Say goodbye to 'American Europe'
How will Europe survive in the age of predatory American mercantilism?
Here at CapX, we were in favour of scrapping stamp duty before it was cool. And now, eight months after Kemi Badenoch made it a key pledge for the Conservatives, the tide may at last be turning. A cross-party group of MPs has told the Government that the tax hurts the affordability of home ownership, damages the economy and needs to change. Is Rachel Reeves listening? Don’t count on it.
It seems Keir Starmer is planning to steal a different plank from Badenoch’s policy platform – her call for a social media ban aimed at under-16s. The White House – which sees this as an attack on the US tech sector – is so unimpressed it has actually made its own submission to the ongoing consultation. For more on the strains in the special relationship, see Glyn Morgan’s piece for CapX below.
Meanwhile Reform UK have declared themselves the new ‘party for workers’, and invited trade unions to attend its annual conference and to sign up as affiliate members. Polling does show Nigel Farage is now the most popular party leader among union members, but the heads of the big unions have predictably rebuffed his offer – at least for now.
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
Say goodbye to 'American Europe'
Glyn Morgan
‘Europeans, whether pro-market Atlanticists or EU federalists, will have to come to terms with life within “Civilisational America”.’
European leaders must reckon with the fact that ‘American Europe’ has given way to ‘Civilisational America’. The former, which lasted between 1945-2025, saw Europe sacrifice economic independence for US-backed security. The latter, however, is defined by a predatory American mercantilism, rooted in the Trump administration’s belief that it must extract more rent from its allies to combat the rise of China. Read More
Britain's benefits system has spiralled out of control
Shimeon Lee
‘Some PIP claimants receive as much as £33,000 a year in benefits.’
After the Government’s timid attempt to slow the growth of welfare spending collapsed under pressure from its own backbenchers and disability activists, ministers needed a way out. Their answer was the Timms Review of Personal Independence Payments. Unsurprisingly, it was a complete damp squib. Real terms spending on disability benefits has more than tripled since 2008, and it’s time for politicians to act. Read More
What happens when liberalism loses?
Mani Basharzad
‘Liberalism loses when it attaches itself only to economics.’
When asked to choose between freedom and security, 93% of Chinese respondents opted for security. This is because they are living under the world’s most effective modern dictatorship, which has understood the art of combining economic growth with an oppressive political system. If liberalism is to survive as a credible alternative and win the battle of ideas, it cannot define itself solely in economic terms. Read More
Stat of the Day
The CapX Reading List
The best of the web today
Labour's state capitalism is heading for disaster
Ben Marlow, The Daily Telegraph 🔒
‘The Government’s plans to reboot the economy are becoming increasingly desperate and wayward.’
London Tech Week is upon us and Peter Kyle has announced plans to ‘aggressively’ acquire large stakes in fast-growing private-sector firms. There’s so much that is wrong with this idea that it’s difficult to know where to start, but what is blindingly obvious to anyone with half a business brain is that it will end badly. Read More
Starmer's sinister social media restrictions
Matthew Lesh, City AM
‘Nobody wants to see children threatened. But technically speaking, and for our basic civil liberties, this policy is extremely problematic.’
To protect children from nude images online, the Government is demanding that Apple install on-device AI nudity-detection software at the operating system level for iOS, and that Google do the same for Android. This would involve constantly scanning the camera viewfinder, screen output, livestream, and stored files, and blocking or blurring nudity in real time. While well-intentioned, this amounts to surveillance technology on every device in the country. Read More
How to finance a space elevator
James Pethokoukis
The Capitalist
In this week’s episode of the CapX podcast, economists Soumaya Keynes and Chad Bown join Marc Sidwell to discuss the new world of economic conflict, why tariffs are like a party drug – and how trade wars can still spiral out of control.
And if you want more...
– What Hayek can teach us about literature (Marginal Revolution)
– Join the waiting list for a robotaxi ride (Shortlist)
– The world’s first AI-designed vaccine (The Conversation)
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