There's no such thing as a free pint
Plus: Lineker's tax hypocrisy, and give the Chancellor a chainsaw
Another day, another headline-grabbing promise from Andy Burnham. Today, it’s a 20% cut in business rates, but just for pubs, clubs and music venues. Tough luck if you’re a struggling restaurant. Or whoever ends up footing the bill. The head of the IFS was not impressed. Nor was the tax expert Dan Neidle, though he sensed an opportunity for tax-savvy entrepreneurs.
Gary Lineker, meanwhile, led a gaggle of millionaires calling on HMRC to tax them more. Which is odd, since Lineker has successfully taken the taxman to court to avoid paying more than he owed. As my colleague Daniel Herring pointed out, wealth taxes are ‘unfair, unworkable and send a signal that Britain is not a place for aspiration, investment or success’. Still, no one’s stopping you from chipping in if you want to, Gary. Here’s the link.
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's next chancellor needs a chainsaw
Damian Pudner
‘Of course, £57 billion is a lot of money. It is supposed to be.’
What can we expect with John Healey heading the Treasury? Higher spending, higher taxes and meaningless tweaks to welfare reform. What Britain needs is a chancellor willing to take a chainsaw to the cost of government and put the savings into work, wages and investment. A good start would be slicing £57 billion a year off the welfare bill. Read More
The AI jobs apocalypse that wasn't
Adam Thierer
‘Doomsday forecasts persist because the media and academics have powerful incentives to promote tales of a coming techno-apocalypse.’
The media headlines all tell a consistent story about AI and employment: We’re doomed! But the headlines have been saying that robots will take all the jobs for a hundred years, and the sky hasn’t fallen yet. From radiologists to warehouse workers, the jobs that were supposed to vanish keep growing instead. Read More
Stat of the day
Best of the Web
Burnham's spending spree makes tax rises inevitable
Ryan Bourne, The Times 🔒
‘What we should rationally expect is tax rises. And if Burnham gets anywhere near delivering on his spending promises, these will be large.’
Andy Burnham says he’ll never take risks with the public finances, but his daily giveaways say otherwise. And with his Chancellor arriving clutching a military shopping list and an empty wallet, expecting taxes to go up is just common sense. Firms will already be freezing hiring and investment, damaging the economy long before the Autumn Budget lands. Read More
Why every MP should start a business
Tim Dier, ConservativeHome
‘The lack of small business understanding in Parliament is holding back our entrepreneurs and our nation’s prosperity.’
Too many Labour MPs have never stood in a small business owner’s shoes, and it shows. Out of touch with the daily struggle businesses face, they happily wrap firms in red tape without ever grasping the costs they impose. It’s time they found out what it’s actually like. Read More
Free markets have never been so easy to defend
The Capitalist: Griffith takes on Burnham
And if you want more...
– How Bridget Phillipson earned an F (The Critic)
– Did medieval people love their children? (Works in Progress)
– Johannes Vermeer: liberal pioneer (Conversations with Tyler)
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