Price controls across many sectors are currently being hotly debated. New controls in the housing market, more onerous minimum wages, minimum prices for alcohol, and freezes on energy prices are very high up the agenda of most politicians at the moment. Even without any further controls, wages,...

Price controls damage markets by preventing the supply of products rising to meet demand. They can cause significant welfare losses, a deterioration in product quality, a reduction in investment and, in the long run, higher prices. Price controls also encourage black markets and illegal economic...

The government’s finances are currently on an unsustainable trajectory.Whilst current levels of government debt are below the levels seen in previous periods in history, accumulating such large levels of debt during a long period of peacetime is more or less unknown.Government debt figures do...

Abolish the budget in its current formSummaryThe annual budget should be abolished in its current form. It should be replaced by a simple statement outlining the tax rates, allowances and borrowing levels required to finance the government’s spending obligations as outlined in the previous...

Government spending:The government’s Spending Review will be far from comprehensive. With the triple-lock for state pension increases and NHS, per-pupil funding for schools, international aid and the defence budget all protected, the overwhelming majority of government spending has been...

Taxation and government spending as a proportion of GDP have increased dramatically since World War I. Spending has increased from one-eighth of national income to somewhere between 40% and 45% of GDP today, the actual figure depending on how GDP is measured. Despite widespread hysteria, there...

Instead of allowing diversity and competition between member states, underpinned with the use of courts to prevent trade barriers, the EU has at its core a centralising, harmonising agenda. This risks raising the overall level of regulation higher than is necessary and embedding systemic risks....