Civitas
+44 (0)20 7799 6677

The Blog

The EU and import tariffs – who really pays?

1 November 2016

Civitas recently published a study of trade with the EU in order to estimate the balance of power between the EU and UK in the forthcoming negotiations. A free trade agreement with the EU that continued the current zero-tariff policy would be the best approach, but the study started with assumption that we should be… [Read More]


One last chance for ‘landbanking’ developers?

12 October 2016

A striking passage in Communities Secretary Sajid Javid’s speech to the Conservative Party conference last week was his quite forthright message to the major housing developers: ‘It’s time to get building. The big developers must release their stranglehold on supply. It’s time to stop sitting on landbanks, delaying build-out: the homebuyers must come first. Almost 280,000 planning permissions… [Read More]


A warning to those who want the government to reveal its Brexit blueprint

Today the Labour Party set out a list of questions asking publically for details of the government’s negotiation plans. If answered by government, such questions could seriously undermine the UK’s chances of a good outcome. Despite constant complaints about the lack of clarity over Brexit and the UK government’s demands, it seems to me perfectly clear what is wanted.… [Read More]


A new government-backed venture capital fund would boost UK productivity

2 September 2016

At the first cabinet meeting since the summer recess, Theresa May gave a list of crucial government reforms. Near the top of the list was the need to tackle the UK’s ongoing productivity problem. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will play a crucial role in addressing this problem. In 2015, SMEs accounted for 60 per… [Read More]


Two months after the Brexit vote, what’s the outlook for housebuilding?

25 August 2016

In housing, all eyes are on the major builders for signs of their reaction to the Brexit vote. Will they reduce output in response to the uncertainty, or will they plough ahead as if nothing’s happened? Equally important, however, is where we were in the months leading up to the referendum. The latest quarterly figures, published… [Read More]


1 7 8 9 10 11 183

Newsletter

Keep up-to-date with all of our latest publications

Sign Up Here