Brace yourself
Plus: Why Whitehall doesn't work, and the power of Swiftonomics
Andy Burnham says there’s ‘some room’ for movement on tax. We bet there is.
Meanwhile, America is turning 250 this weekend, and its reigning queen of pop Taylor Swift is marking the occasion by throwing her own royal wedding. More on both below.
And as huge crowds in Tehran marked the funeral of Ayatollah Khamenei, four months after he was killed by an Israeli missile strike, talks between the US and Iran continue to resolve nothing. Damien Phillips wrote for CapX on this diplomatic Groundhog Day, and how to escape it.
Here in the UK, the NHS is going to give people rewards for walking 30 minutes a day. They’ve also decided this qualifies as a marathon. Activity standards really are through the floor.
Below you’ll find all the latest pieces from CapX, plus what we’re reading from around the web.
Marc Sidwell
Editor, CapX
Today’s Takes
Fresh thinking from CapX
Why every Whitehall reform ends in failure
Tim Knox & Nada Kakabadse
‘Since the Fulton Report of 1968, there have been 17 major attempts to reform government, and not one has made a lasting change.’
The Cabinet Secretary has announced a sweeping review of the Civil Service. But the system is exquisitely designed to produce reviews like this, praise them, file them and forget them. What keeps going wrong – and can this time really be different? Here are the six things the Government must get right. Read More
Trump’s Iran talks are trapped in Groundhog Day
Damien Phillips
‘No amount of skilful mediation from either the Pakistanis or the Qataris will be able to overcome the eternal frustration of the Iranian reset strategy.’
Like Bill Murray’s weatherman in ‘Groundhog Day’, US envoys negotiating with the Islamic Republic are cursed to relive the same day over and over. In the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s message stays blunt: pay us or we’ll blow you out of the water. There’s only one way out of the cycle. Read More
Manchesterism's first big test is the bond markets
John Penrose
‘Choosing the loosest fiscal rules the bond markets will let you get away with isn’t the same as choosing the best rules to get Britain’s economy moving again.’
Whoever Andy Burnham chooses to be his Chancellor of the Exchequer will have to produce ‘fiscal rules’ to reassure the City they’ll be prudent holders of the nation’s credit card. Get it wrong, and Burnham’s eyelashes will sit alongside Liz Truss’s lettuce in pub quiz ‘odd one out’ rounds for years to come. Read More
Stat of the day
The CapX Reading List
The best of the web today
'Cost of living populism' won't save Burnham
Ross Clark, The Spectator
‘It might please respondents to an opinion poll now; it won’t once its consequences become clear.’
Activists are claiming that Labour could win the next election on the back of a programme of measures to target the cost of living. It shouldn’t be surprising that these policies are superficially popular with the public. Any politician who offers free beer will be popular, at least until the bill comes in. And there lies the rather obvious snag. Read More
On America's 250th, don't forget Adam Smith
Michael Strain, Financial Times 🔒
‘America’s Declaration of Independence and ‘The Wealth of Nations’ have much in common.’
As America turns 250 this weekend, spare a thought for Adam Smith’s masterpiece, which reached the same milestone this year and which the main author of the Declaration, Thomas Jefferson, argued was ‘the best book extant’ on political economy. Their shared vision is under threat from factions of the Left and Right – but a no-growth society is never going to satisfy voters for long. Read More
What went wrong for the Yimbys?
The Capitalist: Hunt – scrap the triple lock
And if you want more...
– Fancy a year locked in a fake Mars base? (Scientific American)
– Let’s give parents back control (The Critic)
– How Jeff Bezos added weeks to your life (Human Progress)
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