In November 2008, the Institute of Economic Affairs published Nick Silver’s A Bankruptcy Foretold: The UK’s Implicit Pension Debt (PDF), which argued that if the UK’s debt is calculated in line with generally-accepted accounting principles, it is something over £4 trillion. In June this year, an update was published, putting […]
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Tonight: Britain’s Trillion Pound Horror Story
Britain’s Trillion Pound Horror Story will be transmitted on Channel 4 tonight at 9pm: Film maker Martin Durkin explains the full extent of the financial mess we are in: an estimated £4.8 trillion of national debt and counting. It’s so big that even if every home in the UK was sold […]
Read MoreBritain’s Trillion Pound Horror Story
Further to my recent post, Britain’s Trillion Pound Horror Story will be transmitted on Channel 4, next Thursday, 11 Nov at 9pm: Film maker Martin Durkin explains the full extent of the financial mess we are in: an estimated £4.8 trillion of national debt and counting. It’s so big that even […]
Read MoreBond bubble burst will gut gilt investors, warns Merrill Lynch – Telegraph Blogs
Compare and contrast: Via Bond bubble burst will gut gilt investors, warns Merrill Lynch – Telegraph Blogs: Never mind what the Bank of England monetary policy committee says about interest rates on Thursday. One of the biggest wealth managers in the world is discretely warning its income-seeking clients to beware […]
Read MoreThe hopeful path between denial and despair is the reinvention of Britain
Via BT ruling could open pension claim floodgates – Telegraph: Taxpayers could be on the hook for tens of billions of pounds to cover a string of privatised companies’ pension schemes after the precedent set by BT’s landmark “crown guarantee” victory. What next, I wonder? Between the Institute of Economic Affairs, […]
Read MoreThe TPA reveal the true scale of the national debt
See also my speeches of 22 June and 14 September. The process of turning this country around began in May, but we have very much further to go if we are to deliver a hopeful and prosperous future.
Read MoreCentreRight: Will the spending review be bold enough?
Over at CentreRight, I ask “Will the spending review be bold enough?” This is a follow up to Professor Kevin Dowd’s article for The Cobden Centre: The UK is Broke. Hazlitt’s remark in Economics in One Lesson seemed an appropriate introduction: Today is already the tomorrow which the bad economist yesterday urged us […]
Read MoreGovernment urged to reveal ‘true’ national debt of £4.8 trillion – Telegraph
Via Government urged to reveal ‘true’ national debt of £4.8 trillion – Telegraph: The Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) has calculated that the national debt is £4.8 trillion once state and public sector pension liabilities are included, or £78,000 for every person in the UK. The IEA raised its concerns after […]
Read More21st Century Welfare – DWP
Via 21st Century Welfare, the Coalition seeks views on proposals for welfare reform. Since I gave time to work for the Centre for Social Justice, these reforms are close to my heart: we must take people out of the present intergenerational cycles of broad spectrum poverty. Iain Duncan Smith’s statement in […]
Read MoreHow can we re-think government to deliver more for less?
Via HMT – Spending Challenge, an attempt to “crowd source” government spending: The Spending Challenge is your chance to help shape the way government works. We need to reduce the deficit by cutting public spending in a way that is fair and responsible – and you can help. It could be […]
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