Industrial policy should be about upsetting the private sector establishment
Whatever the industrial sector – energy, finance, IT, transport, defence – there is no mistaking the widespread and pernicious influence of the lobbyists
Edited by Peter Franklin
UKIP Derangement Disorder – German style
In an era where ‘anti-system’ parties of various kinds are challenging the political establishment, we need an objective means of distinguishing between them
Theresa May and the future of the Conservative Party
The police service is one area of the public sector where Conservatives have traditionally outdone Labour in the indulgence of failure
Heresy of the week: Dead people should have the vote
As the Greek proverb has it: “a society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
Government should provide support for new energy technologies, but not all of them
In deciding whether to provide upfront public support for a new technology we need an assessment of its potential for cost reduction
Cuba: Not, in fact, a socialist paradise
Compared to the Kims, the Castros get a pretty good press in the West, with various useful idiots willing to present their dictatorship as some kind of success story
Homeownership isn’t to blame for our crazy housing market
Housing doesn’t work like other markets, but homeownership isn’t the reason why
Cutting the number of Whitehall departments is missing the point
To distract their critics, Labour’s Treasury team will make a big thing of the administrative savings they intend to make
Heresy of the week: We should think about independence for Yorkshire
For all the progress on localisation made by some ministers, the centralising instinct still lurks within Whitehall’s bosom
The heavy price we pay for cheap money
Ultra low interest rates aren’t just bad for savers
UKIP Derangement Disorder: further reports
While some Ukippers don’t mind dishing out insults – ‘LibLabCon’, ‘EUSSR’ etc – they get worse in return
How much do we really care about Britain’s high infant mortality?
Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus all have lower infant mortality rates than we do
How would a mansion tax work out? Let’s ask the French…
The advocates of wealth taxation have overlooked both the impracticality and the immorality of their proposals
Heresy of the week: Every child in the country should be IQ tested by the state
Given the significance of cognitive ability and the ease with which it can be tested, it seems odd that we fail to make the most of this information
We should make zero hours contracts work to the advantage of employees as well as employers
Not everyone is in a position to work regular hours so we should value irregular work more highly
