Inflation is theft on the grandest of scales

As the Retail Price Index remains over 5% and the Consumer Price Index reaches 4%, it is reasonable to ask why the Band of England’s Monetary Policy  Committee  (MPC) is not raising interest rates. The MPC’s  sole remit is to keep inflation at around 2 per cent. This remit they have ignored since Lehman Bros [...]

The logical end of a free market is monopoly

The logical end of a truly  free market, that is, a market without any state interference,  is monopoly .The reason is obvious:  competition tends to reduce the number of competitors through the natural process of success and failure and the takeover of one firm by another.  In some trades this does not create an obvious  [...]

“…since records began in 1659″

The year 1659 appears with remarkable frequency in the media in  connection with the English climate, often in the form “since records  began in 1659”. It is a statement  rarely if every questioned by  anyone with access to the mainstream media.  Just pause and think about that claim. Does it seem probable that  official weather [...]

How the market fails to provide what the customer wants

 There is no better modern example of the market failing to provide what the customer both needs and wants than the computer industry. If it was driven by the customer, the computer industry would produce hardware and software which was easy to install,  had continuity of use, was simple to use and was supported by [...]

Is society materially enriched by “free markets” and “free trade?

This is an impossible question to answer categorically because there is no way knowing what would have happened if protectionism had remained full blooded throughout the last century and a half. One can compare growth rates under stronger or looser protection regimes,  but they really  say little  because the other determining factors such as public [...]

Do we really want to live forever?

Research into ageing is progressing to the point where a substantial increase in  the human lifespan may become reality within a generation or two. In November 2010  Ian Sample of the Guardian reported   http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2010/nov/28/scientists-reverse-ageing-mice-humans#history-link-box   ) on research at the John Hopkins University of Baltimore which has rejuvenated  mice “What we saw in these animals was [...]

Don’t be bullied by the bankers

Our ears and eyes are being incessantly  assaulted by a mixture of whining and threats by bankers  and the leaders of big business along the lines of how they cannot possibly remain in Britain if the “penal” income tax of 50% on taxable  incomes over £150,000 is not scrapped, corporation tax massively reduced and the [...]

The cuts which are beyond the Pale for Britain’s political elite

We are incessantly told by the Coalition government that massive cuts must be made to British public spending.  They say this  will mean large cuts in public servants, reduced legal aid, fewer courts, higher fares on trains and buses as public subsidies are lowered, pensions,  both taxpayer funded and private,  reduced by moving from the [...]

The “Taxing the rich produces little money” lie

 A favourite elite mantra is  that “taxing the rich brings in little money”.  Let’s have a look at that claim. Research by CoreData Research UK (http://www.burning-pants.com/2010/10/im-alright-jack/) published in September 2010 suggest s that   a minute  1.1% of  UK households  have combined wealth of well over a trillion pounds.    The research  concludes that there are “284,317 [...]

The principles of taxation – a guide for politicians

Taxation is inevitable Extreme libertarians claim that “taxation is theft” and envisage their ideal society as one in which every necessary social expenditure – yes, even extreme libertarians tend to grudgingly admit that the public provision of defence, justice, diplomacy and suchlike are necessary – should be funded from voluntary contributions. Pleasing as the idea of [...]