Tag Archives for George Osborne
Budget 2016: ‘Chaos reigns’ says Deputy Director of SPERI
Craig Berry gives his reaction to the latest budget in an article for the Huffington Post which you can access here and in the video below. Craig also commented on the budget and the Northern Powerhouse for the University of Sheffield: The Northern Powerhouse featured heavily in today’s budget, yet the government has yet to introduce any measures that will … Continue reading
The UK banking sector and the corporation tax surcharge – new SPERI Brief
SPERI’s latest British Political Economy Brief considers the impact of the changes to taxes on banks made by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in his Budget in July 2015, specifically the introduction of an 8 per cent corporation tax surcharge on bank profits and a reduction in the Bank Levy. The Brief, by SPERI Doctoral Researcher Adam Barber and Tom … Continue reading
George Osborne, banks and the turning tide of regulation in the UK
The mood music being played to the City by the majority Conservative government has been quietly but deliberately changed since May 2015 In the immediate wake of the financial crisis in 2008-9 it appeared as if there was an endless line of politicians in the UK from across all political spectrums queuing up to lambast and publicly deride the banks … Continue reading
The ‘Devolution Revolution’
Governance of the North shouldn’t be reduced to technocratic questions or administering Osborne’s fiscal plans Simon Lee’s blog is also a chapter in a new e-book ‘The Politics of the North: Governance, Territory and Identity in Northern England’, co-edited by SPERI’s deputy director Craig Berry and SPERI researcher Arianna Giovannini. Find out more and download the e-book here. From the … Continue reading
The uneven path of City Deal devolution in the North of England
The view from Yorkshire reveals growing tension and rising pressures from below The City Deals and Northern Powerhouse agenda has been presented by George Osborne as the making of a ‘devolution revolution’ in the North of England. The ‘Devo-Manc’ agreement certainly broke new ground in this respect, unavoidably setting a benchmark for other areas. And yet, as things have progressed, … Continue reading
Making sense of fiscal devolution in public-sector service delivery
Local authorities will be expected to fend for themselves within a new model of civic financialisation and entrepreneurialism The announcement in October at the Conservative Party Conference by Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, about the full localisation of business rate devolution took many by surprise. There was little subsequent detail in the Autumn Statement and Public Spending Review in … Continue reading
Citizenship in a financialised society
The Conservative government’s promotion of financialisation is transforming citizenship in the UK While the New Labour-ish language of ‘financial inclusion’ and ‘asset-based welfare’ has been quietly eschewed, since 2010 the Conservative Party has continued its predecessor’s agenda around promoting more extensive and intensive participation in the financial system, through asset ownership, in order to enable individuals to play an enhanced … Continue reading
The ‘carbon bubble’
Overvalued fossil fuel assets reveal the ecological limitations of the economic recovery It’s disconcerting that the return to GDP growth may have, for now at least, obfuscated the analysis of the unstable dynamics underpinning Britain’s pre-crash growth model. The insights of numerous political economists have explicated that behind the GDP statistics lay a dysfunctional growth model with tendencies towards financial … Continue reading
Pensions, fairness and Lamborghinis
Budget changes to the annuities market are a lesson in the fallacies of freedom From April 2015, individuals in defined contribution pension schemes will no longer be required to ‘annuitise’ their pensions saving, that is, turn their pot of savings into a lifelong, regular income by purchasing an annuity product from an insurance company. Boris Johnson’s response typified the … Continue reading
Response to the budget: podcast & policy brief
SPERI Research Fellow Craig Berry responds to Osborne’s budget announcement in both the latest Policy Brief series and in the video below, arguing that changes to tax allowances will not help the lowest paid in Northern regions. Berry argues that the lowest-paid workers do not benefit at all from the Budget measure to increase the income tax personal allowance and … Continue reading
Scotland, England and currency union – or two bald men and a comb
The phoney currency debate in Scotland relies on misunderstanding and is helping to marginalise the real alternatives Craig Berry and Richard Berry The intervention from senior UK politicians on the SNP’s plans for a currency union, allowing Scotland to retain sterling post-independence, appears to have backfired for the Better Together campaign. Ed Balls and Danny Alexander both backed George … Continue reading
Britain’s unreal recovery risks a very real economic crisis
Investment and consumption performance demonstrates the frailty of the UK economy; the economic recovery is not yet secure The government has facilitated, at long last, a return to strong growth. But they have done so by ramping up the economic growth model that served Labour so well until 2008 – a model George Osborne had promised to dismantle. The pace … Continue reading
Are we there yet?
The recent good news about renewed growth in the British economy badly needs to be scrutinised and put in context A strange story has started to emerge about the British economy. Apparently, it’s in recovery! The central plotline boils down to one key statistic: the UK economy is growing. GDP growth in the second quarter of 2013 was 0.7 per … Continue reading
Labour and the politics of budget responsibility
The stakes are high as Labour seeks approval from the Office for Budget Responsibility Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, has requested that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) assesses Labour’s plans for government. His intention is to show that the spending commitments Labour makes in the run-up to the general election are matched by cuts elsewhere, or extra revenue, having … Continue reading
What if the national economy is like a household budget?
An inexpert population frequently internalises misleading economic ideas: experts should consider engaging on these terms rather than always trying to get the economics ‘right’ In 2012/13, there were 571,334 Year 11 students in UK state schools. Just under half went on to AS Levels the following year, of which only 23,049 took economics, or 8.9% of the total. We can … Continue reading →
20 September 2016 by Matt Bishop
Categories: SPERI Comment | Tags: debt, economics, esoteric, George Osborne, macroeconomics, misleading narrative | 16 comments