the ‘fit to work’ test: Another argument for the basic income?
Regardless of how many people it has or hasn’t killed, the UK government’s ‘fit to work’ test is clearly pretty nasty. Work Capability Assessments (WCA), as they are formally known, assess eligibility...
View ArticleCan neoliberalism make us embrace risk?
One of the most powerful observations of Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee’s Poor Economics is that most people in the developing world don’t want to be entrepreneurs, even many of those who are...
View ArticleA non-Economist’s guide to the Brexit numbers
On June 23rd, the UK votes on whether it should remain part of the European Union. Several economists have analysed the impact of such a move. However, there still seems to be some confusion about the...
View ArticleDoes Varieties of Capitalism Theory condemn Britain to inequality?
Jeremy Cliffe made some interesting points on twitter over the weekend about the relevance of Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) theory to Britain today. Cliffe’s own BBC documentary provides a good...
View ArticleSave the price tag!
Among the innumerable ways in which life has got better for those of us living in rich countries over the past 200 years, one of the most easily overlooked is the price tag. In the early 19th Century,...
View ArticleWhy do people need to ban chlorinated chicken?
Here’s a question, amid the slightly odd political row about whether Britain should allow the import of ‘chlorine-washed chicken from the US: if people hate chlorinated chicken, why do they need to ban...
View ArticleIn praise of Britain’s tax system
A thought occurred to me listening to the discussion of value added tax on Vox’s the Weeds podcast this week: how lucky I am that I have to spend so little time thinking about paying tax. I’m not poor...
View ArticleUtilitarianism and anti-social preferences
I’ve been troubled this week by Arindrajit Dube’s anecdote about the Nobel-prize winning economist Gary Becker: In case you don’t speak economics, what this means is that Becker thought we can’t say...
View ArticleDoes it matter whether rich people really like money?
Responding to the ongoing debate among economists about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal of a 70% tax rate on the very richest Americans, Chris Dillow says: “I’ve never been...
View ArticleBook review: The Community of Advantage
I’ve written a review of Robert Sugden’s book, The Community of Advantage, for the LSE Review of Books. Here’s an extract: The Community of Advantage is a rich and wide-ranging work, touching on...
View ArticleShould governments be thinking about raising taxes?
Should governments be thinking about rising taxes just now? It may seem like an odd idea at a time when we are facing a severe economic downturn, threatening the livelihoods of millions of people. But...
View ArticleIn defence of excuses
“It is excuses after excuses” thundered Roy Keane this weekend, in a damning assessment of Liverpool’s collapse over recent weeks. Having won the Premier League last year, they are all but out of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A non-Economist’s guide to the Brexit numbers
On June 23rd, the UK votes on whether it should remain part of the European Union. Several economists have analysed the impact of such a move. However, there still seems to be some confusion about the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Does Varieties of Capitalism Theory condemn Britain to inequality?
Jeremy Cliffe made some interesting points on twitter over the weekend about the relevance of Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) theory to Britain today. Cliffe’s own BBC documentary provides a good...
View ArticleSave the price tag!
Among the innumerable ways in which life has got better for those of us living in rich countries over the past 200 years, one of the most easily overlooked is the price tag. In the early 19th Century,...
View ArticleWhy do people need to ban chlorinated chicken?
Here’s a question, amid the slightly odd political row about whether Britain should allow the import of ‘chlorine-washed chicken from the US: if people hate chlorinated chicken, why do they need to ban...
View ArticleIn praise of Britain’s tax system
A thought occurred to me listening to the discussion of value added tax on Vox’s the Weeds podcast this week: how lucky I am that I have to spend so little time thinking about paying tax. I’m not poor...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Utilitarianism and anti-social preferences
I’ve been troubled this week by Arindrajit Dube’s anecdote about the Nobel-prize winning economist Gary Becker: In case you don’t speak economics, what this means is that Becker thought we can’t say...
View ArticleDoes it matter whether rich people really like money?
Responding to the ongoing debate among economists about Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s proposal of a 70% tax rate on the very richest Americans, Chris Dillow says: “I’ve never been...
View ArticleBook review: The Community of Advantage
I’ve written a review of Robert Sugden’s book, The Community of Advantage, for the LSE Review of Books. Here’s an extract: The Community of Advantage is a rich and wide-ranging work, touching on...
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