Posts Tagged Comprehensive Spending Review
Business as usual?
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, Politics, Tax and Spend on 01/11/2010
Today the government outlined a number of measures to help small and medium sized businesses. Wanting to create an ‘entrepreneurial decade’ David Cameron has asked Lord Young to carry out a ‘brutally’ honest investigation into how small and medium sized businesses can be supported by removing burdensome regulations and opening up public procurement opportunities. Such moves are welcome, however the Coalition Government still has a long way to go to champion small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), especially if some of their initial policies are anything to go by. Read the rest of this entry »
When I hear the word culture, I reach for my wallet
Posted by David Merlin-Jones in Economics, Family, Marriage and the Culture, Politics on 28/10/2010
This has not been a good week for culture. A pincer movement has been occurring, with rumours that the state of Qatar is looking to buy Christie’s, and the decimation of the Arts Council. While of course unrelated, both have the potential to undermine Britain’s status as a cultural standard-bearer, the former through over-emphasising culture as a product and the latter through understating its value. In the so-called ‘Age of Austerity’, it appears that culture has stopped being a priceless necessity and become just another luxury good that can be accrued or done without. Read the rest of this entry »
And the winner is…. competition?
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, Politics, Tax and Spend on 25/10/2010
In his speech to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) today, David Cameron promised government support for ‘those industries where Britain enjoys competitive advantage’ . He also stated that ‘I believe in competition… I believe when new entrants challenge big business, everyone wins’ . This latter point about competition – having faith in the market – has traditionally distinguished centre-right parties from those on the left who have traditionally favoured a greater degree of state intervention. The former point, however, concerning government support for industry, is traditionally associated more with left-wing economic policy.