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Has freedom failed?


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I’m not given to authoritarianism but if I were, this chart from the report of the 2020 Tax Commission would be in every MP’s office: I would have thought anyone, with a moment’s reflection, would understand that limited government was another casualty of the world wars. As I have said before, if this is capitalism, I am not a capitalist.

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This is a crisis of state intervention


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In the past few posts, I reproduced the economist Ludwig von Mises’ 1949 explanation of “the crisis of interventionism”, which insisted that the “third way” is a system of economic organisation which cannot last. We must choose between either state socialism or a free society. State socialism would be chaos but “Nothing suggests the belief that progress toward more satisfactory conditions is inevitable or a relapse into very unsatisfactory conditions impossible.” Many seem to believe we are in a crisis of […]

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The average family pays £656,000 in tax over their lifetime


The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) shows that the average family pays £656,000 in tax over their lifetime. After years of the state overspending and misusing our money we now have a greater idea of how far this legacy cripples the finances of British families. The TPA’s latest research shows the total amount of direct and indirect tax that households will pay over their working lifetimes and in retirement. Based on the current level of taxes applying over a working lifetime of 40 years […]

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Via Detlev Schlichter: Deceits and delusions – Some thoughts on the euro-crisis and democracy


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Anybody with any knowledge of economics should feel uneasy at the sight of a country where half of recorded economic activity is conducted by the state. Are such semi-socialist societies operable, and if so, for how long? Read the article via Deceits and delusions – Some thoughts on the euro-crisis and democracy. Here’s the growth of the British Government to over half of GDP: We can escape this mess towards sustainable prosperity, but that escape will require substantial reforms towards […]

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Autumn Statement chart of the day: tax and spending


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The economic facts behind the Autumn Statement, in as far as they are known or forecast, are available in the Economic and Fiscal Outlook from the Office for Budget Responsibility. Table 4.7 provides forecast current receipts. Table 4.18 provides total managed expenditure. So, here’s a chart of current receipts (i.e. tax) and total managed expenditure (i.e. spending) for the next few years: The reality is that the Government intend to increase spending every year of the forecast period and to meet […]

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Remarks on the Eurozone crisis at the People’s Pledge Congress


At the People’s Pledge Congress today, I appeared on a panel discussing the political implications of the Eurozone crisis. I would have loved to focus on democracy, freedom and the rule of law but the cause of the crisis was the key theme. As ever, I blamed our statist, inflationary monetary arrangements for creating the incentives and institutions which supported such dreadful behaviour and outcomes. I went on Russia Today (who asked) to discuss the campaign afterwards. You can find my speaking […]

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Big ideas for Britain’s future


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Yesterday, I gave a presentation which sets out: What Conservatives have always sought to conserve – liberty against the onslaught of socialism, of state control. How the war of ideas has been won by the statists over the course of a century, leading to our present crisis. What the Coalition is doing – raising taxes to meet increased overall spending. Why even that hurts so much – over half of Government spending is essentially fixed in the short term, amplifying […]

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Equitable Life Update


Recently, my researcher Tim attended the APPG on Equitable Life. The biggest issue discussed was that of pre-1992 policy holders who have been excluded from the compensation mechanism. The group heard from Honor Blackman, who is set to receive a full 100% compensation, while two other victims of the Equitable Life collapse were told they would receive no remuneration for their losses.  Mrs. Blackman said that they were all prudent and put money aside for a rainy day, but that was where […]

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Tory MP says HMRC ‘menacing’ letters show state is using ‘sinister’ psychology | News | Money Marketing


Updated. A story on Money Marketing, reporting my comments to them on a letter that two of my constituents received from HMRC as a first demand (notwithstanding HMRC’s claim in the article that it is only sent as a third reminder): A Conservative MP says recent letters from HM Revenue & Customs demanding people pay up or face having their possessions auctioned is an example of behavioural psychology now being employed by the Government. And He says: “We now have […]

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On the EU, social thinking and local democracy


The People’s Pledge offered me the chance to supply a guest blog post, in which I argue that the EU should be abolished: I detested the European Constitution. It was palpably statist and bound to produce an unaccountable bureaucracy. It was everything Hayek warned us about in The Road to Serfdom and against which Popper railed in The Open Society and its Enemies: a little elite was to steer our lives by widespread intervention – for our own good you […]

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