Category : Public Services Trust 2020
The Budget this year was perhaps the most leaked ever: a far cry from the occasion when a Chancellor was sacked for blabbing Budget secrets. Only the changes to allowances now being dubbed the ‘granny tax’ really provided much surprise which is perhaps why the journalists have fallen on them with such glee, though the…
The ICAEW (the accountants) had a conference on securing public finances on Tuesday. They published a document including my contribution in Securing the Public Finances. It is comforting that a consensus is emerging that we need to develop a new approach to public services with much better transparency and accountability that we presently have. Whether…
I am exercised by the distinction between caring about poverty and caring about inequality. We might characterise this as the distinction between ‘look after the weak’ and ‘soak the rich’! There is now a literature about how getting richer only helps people feel better off up to a certain point, while for rich countries, being…