Boris Johnson is in great form in today’s Telegraph on the escalating cost of fuel. However, he is wide of the mark on the costs side. The cost of the fuel for deliveries does not impact not through greatly price of goods in the shops. Our distribution systems are fairly efficient – though the low [...]
All posts in category Government Spending
Boris Johnson spoils a good polemic on Fuel Costs
Posted by manicbeancounter on January 24, 2011
http://manicbeancounter.com/2011/01/24/boris-johnson-spoils-a-good-polemic-on-fuel-costs/
Cutting Government by Rules of Thumb
Over at the Admin Smith Institute Blog Dr Eamonn Butler has a short paper “Rebooting Government”. Just six pages long it looks at short, medium and long-term measures to reduce the deficit and keep it low. Well worth a read. However, in evaluating what governments should do I advocate more general rules of thumb. Proportionality. Rather [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on June 10, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/06/10/cutting-government-by-rules-of-thumb/
Cameron gets the message on the Legacy of Labour
David Cameron yesterday started blaming the current deficit problems on the last Labour Government. Benedict Brogan on his Telegraph Blog quotes Cameron “I think people understand by now that the debt crisis is the legacy of the last government. But exactly the same applies to the action we will need to take to deal with it. [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on June 8, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/06/08/cameron-gets-the-message-on-the-legacy-of-labour/
Higher Tax Rates – a Poison Pill for Government Finances?
John Redwood and the Adam Smith Institute may have inadvertently exposed a poison pill left by the outgoing Labour Government. I completely agree with the contention that in the medium to long term higher tax rates reduce revenue. This the ASI obtain this conclusion from the analysis of Capital Gains Tax Rates and revenues over the past [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on May 25, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/05/25/higher-tax-rates-a-poison-pill-for-government-finances/
Manchester Withington Polling Fiasco
Whilst the Chair of the electoral commission should carry the can for the travesty that occurred, there are also lessons to be learned. As a voter in Mancheter Withington, I believe the following should be looked into. Mcr Withington has always had the highest turnout of the 5 Manchester constituencies. Was this allowed for? Students tend to vote late – [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on May 13, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/05/13/manchester-withington-polling-fiasco/
The Two Faces of Labour
The gaffe and very humble apology later by Gordon Brown may have a significant impact on the General Election. But, as I wrote on John Redwood’s blog, there is a deeper public v private face to the Labour campaign. In recent years our politics has become too like those of the countries that have defaulted in [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on April 28, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/04/28/the-two-faces-of-labour/
Why Labour has not the Courage to cut Public Expenditure
18 months ago, I voted on the Congestion Charge. I went into the ballot box having been promised ‘There’s no Plan B. If we vote NO in December the money goes back to Government, all £3 billion of it.’ See wevoteyes facts 09 Nov 08 I was one of the 812,815 who voted against, [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on April 27, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/04/27/why-labour-has-not-the-courage-to-cut-public-expenditure/
Ken Clarke is right on the IMF
Ken Clarke is correct to state that there is a risk of the UK having to call in the IMF if there is a hung parliament. The reason is simple. The Budget Forecast was that the National debt would reach £1400bn in 2014. This will be around 85% of GDP. For this to be a [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on April 21, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/04/21/ken-clarke-is-right-on-the-imf/
Lib-Dem Manifesto – an appeal to the Labour Left
After Nick Clegg produced the best performance in last night’s ITV debate, it is time to examine their manifesto. Others has so far failed. John Redwood attacks the £5bn hole in the Lib-Dem figures, but misses the more important bits. Brian Barder on LabourList has clearly not read the Manifesto and Tom Harris thinking that the policies [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on April 16, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/04/16/lib-dem-manifesto-%e2%80%93-an-appeal-to-the-labour-left/
Is Lucy Powell the right candidate for Manchester Withington?
Lucy Powell has some of the qualities to make a good politician. In particular she is hard-working and believes in the cause. However, there are two debilitating hurdles she needs to overcome. (see also here) First, is that she stands for a political party that has undermined public services for a generation. By creating a [...]
Posted by manicbeancounter on April 11, 2010
http://manicbeancounter.com/2010/04/11/is-lucy-powell-the-right-candidate-for-manchester-withington/
