Could the promise to scrap Britain’s most hated tax restore the Conservatives’ fortunes?
The policy has certainly grabbed attention for the Opposition. Reform UK have questioned whether the Tories can be trusted to deliver. Still, there’s no doubt this is a rare policy where more than half the public think the status quo is ‘Unfair’ or ‘Very unfair’.
Tim Dier wrote for CapX in April about the lessons from Madrid and Sweden on how scrapping the death tax can help convince wealth-creators that an economy is open for business.
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
Britain is heading for a 1931-style crisis
George Trefgarne
‘You cannot force a complex modern economy to pivot around a single number. But that is exactly what we are doing today, with the Net Zero legislation forcing us to reduce our carbon emissions to zero by 2050.’
In 1931 Britain tied itself to a fixed rate on the gold standard. The problem was it was too high and pushed the economy to its limits. When we came off the gold standard we recovered from the Great Depression faster than any other advanced nation. Andy Burnham should take note. Today, Net Zero is squeezing the economy to death in much the same way – suspending it may be the only way out. Read More
Edgware is not the West Bank
James Ball
‘That this has escalated to the stage where people see parallels between that and the situation in the West Bank perhaps says something about the collective mindset of Nimbyism at the moment.’
Local Nimbys opposing the development claim it’s undemocratic. But given it has approval from the Mayor of London, they must be defining democracy as ‘me and my friends getting the outcome that we wanted’. Read More
Stat of the Day
Best of the Web
Labour won’t cut welfare without a crisis
Roger Bootle, The Telegraph 🔒
‘Interestingly, there is quite a record of crises occurring in September.’
Wednesday is the 34th anniversary of Black Wednesday, which in the end worked out surprisingly well. Will we see another autumn crisis? Today, the danger sits in the gilt market, with debt at 95% of GDP. A bond-market shock would be traumatic, but it may be the only thing that forces John Healey to cut welfare. Read More
🎧The jobs tax is costing Britain
James Price
AI bosses want to slow down. Trump doesn't
Sean Thomas, The Spectator
‘None of it proves imminent superintelligence. But it is the sound of something ominous.’
Dario Amodei's Saturday essay urging the AI industry to slow down drew quick agreement from Elon Musk and Sam Altman, and a sharp retort from David Sacks about building a cartel by law. But the decision may no longer rest with the labs. Trump has declared ‘whoever wins AI wins’ and currently the Americans are ahead. Read More
The Capitalist 🎧
Our debt is now a national security threat
And if you want more...
– Do people prefer traditional architecture? (Works in Progress)
– Labour shouldn’t undo Gove’s success (Substack)
– Sweden has stopped apologising for capitalism (The Critic)
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