bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Remove Housing Subsidies
Authors: Taylor Tom
Published: May 2006

The distortions in the housing market caused by government intervention were attached by the Duke of Edinburgh in his Report this year. Tom Taylor (right), of the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology, contrasts the Duke's conclusion that mortgage subsidies must be abolished with the analysis of John Parry Lewis in Economic Affairs October‐November 1984. Mortgage interest tax relief, concludes Mr Taylor, will have to be removed.
Buyer, Beware Shopping Laws
Authors: Fulop Christina
Published: May 2006

The centuries‐old tradition of ‘caveat emptor’ has come under a barrage oi mternationist legislation from governments of all political persuasions Christiona Fulop (right), Professor of Marketing at the City of London Polytechnic, examines the growing state interference in retailing, and argues for reform to remove rigidities in the market and restore consumer choice
ON INTERNAL MARKETS IN THE N.H.S.
Authors: Day Patricia , Klein Rudolf
Published: May 2006

Professor Alain Enthoven has suggested the development of ‘internal markets’ in the NHS Patricia Day and Professor Rudolf Klein, of the University of Bath, argue for the encouragement of latent potential within the NHS Nick Bosanquet, of the University of York, reinforces their call for increased managerial discretion to improve efficiency Dr David Green, of the IEA, insists that commercial incentive will have a more bracing effect than continued government control
Market Standards for Money
Authors: Hayek F. A.
Published: May 2006

The power of governments to debauch currencies for political ends has long been condemned by market economists. Monetarists have argued that the government should restrain its production of money; Professor Hayek contended in 1976 that monetary continence would succumb to political pressures and argued for national currencies to be replaced by competing private monies. Here he refines this thinking and suggests that a private ‘store of value’—the standard—would be more likely to overcome the political obstruction to the wholesale denationalisation of currencies, but would be immune from use as a political tool by the state.
Roads and Transport are Private Goods
Authors: Roth Gabriel
Published: May 2006

Decades of economics teaching have held that the provision of roods and transport is a public good from which free‐riders connof be excluded, and must therefore be provided by the stote. Gabriel Roth, fromerly at the World Bonk and now on infernational consultant on privatisation, demonstrates how, even in the poorer areas of the world, the market is providing roods and transpon alike. Technological advance has brought pricing for roads into economic reality.
Ethnic Minorities Reject the Remote State
Authors: Homan Roger
Published: May 2006

Opposition to the state provision of schooling is commonly seen as coming from middle‐class parents who expect their chiren to be ‘achievers’ Roger Homan, Principal Lecturer in Education of Brighton Polytechnic, reveals how this offifude patronises workers and ethnic minorities alike, and examines their spontaneous efforts to provide independent independent education for their children
The Cost of Planning Controls
Authors: Fisher Mike , Whetstone Linda
Published: May 2006

Controls on builcing and development in Britain impose a little‐suspected burden on businesses and massively distort the market for land. Linda Whetstone, Chairman of the Aflas Economic Research Foundation (UK), and Mike Fisher, Chairman of Whale Tankers, demonstrafe the juge cost of a form of state intervention that has largely escaped the attention of economists. They call for a re‐structuring of bureaucratic incentives to remove deloay and promote economic growth.
Teachers as Entrepreneurs: Practicability or Pipe Dream?
Authors: Parker David
Published: May 2006

In Economic Affairs, October‐November 1985, simon Harding, Head of Economics of Westminster School, argued that schools should become agencies renting space and equipment to teacher‐entrepreneurs. David Parker, Senior Lecturer in Business Economics at Newcastle upon tyne Polytechnic, argues that the work of Ronald Coase and others can demonstrate economies in direct employment, Simon Harding defends his ground.
Structural Change for Economic Growth
Authors: Kasper Wolfgang
Published: May 2006

As soon as the post‐war era of rapid economic growth had come to an end in the early 1970s, the intellectural fashion being to swing towards a renewed appreciation of economic growth and the ‘classical’ factors of growth saving hard work, enterprise, innovation and a legal framework which secures the property rights to the rewards of material progress and facilitates flexible adjustment by a competitives system. Professor Wolfgang Kasper of the University of New South Wales in Australia argues that the major challenge for societies in West and East, North and South alike is now to make the supply side of the economy more elastic and responsive to new opparatunities and circumstances.
Italian Lessons on the Welfare State
Authors: Martino Antonio
Published: May 2006

The growth of government in Italy provides a stark warning of the dangers of the spirolling costs of the welfare state. Antonio Martino Professor of Monetary History and Policy at the University of Rome, examines how the machinery of the state develops its own momentom and wams that the Italian example suggests democratic govement may be imperilled unless measures are taken to tome Leviathan.
The ‘Standard’: Useful but not Perfect
Authors: von Furstenberg George M.
Published: May 2006

Financial institutions, suggests George M. von Furstenberg, Rudy Professor of Economics at Indiana University, would find the ‘Standard’ a helpful innovation in hedging against inflation in general or to specific commodities. But he, lide Tyler Cowen, prefers Professor Hayek's earlier suggestion of competing media of exchange.
Rational Voters Stabilise Money
Authors: Goodhart Charles
Published: May 2006

Professor Charles Goodhart of the London School of Economics reinforces Professor Currie's sceplicism about the ‘Standard’ on the ground that, since there are no laws against indexed units of account, their absence from the financial marketindicates a preference for goverment‐backed monies.
The Invisible Finger: Markets under the Tories
Authors: Fallon Michael
Published: May 2006

Critics of Mrs Thatcher's Government have complained that it is failing to implement the radical economic policies for which it was elected Michael Fallon, Conservative MP for Darlington, contrasts the Government's achivements with the standards it had set itself. He argues that the more fundamental reform of the economy promised in its electoral manifesto could make the Conservative Party the natural refuge of the under‐privileged.
The British Disease: Economic Cart before Spiritual Horse
Authors: Long Ernest
Published: May 2006

‘Liberation theology’ has been used by Christian socialism to denigrate capitalism. The Rev. Ernest Long responds by confuting socialism with arguments derived from the Bible itself. The aggrandisement of the state, he suggests, threatens the moral basis of Christianity.
The American Example in Health Care
Authors: Stevens Frances
Published: May 2006

Medical provision to British taxpayers under the National Health Service has often been favourably contrasted with the experience of American consumers. Frances Stevens who has worked in the NHS for years suggests from her observation of the American health system that the NHS can learn much from America.
Painful Taxation to contain Government
Authors: Field William
Published: May 2006

The experence of Value‐Added Tax in Europe has attracted attention in America as a relatively painless way to raise goverment revences Professor Willion Field, of Nicholls State University, Thibodaux, Louisiana, argues that the hidden nature of VAT allows goverment to enlarge itself more than the taxpayer perceives.
VAT: An International Mistake
Authors: Ording Ebbe
Published: May 2006

Contradictory claims for the operation of Value‐Added Tax examined by Ebbe Ording, an analyst with Norwegian television. He discovers official confusion and illogical or argument in favour of VAT from government sources in many different countnes.
How Much Unemployment in the Soviet Union?
Authors: Porket J. L
Published: May 2006

The Soviet Government is usually at pains to stress how communism abolishes unemployment. Joseph Porket, a Czech emigré economist, formerly at the Prague School of Economics and now working in Britain, looks below the surface of official propaganda to discover large‐scale structural unemployment as well as more transient forms of joblessness.
Smoking and Politics
Authors: Machan Tibor R.
Published: May 2006

Anti‐smoking lobbyists regularly call for government intervention to prohibit smoking in ‘public places’. Tibor Machan, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Auburn, Alabama, contends that such differences of opinion should be resolved in the adaptable market, not subject to inflexible law.
Privatisation — by Political Process or Consumer Preference?
Authors: Blundell John
Published: May 2006

Dr Keith Hartley called, in the June/July Economic Affairs, for contracting‐out in the provision of local government services to replace state supply. John Blundell, Executive Vice President of the Institute for Humane Studies, Virginia, and a former Lambeth Councillor, warns of the dangers that contracting‐out offers in stagnation, political corruption and ‘capture’ by interested parties. Dr Hartley defends contracting‐out as a step along the path towards free competition.
Female Pay: Has the State Unshackled the Market?
Authors: Tzannatos Zafiris
Published: May 2006

Liberal economists view equal pay legislation for women as a distortion of market signals; interventionists approve of it for this very reason. Dr Zafiris Tzannatos, of the University of Buckingham, contends that unexpectedly, such legislation may have released the labour market from longer‐standing prejudicial distortions.
China Gropes Towards Markets
Authors: Parkins Geoffrey
Published: May 2006

The continued cautious advance of communist China towards economic liberalism and the resultant internal debate is decumented by Geoffrey Parkins, a Research Consultant at the University of Surrey and Lecturer at Willesden College.
The Ethics and Mechanics of Social Democracy or Having it Both Ways
Authors: de Jasay Anthony
Published: May 2006

Why is the West in‘becalmed stagnaion’— unable to overcome the obstacles to economic liberalisation? Has the social democratic dream turned sour? The electoral success of social democratic policies can be explained in its offer to let taxpayers have their cake and eat it, argues Anthony de Jasay, a former Oxford don and author of The State. He examines the potential domage to individual thrift, ambition and responsibility that such mistaken doctrines can induce.
Should the Arts Support Themselves?
Authors: Grampp William D.
Published: May 2006

In an earlier article in Economic Affairs, Professor E. G. West called for arts vouchers to consumers to replace subsidies direct to producers. Professor William Grampp, of the University of Illinois, contends that there is no economic rationale behind arts subsidies in any form and calls for their abolition, Professor West responds that there may be a combination of public approval and external benefits that can justify continued subvention.
Supply‐Side Economics and Budgetary Policy
Authors: Ricketts Martin
Published: May 2006

The meaning of ‘supply side’ economis has been the cause of some confusion. Martin Ricketts, of the University of Buckingham, reveals that supply‐side measures encompass institutional reform as well as cuts in taxation. The Government's policy of privatisation is creating alienable property rights which will improve economic efficiency and reduce the discretionary power of the state.
The Ethics of Tax and Expenditure Decisions
Authors: Tideman T. Nicolaus
Published: May 2006

Both US and UK governments allow legislators to vote on issues in which they have a directed interest. Professor Nicolaus Tideman, of the University of Buckingham, proposes radical reforms to prevent voting by interested parties.
Half a Loaf from the System?
Authors: Bruce‐Gardyne Lord
Published: May 2006

David Stockman was ‘innocent’ to expect the Reagon govermment to cut its expenditure, claims Lord Bruce‐Gordyne, formerly a conservative Treasury Minister: right‐of‐centre democracies are ‘almost as greedy’ for govermment to spend as their left‐wing counterparts. Both are susceptible to lobbies that can pledge the votes of their supporters and demand that their priviliges are paid for by the taxpayer.
The Japanese Example of Indirect Vouchers
Authors: Lynn Richard
Published: May 2006

The producer controlled relative mediocrity of schooling in the West makes a stark contrast with the high standards of education in Japan where the consumer is supreme. Professor Richard Lynn, of the University of Ulster, calls for the fillip of competition to improve standards by extending parental choice.
Macro/Micro — The False Division?
Authors: Tinari Frank D.
Published: May 2006

Is the teaching of economics based on a false perception of the nature of the subject? Professor Frank Tinari, of Seton Hall University, South Orange, New Jersey, presents a radial proposal to unify bath micro‐economics in a single framework that analyses responses to scarcity.
Political Failure: The First Diagnosis?
Authors: Stein Peter
Published: May 2006

1986 sees the 90th anniversary of the publication by the Swedish economist Knut Wicksell's of a path‐breaking and prophetic analysis of the failure of the political process. Wicksell's compatriot, the economist Peter Stein, assesses his seminal contribution to the branch of economics that has since become known as ‘Public Choice’.
Homo Cricketus?
Authors: Blundell John
Published: May 2006

Should overseas players be banned from playing county cricket? Has the one‐day game damaged England's international performances? Is a third umpire required in cricket games? As the English cricket establishment considers radical changes to the future organisation of the sport, John Blundell, of the Institute for Humane Studies at George Mason University, Virginia, orgues that the predictive insights of economics have much to offer the administrators of the game at Lord's, the headquarters of cricket, and around the world.
Investor Protection and Unprincipled Intervention?
Authors: Goodhart Charles
Published: May 2006

The grounds for regulation of markets are easily argued against the existing law. Professor Charles Goodhart, of the London School of Economics, formerly of the Bank of England, says there is a case on the basis of onbalanced informotion, but argues that regulation can go too far in preventing choice between lower but cheaper and higher but more expensive standards. The Securities Investment Board seems to be bereft of principles to justify its proposed interventions in the financial markets.
Personal Property against Economic Centralism
Authors: Dowd Kevin
Published: May 2006

Private property offers a yardstick against which to measure government intervention in the economy. Kevin Dowd, Research Officer in Economics at the University of Sheffiell, suggests shores in nationalised industries should be given away to all citizens to create a class of voter with a direct interest in the free market
Equalising Share‐Ownership
Authors: Guirdham Maureen , Tan Siew Choo
Published: May 2006

More effective marketing of shares in denationalised assets might increase their holdings by older and younger age‐groups and women. But Dr Maureen Guirdham and Siew Choo Tan, of the City University Business School, argue that other forms of financial provision may be better suited than investment in shares fo people with lower incomes.
African Intellectuals and the Neglect of Economic Reality
Authors: Ayittey George B. N.
Published: May 2006

Much analysis of African political economy ignores the long tradition of markets in Africa and misrepresents important aspects of her history. Professor George Ayittey. the Ghanaian economist currently working at the University of Bloomsburg in Pennsylvania, takes issue with a recent book and television series.
The Political Myopia of Economic Activism
Authors: Wood Geoffrey
Published: May 2006

Should long‐term money targets be abandoned in favour of a more interventionist approach to the management of the economy? Professor Geoffrey Wood, of the City University Business School in London, distinguishes the long‐term importance of monetarist theory from the short‐sighted unreliability of political intervention.
Legalise Insider Trading?
Authors: High S. Hugh
Published: May 2006

‘Insider Trading’ has been widely condemned by the press and politicians as immoral and damaging both to investors and to the reputation of the City of London. S. Hugh High, of Massey University in New Zealand, rebuts calls for tightening the law against insider trading; indeed, he argues, existing laws are both unenforceable and may trample on basic political liberties.
How to Pay for the NHS
Authors: McKenna Norman
Published: May 2006

The Achilles heel of the NHS is its flawed financing of personal services by taxation, which destroys information on costs, weakens incentives to economise in scarce medical manpower and resources, and removes the inducement to pay more for better services. The NHS misguidedly reconstructed the supply of medical care to remedy inefficiency in demand. Basic medical decisions must be ‘economic’ in the light of opportunity costs, which require knowledge of prices by charging according to value and quality of service. Here Norman McKenna, formerly Managing Director of ICI Svenska, reveals the devastating failures of state medicine and offers the constructive half‐way house of charging according to income, with requisite topping‐up.
The Failure of ‘Market Failure’
Authors: Shand Alexander
Published: May 2006

Arguments that state intervention in the economy is superior to a policy of laissez‐faire are usually based on the misperception that government will succeed where the market is thought to fail. Alexander Shand, formerly Senior Lecturer in Economics at Manchester Polytechnic, surveys economic theory to demonstrate that the state itself is prone to failure; government intervention is often the cause of deficiencies in the market economy.
Banking: Why Should the Taxpayer Bear the Risk?
Authors: Capie Forrest
Published: May 2006

A recent Government White Paper proposed increased state supervision to regulate the affairs of commercial banks. Forrest Capie, Professor of Economic History at the City University Business School in London, argues that price signals supplied by the market and the role of the central bank as the lender of last resort are sufficient guarantee of banking probity. Increased state supervision is unnecessary and damaging.
Market Remedies for State Transport Paralysis
Authors: Hibbs John
Published: May 2006

A recent publication from the National Center for Policy Analysis in Dallas confirms the superiority of the supply of transport through prices in the market over provision by state allocation John Hibbs, Director of the School of Transport Studies at the City of Birmingham Polytechnic, extends the analysis to transport in Britain, and warns of obstruction by vested interests.
Inequality is not Injustice
Authors: Flew Antony
Published: May 2006

The American sciologist John Rawls of Harvard has influenced academic discussion by his argument that justice requires equality as a primary purpose of governent policy. The British philosopher Antony Flew, formerly of the University of Reading and currently teaching at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center of Bowling Green State University in Ohio, questions Rawls reasoning. He affirms that equality is not justice, a truth seen and expounded by the classical philosophers, but neglected by egalitarians.
A Market Policy for Socialists?
Authors: Forbes Ian
Published: May 2006

Socialists ought to welcome the efficiency and freedom of choice that markets bring, and be wary of the deficiencies of the state, according to lan Forbes, lecturer in Politics at Southampton University. But the freedom of choice claimed by the ‘New Right’ thinkers for their economic system would itself be attenuated by the operation of markets. Market socialism thus requires an institutional pluralism of both market and non‐market elements.
Can Socialism Change its Spots?
Authors: Tame Chris R.
Published: May 2006

The new formulation of ‘market socialism’ conceals its partial origin in the thinking of socialists of decades ago. Chris Tame, Secretary of the Libertarian Alliance, argues that old and new socialism alike are impracticable and coercive. Both fail to meet objections raised by liberal writers.
Restricting the Freedom to Oppress
Authors: Miller David
Published: May 2006

If markets are to be subsumed within socialism, the institutions of ownership upon which they are based will require adaptation. David Miller, Official Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, suggests that the dangers to market freedom posed by the private ownership of capital may be eliminated by cooperatives and other new forms of ownership.
Teaching Economics: the Failure of Macro economics
Authors: Steele G. R.
Published: May 2006

The teaching of economics has for decades been dominated by macro‐economic analysis — the study of output, employment, investment and other economic indicators in aggregate — to the neglect of the micro‐economic emphasis on price. G. R. Steele, Lecturer in Economics at the University of Lancaster, contends that the predominance of macro presents students of economics with an essentially false picture of the way in which an economy functions.
A Celebration of Hayek
Authors: Barry Norman
Published: May 2006

For much of his career, the work of the Austrian economist F. A. Hayek was neglected by all but a small band of academics. The award of the Nobel Prize in Economic Science in 1974 at last brought public recognition to a scholar whose seven decades of work is increasingly seen to offer seminal analysis which will guide the development of economics for at least as long again in the future. Norman Barry, Professor of Politics at the University of Buckingham, examines Hayek's distinguished career.
The Market & Mr Chalk: A Comment on‘Air Travel: Safety Through The Market’
Authors: Meyer Bruce
Published: May 2006

Bruce Meyer argues that Andrew Chalk in his article‘Air Travel: Safety Through the Market’, Economic Affairs, Volume 8, No. 1, does not go far enough and that the Federal Aviation Administration ought to he abolished.
Workfare in Britain and America: A Personal View
Authors: Nathan Richard P.
Published: May 2006

But could workfare succeed in Britain? Professor Richard Nathan of Princeton University argues that the differences between Britain and America are such that workfare in Britain will require even larger changes in attitude than was the case in America.
Breaking into Unemployment: The Black Economy and Workfare
Authors: Dawson Graham
Published: May 2006

Dr Graham Dawson, of the Employment Research Centre at University of Buckingham, sketches the reality of unemployment and the black economy. He describes how he helped carry out a survey of the unemployed in Liverpool in October 1986 and lost his car radio.
The Rise and Rise and Fall and Fall of the Dollar
Authors: Healey Nigel
Published: May 2006

Has the dollar finally come to rest? Nigel Healey of the Policy Research Unit of Leeds Polytechnic examines the recent history of the dollar in the foreign exchange markets.
The Next Green Paper on Local Government Finance
Authors: King David N.
Published: May 2006

What is the role of local government? David King claims that countries with strong local government are richer than those without, but argues that it could shed some of its functions to the market.
The Financial System and The Crash One Year On
Authors: Pearce Ivor F.
Published: May 2006

What was the ultimate significance of the Crash? Professor Ivor Pearce places the events of October 1987 in the context of a fundamental defect in the financial system.
The Levellers – Britain's First Libertarians?
Authors: Elliott Nick
Published: May 2006

The common understanding of the Levellers is that they were embryo socialists. Nick Elliott argues that they were seventeenth century libertarians.
The Impact of Corruption on Third World Development
Authors: Osterfeld David
Published: May 2006

What are the effects of corruption in the Third World? David Osterfeld claims that in many LDCs corruption allows market forces to operate, while it may frustrate market forces in advanced countries.
Will Inflation Follow Rapid Monetary Growth?
Authors: Pepper Gordon
Published: May 2006

Do rapid rates of monetary growth imply an acceleration in inflation? Gordon Pepper, an adviser and director of Midland Montagu, argues that current rates of monetary growth are too rapid.
Inflation ond Personal Saving
Authors: Morgan Victor
Published: May 2006

What are the consequences of the decline in the personal savings ratio? Professor Victor Morgan argues that contrary to claims by the government, amongst others, the decline in the savings ratio could have serious consequences for inflation.
Time to End the National Dock Labour Scheme
Authors: Hanson Charles
Published: May 2006

Dr Charles Hanson of Newcastle University argues that to complete its reform of the labour market the Government should abolish the National Dock Labour Scheme.
The Expansion of the Private Sector
Authors: Winiecki Jan
Published: May 2006

How important is the recent expansion of the private sector in Eastern Europe? Professor Jan Winiecki of the Institute of Labour Research, Warsaw, in the first of a series of Letters from Eastern Europe, argues that the expansion of private enterprise in socialist economies may not be all that it appears.
The Case for International Competition Among Economic Policy Makers
Authors: Vaubel Roland
Published: May 2006

How can governments and civil servants be controlled? Professor Roland Vaubel, of the University of Mannheim, explains how competition between nations improves economic policy.
Creating a Prisons Market
Authors: Clarke Peter
Published: May 2006

Why should the Home Office remain the monopoly supplier of prisons? Peter Clarke argues that privatisation and a system of incentives for the new owners could reduce recidivism.
Law and Economics: What and Why
Authors: Friedman David
Published: May 2006

Can economics contribute anything to our understanding of law? David Friedman of the University of Chicago Law School, argues that economics can increase our understanding of the law and improve the drafting of legislation.
Manufacturing versus Services – A False Dichotomy?
Authors: OBE David Liston
Published: May 2006

Is there a conflict between services and manufacturing? Professor David Liston argues that services and manufacturing are complementary, and that tradeable services make a substantial contribution to the British economy.
The Economics of Training Nurses in the NHS
Authors: Hartley Keith , Shiell Alan
Published: May 2006

How should the training of nursing be reformed? Keith Hartley and Alan Shiell, of the University of York, argue that the ‘Project 2000’ plan has been accepted by the Government despite serious flaws.
The Market and Efficient Resource Allocation
Authors: Dawson Graham
Published: May 2006

Graham Dawson, a very experienced teacher of economics at Bedford High School, gives the second in the series of Model Answers for ‘A’ Level economics.
Hayek on Capitalism and Socialism – A Scholar for All Seasons
Authors: CBE Arthur Seldon
Published: May 2006

Arthur Seldon, consultant editor of Economic Affairs and Vice‐President of the IEA, reviews Hayek's latest book, The Fatal Conceit.
Bruges or Brussels?
Authors: Lewis Russell
Published: May 2006

What kind of Europe do we want ‐ a free zone of independent nations or a European superstate? Russell Lewis, a distinguished supporter of the European Community, argues the case for a ‘union des patries’ united by free trade.
Green for Stop
Authors: Whelan Robert
Published: May 2006

Are the Greens right to oppose economic growth? Robert Whelan, of the Committee on Population and the Economy, argues that the British Green party lacks an understanding of economic development.
The Theory of International Trade
Authors: Graham  , Dawson Mair
Published: May 2006

How to answer a question in ‘A’ level economics? Graham and Mair Dawson, both teachers of economics, give all the information necessary to write a DIY model answer.
The Economic Effects of Anti‐takeover Gimmicks; An American View
Authors: McGee Robert W.
Published: May 2006

Should companies be allowed to protect themselves from takeover? Robert McGee, of Seton Hall University, outlines the case against ‘poison pills’ and other restrictions on takeovers and mergers.
Monopolies and Mergers: An MMC Perspective
Authors: Lipworth Sydney
Published: May 2006

What is the function of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission? Sydney Lipworth, the chairman or the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, explains the functions of the Commission.
Charities and Tax: A Plea to the Chancellor
Authors: Brophy Michael
Published: May 2006

How can charitable giving be encouraged? Michael Brophy, of the Charities Aid Foundation, makes an appeal to the Chancellor for increasing the tax advantages of charitable gifts.
Financial Recovery and Structural Changes in the Economy
Authors: Vasil'ev Sergei
Published: May 2006

How significant is the Soviet Union's financial crisis? Sergei Vasil'ev, of the Institute of Finance and Economics in Leningrad, argues that the financial crisis is the key to future developments in the Soviet economy and that heavy industry can be expected to suffer as the budget deficit is brought into balance.
Careers for Economists II
Authors: Tree Nigel
Published: May 2006

What careers are possible for people with ‘A’ Level economics? In this issue Nigel Tree looks at some of the careers open to those with a background in economics.
Road Pricing and the Edge worth Paradox
Authors: Mogridge Dr Martin
Published: May 2006

Can road pricing cure traffic congestion? Dr Martin Mogridge, of the Transport Studies Unit of University College London, explains how taxing cars and subsidising buses could reduce traffic congestion. Readers who may find Dr Mogridge's technical argument difficult should refer to the box.
the future for Privatising local government
Authors: Mason Douglas
Published: May 2006

While privatisation has been proceeding rapidly at Westminster, it has lagged behind in local government. Douglas Mason, inventor of the Community Charge, wants to speed up privatisation in the town halls.
election economics
Authors: Lind Robert
Published: May 2006

Economic management is crucial to winning elections, Robert Lind of UBS Phillips and Drew reviews the prospects and outlines possible strategies for victory.
time to abolish income tax?
Authors: Barry
Published: May 2006

Tax expert Barry Bracewell‐Milnes shows how income tax could be completely abolished by the year 2015 or sooner.
the myths of anti‐smoking
Authors: Dowd Kevin
Published: May 2006

What is the economic case for discouraging smoking? Kevin Dowd of the University of Nottingham reviews the evidence and concludes that there is a strong case for allowing people to choose for themselves.
the AIDS scandal
Authors: Whelan Robert
Published: May 2006

How serious is the AIDS crisis? Robert Whelan argues that the AIDS pressure group has succeeded in obtaining more than its fair share of research funds at the expense of equally serious illnesses.
a very rare animal
Authors: Regan Trevor C.
Published: May 2006

What are the career prospects for economists? John Regan of Citicorp argues that although there are few openings for professional economists, qualifications in economics are valuable for a career in industry or business.
new pricing in the pipeline
Authors: Byatt Ian Charles Rayner
Published: May 2006

Ian Byatt, Director General of Water Supply, explains how the water and sewerage industry is regulated.
refereeing the contest
Authors: Littlechild Stephen
Published: May 2006

Stephen Littlechild, the Director General of Electricity Supply. (DGES), explains the principles which govern the regulation of the electricity industry.
european time, cows and Scotsmen
Authors: Davies Christie
Published: May 2006

Christie Davies, of Reading University, urges the case for Euro‐time, but sees resistance from ‘Little Englanders’ and others to this continental invasion, and eagerly anticipates the abolition of milkmen.
which way for euro‐money reform?
Authors: Dowd Kevin
Published: May 2006

With enthusiasm for European monetary union apparently waning, Kevin Dowd, of Nottingham University, is sceptical of both the Delors plan and the hard ecu and puts the case for a commodity currency. If currency reform is required, why not have the best alternative on offer?
what role for economics?
Authors: Burton John
Published: May 2006

What is the role of economics and economists at business school? Professor John Burton, director of Centre for Business Economics at the European Business School, reviews the issues and concludes that economists need to become more businesslike.
exchange rates and the liverpool six
Authors: Congdon Tim
Published: May 2006

Professor Tim Congdon, ‘the sage of Lombard Street’, reviews the possible exchange rate regimes for a medium sized country such as Britain and relates them to the arguments of the ‘Liverpool Six’.
rio rubbish
Authors: Whelan Robert
Published: May 2006

Did anything come out of Rio Earth Summit? Robert Whelan, of the Committee on Population and the Economy, claims that it produced a farrago of nonsense.
I: making maastricht work
Authors: Keeting Giles
Published: May 2006

Giles Keating, chief economist of Credit Suisse First Boston, puts the case for the Maastricht agreement on monetary union after the Danes said ‘No’ in their referendum.
can europe compete post‐1992?
Authors: Sentance Andrew
Published: May 2006

Can Europe compete? Andrew Sentance of the CBI suggests the EC may be ill‐placed to compete in international markets following the 1992 process; completion of the internal market is no guarantee of a strong recovery.
BACK TO THE FUTURE: yeltsin, stolypin and russia's agricultural revolution
Authors: Dmitriev Michall
Published: May 2006

Will Boris Yeltsin's liberalisation of Russian agriculture succeed Michail Dmitriev, who is a member of the parliament of the Russian Federation, reviews the problems and prospects.
a fire inspector calls
Authors: Fisher Mike
Published: May 2006

Mike Fisher, an Institute of Economic Affairs' trustee and director of Whale Tankers, explains what happened when the fire inspector called on the home of the great British whale.
Capitalist lessons for communists
Authors: Lewis Russell
Published: May 2006

Are there any tips that capitalists can offer former communists in introducing and managing a market economy? Russell Lewis reviews the dangers and opportunities.
taxing thoughts
Authors: McKenzie Richard
Published: May 2006

Why has government stopped growing in the main industrial countries? Richard McKenzie, of the University of California, argues that governments have been forced to compete for capital which has become increasingly mobile because of technical changes. This has had the effect of reducing taxation and containing government expansion.
towards popular capitalism
Authors: Barry
Published: May 2006

Could tax reform help us out of the recession? Barry Bracewell‐Milnes, a former economic director of the CBI and currently an independent consultant, urges tax reform and abolition as the sort of supply‐side stimulus the economy needs.
maastricht: the case for EMU
Authors: Spencer Peter
Published: May 2006

Peter Spencer, chief UK economist of Lehman Brothers, explains how the Maastricht agreements could lead to European Monetary Union ‐ an end to be desired.
the asians are coming
Authors: Lewis Russell
Published: May 2006

The economic centre of the world is shifting to South East Asia, says Russell Lewis. We should not fear this development but learn and profit from it. But if we in the West respond negatively we may foster our own decline.
Keynes, yuppies and capital (gains)
Authors: Pot Martin
Published: May 2006

Has stock exchange speculation reinforced prejudice in favour of capital Gains Tax? Martin pot, a self‐confessed stock market investor, argues that keynes’ criticism of stock market ‘gambling’‐despite himself having regular bouts of speculation‐underlies much support for the assimilation of capital gains to income. But speculation is not cured by taxation but by low inflation.
investment, not ‘aid’, is the key to development
Authors: Osterfeid David
Published: May 2006

How can poor countries get rich? David Osterfeld, of the Heritage Foundation Washington DC, argues that multi‐national companies and foreign investment hold the key to economic development and escape from poverty.
a beast of burden
Authors: Fisher Mike
Published: May 2006

How great is the burden of bureaucracy on the entrepreneur? Mike Fisher, an IEA trustee, writes from personal experience as managing director of Whale Tankers, a small private manufacturing company.
privatisation coupon in Czechoslovakia
Authors: Summers Martin
Published: May 2006

How is privatisation being carried out in Eastern Europe? Martin Summers, of the Institute of Economic Affairs, explains how the Czechoslovak government has set about privatisation by the use of coupons and we interview a former adviser to the Slovak prime minister.
HELP FOR TEACHERS: teachers’ resource centre
Authors: Allan Walter
Published: May 2006

How can the Institute of Economic Affairs help teachers? Walter Allan, director of the IEA's new Teachers’ Resource Centre, explains the Institute's plans to develop its service to teachers and schools.
marketing the environment
Authors: Lewis Russell
Published: May 2006

Russell Lewis shows how, contrary to widespread belief, free markets tend to improve the environment while socialism and Green regulation destroy it.
post‐war economics' dead end (part 1)
Authors: Sherman Sir Alfred
Published: May 2006

In the first of two articles Sir Alfred Sherman, advisor to Conservative leaders in the 1970s and 1980s and a founder of the Centre for Policy Studies, claims that post‐war economics has reached a dead‐end.
Macmillan economics
Authors: Farmiloe Tim , Rutt Stephen
Published: May 2006

Tim Farmiloe (publishing academic division) and Stephen Rutt (publisher, higher‐education division) outline Macmillan's publishing plans for economics books.
LEASEHOLD ENFRANCHISEMENT: two wrongs don't make a right
Authors: Bracewell‐Milnes Barry
Published: May 2006

Leasehold enfranchisement is assumed by almost everyone to be desirable. But Barry Bracewell‐Milnes argues that the ‘reforms’ included in the Queen's Speech earlier this year will have perverse effects.
an economist and farmer
Authors: Whetstone Linda
Published: May 2006

Linda Whetstone, economist farmer and IEA trustee, was the guest presenter on the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Opinion’ in October 1992 and reviewed the flaws in the Common Agricultural Policy. Economic Affairs reproduces her discussion with economists, farmers and others.
THE HOUSING MARKET IN 1993
Authors: Morris Jonathan
Published: May 2006

What hope is there of a recovery in the housing market in the rest of 1993? Jonathan Morris, of economic consultant Lombard Street Research, analyses the influences that will affect the housing market.
were the green belts wasted effort?
Authors: Denman Donald
Published: May 2006

What have been the effects of development planning? Professor Donald Denman, Emeritus Professor of Land Economy at Cambridge University, argues that they have been self‐defeating, at least in the case of the Green Belts. Professor Denman's autobiography, A Half and Half Affair: Chronicles of a Hybrid Don, will shortly be published by the Churchill Press.
a new religion?
Authors: Bate Roger
Published: May 2006

Is ‘deep ecology’ becoming a new religion? In the first of a new regular column on environmental economics, Roger Bate, Environmental Research Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs, examines the arguments of the ‘deep ecologists’.
bring back the poll tax
Authors: Mason Douglas
Published: May 2006

Councillor Douglas Mason, the originator of the Community Charge, argues for its return and explains how the Council Tax could be easily reformed to recapture the best features of the Poll Tax.
market reforms in developing countries
Authors: Reynolds Paul
Published: May 2006

How can the trickle of market reforms be turned into a flood? Paul Reynolds, of the Adam Smith Institute, explains why privatisation in developing countries is still difficult to achieve.
Coase's lighthouse
Authors: Bate Roger
Published: May 2006

Roger Bate argues that Professor Ronald Coase's famous article The Lighthouse in Economics has important lessons for resolving environmental problems.
waste tanker safety fiasco
Authors: Fisher Mike
Published: May 2006

Mike Fisher, managing director of Whale Tankers, records his struggle with bureaucracy to export a British‐made hazardous waste tanker to France.
harcourt brace economics
Authors: Pegg Jennifer
Published: May 2006

Jennifer Pegg, economics editor with Harcourt Brace, outlines her publishing plans for economics books for the rest of 1993 and beyond.
The Danger of Europe's Democratic Deficit
Authors: Vaubel Roland
Published: May 2006

Centralling tendencies in a European Union must be resisted by strenthening th role of the EC members' national parliaments.
Market Access in the Airline Industry
Authors: Branson Richard
Published: May 2006

The Chicogo Convention, now 50 years old, has become a disaster for air travel (both passengers and airlines), because it raises costs, hindering competition and reducing efficiency.
Conservation Through Commercialisation
Authors: Fisher Mark
Published: May 2006

The author recounts from first‐handknowledge and experience the attempts by Mariculture to form the green sea‐turile, and the opposition encountered from environmentolists and other.
More People, Greater Wealth, More Resources, Healthier Environment
Authors: Simon Julian L.
Published: May 2006

The ultimate resource is people‐their skills, spirit, problem‐solving abilities. In the longer run, more people equals more wealth, more resources, a healthier environment.
Herbert Frankel's Life of Liberal
Authors: Seldon Arthur
Published: May 2006

The testimony of an economist who saw classicla liberal principles vindicated by the real world.
Government Regulation—The Way Forward
Authors: Blundell John
Published: May 2006

Markets and their institutions (property rights, contracts, the rule of law) are the reason people are ‘safe’ in their daily lives. Government regulation hampers attempts toimprove our lives. The discovery procedure of the market is superior to government insetting standards.
A Qualified Defence of the Welfare State
Authors: Jackson P. M.
Published: May 2006

Beveridge envisaged National Insurance as a last resort scheme which would shrink as economic growth improved. The reverse has been the outcome. Targeting of the oldest and neediest, and the poorest families, would make more sense. The scope for private substitutes for state welfare is limited.
Education Without the State
Authors: West Edwin G.
Published: May 2006

With the Forster Act of 1870 the state look over the rode of financing and suppliying education in Britain when private schooling was growing rapidly. If it had not done so we would have been spared the unprecedented excess costs in taxation required to finance it today, and we would have had real choice in education.
Saving for Life‐time Risks
Authors: SeLdon Arthur
Published: May 2006

The welfare state, and especially the state pension system, has lessened the British people's prudential urge to save. The free market would have ensured that competition invigorated traditional methods of saving and introduced new ones.
Self‐Help: An Idea Whose Time Has Come Again?
Authors: Hanson Charles
Published: May 2006

self‐help among the working classes was widespread over a century ago, especially through the frinedly sociaties. The welfare state reformers’ grandiose centralised shemes have damaged the spirit of self‐help.
The Friendly Societies
Authors: Yarrow George
Published: May 2006

Had the 1911 national insurance scheme been voluntary, permitting opting out, friendly societies would have grown significantly larger in the inter‐war year. A renaissance of voluntary action in social security and welfare would require a rodical overhaul of the legislative and policy framework.
Charity and the State
Authors: O'Keeffe Dennis
Published: May 2006

a tragic aspect of the socialised sectors in the free societies of the West is the way in which private charity has been curtailed by state action. Care for the less fortunate has been impoverished because it has been socialised. Free enterprise comprise the oppropriate ‘mixed economy’.
The Verdict of History
Authors: Seldon Arthur
Published: May 2006

The state prevents the market from discovering the imperfections of the welfare state. To prove itself state welfare must be open to competing methods of producation.
Can the Nation Afford Pensions?
Authors: Vinson Lord
Published: May 2006

Demography‐the worsening ratio of the economically active to inactive‐will make pensions in their present form unsustainable. Welfarism in the form of universal state pension provision for all can only wither‐any individual wishing to do better than his neighbour will have to rely on his own savings.
Ideas and Action: The Witness of Keith Joseph
Authors: Seldon Arthur
Published: May 2006

As a tribute to the late Lord Joseph, who died last December, the IEA's first Editorial Director Considers Joseph's attempts to translate into practival policy reforms which would be desirable in the long term. Arthur Seldon suggests lessons still to be learned by politicians of all parties.
ELECTIVE ASSEMBLIES*
Authors: PASQUINO GIANFRANCO
Published: May 2006

This review article will attempt to systematize the most important literature on legislative assemblies, to identify their weaknesses and to point out promising research lines. The material is classified under four sections: candidate recruitment and assembly composition, motivations of the political career, role of the representatives, and models and functions of legislative assemblies. The main conclusions are: that future research on recruitment must closely link changes in recruitment with legislative output in a diachronic perspective in order to produce meaningful results. Secondly, the study of motivations of the political career is still an interesting topic but should be supplemented by studies dealing with defeated candidates in a structural perspective (as some seminal works have already done). Thirdly, not enough is known, particularly in the European context, about representation: empirical studies are still needed which will take into consideration the aspects of accountability and responsibility. Finally, while some works have been done on the functions of elective assemblies, especially in the world of developed countries, theoretical confusion still exists. Two research lines should be pursued: the study of the relationships between political development, in its most comprehensive meaning, and elective assemblies; and the relationships between the executive power and elective assemblies as to legislative output, the measurement of its importance and the variables related to it (content, source of the initiative, procedure and type of government).