemic has destroyed the idea that macroeconomic problems can be solved by throwing more stimulus at things.
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.
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.
Leavers and Remainers have been premature to judge this major constitutional change.
Last week, one of the many dangers of such a project became clear: the possibility of its use for rampant paternalism.
The Chancellor extolled principles that point to the possibility of meaningful pro-growth reform of how revenues are raised.
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.
Faced with political resistance, the Conservative Party seems to be abandoning not just the policy but its understanding of the problem.