bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Britain's Missing £80 Billions How Japan Prospers
Authors: ALLEN G. C.
Published: May 2006

The proposals of John Biffen, the Secretary of State for Trade, for import restrictions on Japanese goods are fundamentally misguided. The Government woluld do better to deregulate industry and so allow British management to emulate Japan's rate of economic growth.
Argentina: Inflation, Income Distribution and Class Conflict
Authors: THOMPSON JOHN K.
Published: May 2006

Mrs Thatcher's slow progress in freeing the economy shows how little she has learned from the failure of attempts abroad. The lesson of Argentina is that she will have to buy support for her policies by creating groups with a direct interest in her success.
‘New Keynesianism’: Will the Unions Like the S.D.P. Cure?
Authors: BURTON JOHN
Published: May 2006

Professor James Mead's proposals to induce the emergence of the economy from stagflation by imposing ‘not quite compulsory’ wage restraint neglect the power of the unions to ignore it. Government courts of arbitration would be unable to maintain their independence in face of union pressure. And they would not gather sufficient information about the state of the continuously changing economy to make accurate and impartial decisions.
Discrimination Helps the Under‐Privileged
Authors: BLOCK WALTER
Published: May 2006

Anthony Wedgwood Benn's agitation for higher pay for youths on Norman Tebbit's government training programmes would increase the numbers on the dole. To legislate against discrimination prevents the under privileged pricing themselves into jobs and homes from which they can them be pushed by their white, stronger or otherwise more attractive competitors.
Monkey Business at London Zoo?
Authors: MILLER ROBERT
Published: May 2006

Michael Heseltine's £1 million grant to London Zoo runs directly contrary to Government policy by using taxpayers’ money to reward organisations that fail to supply what consumers want.
What Forty Years Should Teach
Authors: SCHWARTZ ELI
Published: May 2006

Reviews in The Economis Journal reveal the unwillingness of economists hostile to the market to acknowledge the failure of collectivist policies. Professor Schwartz here replies to Keith Middlemas.
In Defence of the Unions
Authors: SHACKLETON J. R.
Published: May 2006

Professor Minford's claim that unions force a million workers out of jobs neglects several important factors, according to J. R. Shackleton, who cites various studies in support. Professor Minford replies with the rasoning behind his estimate and maintains his claim formassive reduction in union power is unaffected.
Thatcher Monetary Policy is Working: No Case for Reflation
Authors: DARBY MICHAEL R. , LOTHIAN JAMES R.
Published: May 2006

The Prime Minister's monetary policy has been widely condemned as failing. Two American observers of British economic policy, an academic and a practical economist, maintain that the evidence shows both that it is working effectively and that there is no convincing argument for abandoning it.
Can the C.B.I Create Confidence?
Authors: PEARCE IVOR F.
Published: May 2006

The CBI has claimed that evidence from manufacturing firms suggests that the Government's economic policies have been debilitating British industry. Professor Pearce maintains that the CBI interpretation of the evidence is based on a misunderstanding of the economic process.
Government Cannot Pick Winners
Authors: GRANT ROBERT M.
Published: May 2006

Despite its disavowal of state intervention in industry, the Government is still subsidising industries it thinks it can fertilise into increased profitability. Robert Grant denies that government with taxpayers’ money is more alert to potential growth than private investors backing their judgement with their own money.
Social Security Foments the Black Economy
Authors: PARKER HERMIONE
Published: May 2006

Social security incites a tendency to exploit other citizens. Hermione Parker demonstrates the effects of social benefits in discouraging work and encouraging dishonesty, not least by forcing recipients into the black economy.
Index‐Linked Bonds: Snare and Delusion
Authors: MANN R. D.
Published: May 2006

Index‐linking has been urged as the way to make inflation tolerable and also to discourage it. David Mann maintains that, especially when inflation is abating, index‐linking is inequitable and an act of virtual dishonesty by government.
Cut ‘Public’ Over‐Employment
Authors: MANSER W. A. P.
Published: May 2006

That there is over‐employment in government services is now widely accepted, except by its employees. Of the recent increase in revealed unemployment, most has come from private industry and almost none from government employment. William Manser reveals the statistics and argues for ways of cutting government over‐employment.
Denationalising British Telecom: One Step in the Right Direction
Authors: MILLER ROBERT
Published: May 2006

The Government's plans to denationalise British Telecom are substantially flawed by its intention to impose accompanying regulation. Robert Miller explains how regulation leads to inefficiency, higher prices and manipulation by interest groups.
Whitehall's Half‐Nelson on Small Business
Authors: DAWSON GRAHAM
Published: May 2006

Both Conservative and Labour Governments have discovered the small business and have pretended to assist its creation and expansion. Graham Dawson maintains that whatever the Government has done to encourage small business, it has done even more to depress and discourage it.
Egg on the Face of Government
Authors: JESSEN FRANZ
Published: May 2006

A classical example of the cost of government intervention is the fiasco in egg production induced by the Danish Government's prohibition of battery production. Franz Jessen describes the costs and confusion and warns other counties not to repeat Denmark's mistakes.
Forward to Basics in Economics
Authors: Batchelor Roy
Published: May 2006

For nearly half a century since Keynes's supposed rebuttal of classical economics, economists and politicians have been pre‐occupied with ‘demand side’ efforts to maintain full employment and output by spending more than they can raise in taxes. The evident failure of ‘demand side’ economics has at last reached the Keynesian economists. Some are beginning to reject ‘demand side’ economics as inadequate and to argue for the return of 'supply and demand’.
Austrian Policy for the Thatcher Government
Authors: Shand Alexander
Published: May 2006

‘Austrian’ economics – an approach developed by a succession of Austrian economists, Menger, Wieser, Böhm‐Bawerk, Mises and now the latest and greatest, F. A. Hayek – whose influence is reflected in this New Statesman cartoon – has developed new adherents among younger economists in America, Britain and around the world. Here Alex Shand outlines the main elements of government policy as they could be if based on ‘Austrian’ economics.
Universities and the Knowledge Market
Authors: Salter Brian
Published: May 2006

British universities have suffered from the indiscipline of price‐lessness. But the days when the state can finance them in the luxury to which it has accustomed them have ended. Yet Dr Brian Salter holds out hope by showing they can tap substantial sources of funds by selling their services and strengthening themselves as centres of research and scholarship.
Trade Union Reform: Tebbit's Next Step
Authors: Hanson Charles
Published: May 2006

The unique privileges and immunities that have misled British trade unions are at last being ended by reforms that bring them within the legal framework applying to other corporations. But is the process going far or fast enough? Dr Charles Hanson approves of some of Norman Tebbit's current proposals bit dismisses others as too weak.
Budget for a Surplus, Chancellor
Authors: Miller Robert
Published: May 2006

Following the so‐called Keynesian ‘revolution’, economists have fastened on the size and efficacy of budget deficits as the secret of high employment and rising living standards. The Conservatives have succeeded in reducing the deficits, but Robert Miller argues they should now begin to budget for surpluses. This is another new/old direction in economic thought that Nigel Lawson should not take years to absorb. Will the Conservatives per‐empt the Alliance?
Protectionism — No Solution to De‐Industrialisation
Authors: Capie Forrest
Published: May 2006

The increasing appeals for protection from international competition recall the follies of government and industry in the 1930s. Dr Forrest Capie challenges the conventional wisdom that attributes to protection the recovery from the 1930s Great Depression. He argues it was not resuscitation of old industries but the emergence of new industries that brought Britain out of the slump. Will Paul Channon learn the lesson?
Voting for the Open Society
Authors: Fletcher Raymond
Published: May 2006

A Labour MP for a mining constituency from 1964 to 1983 writes without inhibition of the backlog of economic reform that cannot be postponed much longer without increasing damage to British society. The June election revealed the strength of feeling among the electorate for an open society that no politician will be able to ignore.
Church, Economy and State
Authors: Watson Basil
Published: May 2006

Through their pulpits in churches and broadcasting British clerics have misused their spiritual influence to support or advocate economic policies they are not equipped to judge. A clergyman who does not share the clerical consensus outlines a dissenting view.
Choice in Currency in Iceland
Authors: Gissurarson Hannes H
Published: May 2006

An Icelandic post‐graduate student at Oxford outlines a method of preventing inflation that could be applied in other countries.
Interest Groups Nobble the Cap
Authors: Whetstone Linda
Published: May 2006

An economist‐farmer returns to the attack on the Common Agricultural Policy.
Lawson Must Break the Inflation Cycle
Authors: McCrostie Michael J
Published: May 2006

An economist at the newly chartered University of Buckingham argues that Nigel Lawson break the unholy alliance of inflation and politics.
Government Makes Exchange Rates Volatile
Authors: BATCHELOR ROY A. , WOOD GEOFFREY E.
Published: May 2006

The foreign exchanges operate in markets that are widely distrusted as unpredictable and destabilising for international trade. Roy Batchelor and Geoffrey Wood argue that history and argument show that it is government that makes the exchanges more volatile, because it adds a range of uncertainty which is the most unpredictable.
Letter to a Young Economist
Authors: PREST ALAN R.
Published: May 2006

Professor Prest prepares a recently graduated student of economics for the traps and tripwires of his profession. He is reticent about his allusions, and readers may guess ‐ or grimace ‐ at the organisations and individuals he has in mind.
Banning the Brahms
Authors: PARROTT JASPER
Published: May 2006

In the lifetime of a government ostensibly dedicated to free trade, not least in the arts, Jasper Parrott reveals how the Conservatives capitulated to entrenched union opposition, sanctioned by complaisant bureaucrats in restricting overseas orchestras playing to British audiences.
International Debt, Insolvency and Illiquidity
Authors: BRUNNER KARL , FRATIANNI MICHELE , GOLDMAN MORRIS , JORDAN JERRY L. , MELTZER ALLAN H. , SCHWARTZ ANNA J.
Published: May 2006

Western governments and academics alike have neglected the dangers, long‐ and short‐term, of the continuing and ill‐considered issue of loans to countries ‐ Poland, Mexico, etc. ‐ whose rulers persisted with policies that have brought them to ruin. Professor Karl Brunner and five American collaborators analyse the genesis of such financial incontinence and indicate seven steps for the West to avoid international illiquidity.
Sell the Tubes
Authors: HIBBS JOHN
Published: May 2006

Mr Ken Livingstone and others have used London Transport as a political plaything in recent years. John Hibbs offers a radical solution to LT's dependence on the politicians ‐ the removal of London's Underground system from the political arena by selling lines to private business. Buses, too, offer scope for swift improvement by sale to private interests.
Privatisation is Not Enough
Authors: BLUNDELL JOHN
Published: May 2006

Mr Tom King, like Mr Heseltine before him, sets much store by moves to privatise by contract services now supplied by local government. John Blundell, a former Lambeth councillor, reveals the dangers of this half‐way house, and explains the inability of privatisation to return to consumers control of the services they buy.
Bourgeois Blacks Breach Apartheid
Authors: McENERY J. H.
Published: May 2006

Russell Lewis’ analysis of the expansion of service industries in the UK is borne out by the improvement they have made in the living standards of South African blacks. Despite the South Africa government's commitment to illiberal racial policies, it is finding itself unable to prevent blacks benefitting from the embourgeoisement of the South African black people.
What Price British Rail?
Authors: PETERS G. H.
Published: May 2006

The Serpell Report on British Rail was greeted by hysteria from the Opposition benches and an apparently vote‐catching cold shoulder from Mr Howell and his Cabinet colleagues. But Serpell's opponents have failed to demonstrate that the supposed benefits of under‐used railway lines are worth their enormous costs, both in money and in opportunities and innovations foregone.
Little Hope for Markets in the USSR
Authors: HOFF OLE‐JACOB
Published: May 2006

In the last JEA Arthur Seldon argued that increasing corruption in the USSR signalled the irrepressible emergence of markets. Ole‐Jacob Hoff disagrees: since neither the people of Russian nor her rulers are acquainted with any framework for capitalist exchange, they are more likely to opt for the devil they know.
Fire the Planners
Authors: MICKLETHWAIT BRIAN
Published: May 2006

Professor Hayek has described how institutions arise through markets as a spontaneous order. Brian Micklethwait argues that architects have neglected the requirements of society and their clients alike in misinterpreting spontaneous architectural order. Without interference from town halls and international ideology, architects and their clients can come together in the market to the benefit of all.
Services for Freer Trade
Authors: PHYLAKTIS KATE
Published: May 2006

Politicians from all parties made much during the electlon campaign of the ‘erosion of the industrial base’. Kate Phylaktis examines the figures and discovers a fundamental change in the structure of the UK economy. For the first time since the Industrial Revolution Britain is importing manufactures; these are paid for by the surplus earned by the export of services, which now employ more than 60% of UK labour.
The Political Economy of Higher Education: An ‘Austrian’ Aalysis
Authors: BARRY NORMAN
Published: May 2006

One of the most wasteful inefficiencies of the nationalised industries is that, isolated from price signals in the market, they make mistaken investment decisions. State‐run higher education is no different. Excessive investment, following the Robbins Report of 1963, has resulted in over‐staffing, but university ‘managers’– vice‐chancellors, heads of department, etc. – have no incentive to maximise efficiency by firing less desirable members of staff. It is the better qualified lecturers who are leaving, bribed with severance payments, to take up jobs in the private sector.
A Labour Monopolies Commission to Reduce Unemployment
Authors: DAVIES DAVID H. , PEEL MICHAEL J.
Published: May 2006

Mr Tebbitt's proposals to reduce union obstructiveness have not taken account of their power as monopoly suppliers of labour. A pressing priority for the current session of Parliament should be the introduction of legislation to eradicate legal privilege which does not reflect market reality.
Laissez‐Faire for LIFFE
Authors: HARDIE ALEXANDRA
Published: May 2006

The development of futures markets offers the prospect of increasing stabilisation in commodity prices. But government taxation policy has failed to take account of changes required to encourage individual as well as coroorate participation in these markets. The new Chancellor should introduce legislation to allow speculators to write off losses against profits.
Do We Need a Policy for the Family?
Authors: PAPPS IVY
Published: May 2006

Mrs Thatcher's professed admiration for the family is belied by Government policy on taxation and education, as well as its attitude to divorce. Dr Papps argues that policy should avold distorting the costs and benefits of marriage, so that individuals can make informed choices about Family activity.
Bank of England: Servant or Master?
Authors: LEVAČIĆ ROSALIND
Published: May 2006

The developing discipline of the economics of politics examines the behaviour of bureaucrats and politicians as maximisers of self‐interest like anybody else. The insights derived from this analysis can be applied to other forms of governmental activity, not least in the Bank of England. Rosalind Levačić assesses the extent to which the Bank's officials maximise their own well‐being instead of implementing Government policy.
British Economic Decline
Authors: Olson Mancur
Published: May 2006

UK economic activity is expanding faster than in Europe, but its recovery begins from a very low ebb. Since the war the UK economy has lagged far behind the West as a whole. Why? Professor Olson offers an explanation ‐ pressure‐group power, a new mercantilism encouraged or tolertated by Conservative and Labour Governments. The urgency of economic liberation is indicated by other economists in following articles.
Are the French still Physiocrats?
Authors: Eltis Walter
Published: May 2006

The influence of economic thinking on policy is a perennial subject of debate among economists. Walter Eltis traces the origins of the Anglo‐French conflict on agricultural prices in the EEC (the Common Agricultural Policy) to the divergent teaching of British and French economists 150 to 200 years ago.
Competition and UK Defence Policy
Authors: Hartley Keith
Published: May 2006

Defence is a ‘public good’ that economists (until recently) have regarded as necessarily supplied by government. But it can use the market to maximise efficiency and minimise costs. Dr Hartley shows how, and with what results.
Wages Councils Destroy Jobs
Authors: Marsland David
Published: May 2006

Failure to understand the price mechanism has produced tragic social policies: rent restriction has deprived students and others of furnished rooms; the ‘free’ NHS has depressed expenditure on medical care. And sociologist Professor Marsland argues that minimum wages make the poor poorer.
What Happened to the Chilean Economic Miracle?
Authors: Congdon Tim
Published: May 2006

Chile's 8‐year experiment in free markets achieved spectacular advance. Its success was hailed by market economists and its failure by economic dirigistes. Was the failure inevitable or accidental? What are the lessons for other less‐developed countries? Tim Congdon condemns the critics for focussing on the symptoms but ignoring the causes.
Government Policy: The Next Ten Steps Proposals by a radical
Authors: Grimond Lord (Jo)
Published: May 2006

The Thatcher Government is coming under Increasing criticism from disillusioned supporters for failing to roll back the state. Lord (Jo) Grimond and David Howell outline ten next steps to revitalise the Government's intentions.
Less State, More Welfare
Authors: Dawson Graham
Published: May 2006

The long‐familiar notion that welfare can be supplied only by the state has confused ‘social’ thought and policy. Dr Dawson, a PhD in Philosophy at Keele University and now a teacher at a comprehensive school, argues on the contrary that the less the state supplies, the more welfare will emerge.
A Market in Tax Losses
Authors: Bracewell‐Milnes Barry
Published: May 2006

The market economy is continually yielding new forms of exchange in the most unlikely of commodities or services. Dr Bracewell‐Milnes ingeniously reveals the scope for a new market.
Australia – Pacesetter or Slow Learner?
Authors: Brunner John
Published: May 2006

Incomes policy by any other name (‘Accord’) still fails. Australia's Labor Government is set to repeat the avoidable mistakes of other countries.
Forestry Commission for the Chop
Authors: Whetstone Linda
Published: May 2006

The weakness of government ‘enterprise’ is divulged in a revealing account by a Forestry Commissioner who finally resigned.
Yugoslavia is not Unique
Authors: Sirc Ljubo
Published: May 2006

American illusions about Yugoslavia's use of oversas aid are dispelled by Yugoslav economist Dr Sirc, a close observer of Eastern Europe.
Are Universities Stuck with Second‐raters?
Authors: Hallett Graham
Published: May 2006

Dr Hallett contests Norman Barry's argument in JEA III, 4 July 1983 that the best‐qualified staff are leaving the university system and argues for the preservation of academic tenure. Mr Barry defends his corner.
Economic Newspeak
Authors: Burton John
Published: May 2006

Not all developments in economic thought are to be welcomed. In the first of an occasional series, economist John Burton casts a suitably jaundiced eye over recently debased terminology.
Doctors Versus Workers
Authors: Green David G.
Published: May 2006

The National Health Service is claimed to be a unique and effective instrument for maintaining the health of the mass of the people. Dr David Green claims that the evidence from research into the 19th century development of health services indicates almost the contrary: that the medical profession, faced by the resolute and often superior bargaining power of the working people organised through friendly societies and other voluntary organisations, gradually moved to replace them by the state as a source of finance (1911) and ultimately the organiser of the medical services (1948). In the event, they have undermined the bargaining power of the ordinary consumer, especially the poor, and subjected him to the control of politicians and bureaucrats. The people are not sovereign in medical care, but subject.
BR—Privatisation without Tears
Authors: Starkie David
Published: May 2006

British Rail will have to be denationalised sooner or later. Professor David Starkie, a British transport economist now researching in Australia, proposes a new approach that avoids the objections to proposals made up till now: introduce competing train services using private locomotives and rolling stock (as in the picture), but remain state co‐ordination of the permanent way and other fixed capital.
Benefits for Poor Children
Authors: Papps Ivy
Published: May 2006

For years the intellectual battle between universalists and selectivists dominated the argument on state benefits. The academic case for selectivity, to concentrate help on the helpless, has been won and is now accepted by Dr David Owen and Mrs Margaret Thatcher alike. Here Dr Ivy Papps applies the analysis to child benefits.
Competition for Telephones
Authors: England Catherine
Published: May 2006

British Telecom is being privatised. Catherine England, an American economist, draws on US experience to warn Britain of the dangers of suppressing competition by regulation. The American exemplar should encourage the UK Government to go the whole hog: decontrol the telephone industry and intensify competition from new private suppliers.
The Postal Service—Questions the Monopolies Commission Avoided
Authors: Senior Ian
Published: May 2006

The recent report of the Monopolies and Mergers Commission on the efficiency of the postal services failed to anticipate advances in consumer demand made possible by computer technology, Ian Senior, an authority on the postal services, takes the Monopolies and Mergers Commission to task for its lack of foresight.
Let Building Societies Compete
Authors: Jarman Howard
Published: May 2006

Despite good intentions, the Government is not going far enough in subjecting home financing to competitive stimulus. Economist Howard Jarman urges that the building societies be induced to compete more strenuously amongst themselves.
State Expenditure: A Study in Waste
Authors: Minford Patrick
Published: May 2006

Government Ministers have called for research into the scope for reduction of state spending, both in the short and long term. Professor Patrick Minford of the University of Liverpool, in the first‐ever analysis to examine both macro‐ and micro‐economic implications of reform, offers detailed, politically neutral proposals for reducing state spending, and outlines the resulting benefits in employment, output and welfare.
World Inflation: USA Major Cause
Authors: Darby Michael R , Lothian James R
Published: May 2006

‘Monetarism’ is said to be under attack and in retreat. Its practitioners claim it offers surer guidance to the financial condition of Western economies than alternative explanations. Professor Michael Darby and James Lothian, after a wide‐ranging study of monetary policy in eight countries over nearly thirty years, argue that the US economy can expect a dip in economic growth in mid‐1984.
Local Government Distorts Industrial Development
Authors: Willis Ken
Published: May 2006

Does the Government's right hand know what its wrong hand is doing? Ken Willis of the University of Newcastle upon Tyne argues that it is spurring nationalised industries to increased efficiency in investment while allowing local and regional authorities to squander their resources.
The Writer Writ
Authors: Micklethwait Brian
Published: May 2006

Light relief amidst the lengthier lucubrations of Economic Affairs, this piece started life as an attempt by its originator, Brian Micklethwait, to expose to the outside world the editorial gauntlet
Who's for Early the Retirement Trap?
Authors: Warburton Pater
Published: May 2006

‘Early retirement’ is another false conclusion torn lingering unemployment. Norman Fowler, Secretary of State for Social Services, is investigating state pensions. Peter Warburton of the City (of London) University. argues that the 65‐year (men) and 60‐year (woman) retirement age is a strpitjacket producing unnatural effects ‐ premature retirement of able people and postponed retirement of worn‐out people. Asa spin‐off from research sponsored by the IEA, he proposes radical reform in the state scheme and produces a ‘do‐it‐yourself’ kit for readers from ‘workaholics’ to ‘shuchers’ to calculate their optimum retirement ages.
Local Government Charge!
Authors: Mabey Simon
Published: May 2006

Professor C. D. Foster, with two co‐authors, Richard Jackman and Maurice Perlman of the London School of Economics, concluded a massive tome in 1980 on local government financing with the estimate that only 10% or less of local government expenditure was on public goods (cf article by Erank van Dun, p. 28). Yet Whitehall politicians and local Councillors have acted for years as though the only way to confine cuts in (or raise) local expenditure was by raising rates. Simon Mabey, Westminster City Councillor, argues that charging is the long‐neglected instrument of local financing.
‘Public Goods’ from the Market
Authors: van Dun Frank
Published: May 2006

In the mounting criticism of ‘government failure’, a role for government is stubbornly argued by statist‐minded economists on the ground that only government can supply public goods ‐ from defence to (some) research (p. 34). Frank van Dun of the University of Ghent argues that public goods have the same disadvantages of monopoly, restriction of choice, confiscation by taxation, pressure group distortion, as non‐public goods unnecessarily supplied by government. Moreover, technical progress will make it possible to supply more public goods in the market by creating separable benefits that can be financed by pricing.
Privatisation: Let the Market Decide
Authors: Buckland Roger , Davis E W
Published: May 2006

Is the Government privatising efficiently? Is it floating the shares in nationalised industry economically? Will British Telecom be under‐priced? Professor Davis and Roger Buckland have studied the privatisation issues of shares over five years and found large but avoidable losses. They argue that the Government's marketing technique could be improved by making less use of the large financial institutions and more use of competitive tenders.
Why Taxpayer Support for R&D?
Authors: Palda Kristian
Published: May 2006

Taxpayers of OECD countries are made to support research and development by government and industry. Is R&D a public good that justifies taxpayer support because of its external benefits to society as a whole? Professor Palda of Canada contests yet another argument for state intervention io subsidise high technology.
Put an End to Academic Tenure
Authors: Block Walter
Published: May 2006

The British Columbian government has sent shivers round the academic establishment with its decision to abolish life tenure in its University. Dr Walter Block of Vancouver's Fraser Institute examines the arguments ‐ independence, quality of teaching, savings in cost, … ‐from the academics and dismisses them as unfounded and self‐interested. Sir Keith Joseph could easily apply Dr Block's analysis to British universities ‐ but the reaction might be even fiercer than in Canada.
Carts before Horses
Authors: Burton John
Published: May 2006

The Government has made political capital of its hope that economic growth will complete the recovery initiated by the reduction in the rate of inflation, so that it can ‘hold’ public expenditure. But, argues economist John Burton, the Government's expectations are over‐optimistic. Forecasts of growth nearly always prove false. In any event, growth is unlikely to be anything like sufficient to sustain recovory without substantial cuts ‐ not mere containment ‐ in state spending and taxation. Consolidation will not work.
Capitalism: Intellectiials at Bay
Authors: Davies Stephen
Published: May 2006

Capitalism is unpopular with many intellectuals ‐ teachers, preachers, playwrights, broadcasters ‐ but popular with the people, progressively down the income scale. Historian Stephen Davies explains the self‐interested hostility of the intellectuals and argues for the removal of the people's subsidy to intellectuals in the universities, the professions, and the communications media.
Cambridge Marxists in Mexico
Authors: Opie Redvers
Published: May 2006

The last piece of writing by the distinguished British economist Redvers Opie was an assessment of the advice of Cambridge economists to the government of Mexico and the results in faster inflation, slower growth and less employment from aggrandising the public sector.
1984 Olympics: Privatisation at Last
Authors: Sloane Peter
Published: May 2006

For many years the Olympic Games have been financed from the pockets of the taxpayers of the host nation. Professor Peter Sloane hails the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics as a breakthrough in the private sponsorship of sport, criticises several of the conclusions of the Report of the Howell Committee, and argues for a relaxation of the rules restricting participation in paid sport.
Economics Education for all Schoolchildren
Authors: Hankins Fred
Published: May 2006

In the first of a series by teachers on the role of economics in school curricula and beyond, Fred Hankins, Secretary of the Economics Association, identifies the essentials of economics analysis — not least opportunity cost ‐ desirable to equip pupils for a career.
Privatise the Church of England?
Authors: Miller Robert
Published: May 2006

The Church of England, lulled into inefficiency by the security of capital accrued over the centuries, is behaving increasingly like a nationalised industry: insensitive to the wishes of ‘consumers’ and progressively more bureaucratic, it is not only ‘socialist’ in its public pronouncements but is now organised along collectivist principles. Economist Robert Miller argues for internal decentralisation and suggests that clergymen should be paid by results, according to the donations they attract from their congregations.
When Will the Oil Run Out?
Authors: Harvey Douglas
Published: May 2006

Claims that the world will shortly run out of commercially viable oil reserves are disputed by Douglas Harvey, an economist with long experience of the industry, who condemns the doomsayers for ignoring the role of price in disciplining demand and spurring supply. He concludes his close analysis with the hopeful prospect that oil will last at least until the middle of the 21st century.
The New Classical Economics
Authors: Minford Patrick
Published: May 2006

Classical economics was thought to have been displaced by Keynesianism. Professor Patrick Minford, of the University of Liverpool, outlines a new classical economics that shares the economics of Adam Smith's ‘invisible hand’ but refines it in modern terms with the insights of rational expectations and demonstrates its importance for policy in the 1980s.
Exchange Controls Cannot be Enforced
Authors: Phylaktis Kate
Published: May 2006

Controls of the export of capital are condemned as depriving British industry of the sinews of expansion and denying the economy of opportunities to ‘create jobs’. Kate Phylaktis, of the Cit/University Business School, maintains that exchange controls are difficult to enforce, and the difficulties increase the longer controls remain. Whether the restrictions exist or not, exchange rates adjust themselves to the differences in the rates of national inflation.
An End to Natural Monopoly
Authors: Primeaux Walter J.
Published: May 2006

Opponents of privatisation argue that ‘natural monopoly'in the supply of electricity (and similar services) will prevent competition between private suppliers. Professor Primeaux, of the University of Illinois, shows from his studies of competing electricity firms in the United States that two suppliers can serve the same area.
Cut Child Benefits to Cut Taxes
Authors: Beenstock Michael
Published: May 2006

Should the well‐off benefit from fiscal resources if they choose to have children? Professor Michael Beenstock of the City University Business School argues that they should not. Child Benefit, in common with other fiscal subventions, should be limited to families in most need. Dr lvy Papps in the last issue argued the case for selectivity in Child Benefit. Professor Beenstock's proposal represents a radical departure from the present arrangements under which Child Benefit is universal, regardless of family income, and he calculates the cuts in income tax that could follow. Given the size of his family (above). Professor Beenstock is obviously more interested in economic truth than personal advantage.
Convergence on the Market?
Authors: Molsberger Josef
Published: May 2006

The economics of public choice indicates that in political systems with two main parties their policies tend to converge. Professor Josef Molsberger, of the University of Tübingen, reviews the convergence between the German Christian and Social Democrats and reflects on the prospects for convergence in the UK.
Nigeria and the Market for Corruption
Authors: Shackleton J R
Published: May 2006

The demand for corruption is created by government that suppresses market for commodities, but it merely drives the market underground. Len Shackleton exposes another evil of blundering government.
No ‘Just’ Distribution of Property Rights
Authors: Barry Norman
Published: May 2006

Professor Barry questions the claim of Samuel Brittan that market liberalism lacks a theory of property distribution. He re‐asserts the argument against egalitarianism most forcefully stated by F. A. Hayek (seen here after being made a Companion of Honour by the Queen last autumn).
Regional Assistance by Tax Reform
Authors: Bracewell‐Milnes Barry
Published: May 2006

In late November the Government announced a new package of regional assistance, which closely followed the lines indicated in the December 1983 White Paper and included a reduction of $300 million in expenditure and a stronger emphasis on selectivity and cost‐effectiveness in job‐creation. Dr Bracewell‐Milnes argues that by free‐market standards the new form of assistance will on balance be worse than the old at any given amount of expenditure. Regional subsidies ought to have been replaced by regional tax‐cuts.
The State Against Teachers?
Authors: Melnyk Andrew
Published: May 2006

State monopoly in education and medicine is paradoxically supported by many teachers and doctors. Andrew Melnyk argues that they should use the insights of ‘public choice'to push for the removal of state domination of their employment.
Would You Choose the Welfare State?
Authors: Culyer A. J. , Posnett John
Published: May 2006

The argument in Robert Sugden's IEA Occasional Paper, Who Cares…?, is challenged by two economists from the University of York, arguing primarily that welfare is a public good; Dr Sugden re‐asserts his critique of the welfare state.
Christianity and Collectivism
Authors: Long G. E.
Published: May 2006

The bishops have been repeating familiar criticisms of commercial society. A clergyman in an industrial centre counter‐asserts the viciousness of the polity: the citizen who pays his taxes under threat of fine or imprisonment is not practising Christian charity.
Cobdenism for the 1980s
Authors: Castorina Camille
Published: May 2006

The lessons of the 19th century have been ignored. Professor Castorina, author of a perceptive doctoral thesis on Richard Cobden, in book form as Richard Cobden and Manchester Economists, assesses his insights and their profound impact on the liberating economic expansion of his age. She also indicates his importance for our day.
Fiscal Policy: Rhetoric and Reality
Authors: Ellis Rob
Published: May 2006

Has Government policy since 1979 worked? Rob Ellis, Senior Economist at Prudential Portfolio Managers, presents evidence for doubting Government claims to have restrained public spending.
High Wages Cause Unemployment
Authors: Matthews Kent
Published: May 2006

The lessons of history are presented by Kent Matthews in his argument that inter‐war unemployment is not explained by Keynesian ‘stickiness’ of money wages but by the classical theory of excessively high real wages underpinned by the rise in the real value of national insurance benefits.
The Politicisation of Banking
Authors: Atkinson Rodney
Published: May 2006

Growing government intervention in the international currency markets has distorted incentives and disguised risks. Rodney Atkinson, formerly an economist with Grindlay's Bank, argues that increasing state interference has led bankers to respond to political, not commercial, signals. Many bankers are now rewarded according to their ability to ‘work the system’ rather than for economic expertise.
Local Government Shirks Charging
Authors: Spungin Michael
Published: May 2006

The scope for charging for local government services is much wider than commonly supposed. Michael Spungin of Nottingham County Council argues that councils are reluctant to introduce charging more because of organised opposition from interest groups for technical reasons of inefficiency or inapplicability.
The Politicisation of Banking
Authors: Dennison S R
Published: May 2006

Economists and historians debate the argument on evidence that doctors outmanoeuvred working people by Dr David Green in Economic Affairs Vol. 5 No. 1,‘Doctors Against the People’.
Open Society: Hayek vs. Popper?
Authors: Moldofsky Naomi
Published: May 2006

Does an open open society require a free market? Dr Naomi Moldoisky of the University of Melbourne reinforces Hayek's insistence that free societies must rest on free markets.
Was Keynes a Monetarist?
Authors: Foley Bernard
Published: May 2006

Bernard Foley of the University of Liverpool contests Rosaline Levaci's charge in Economic Affairs, Vol. 4, No. 3. Keynes acknowledged, she insists, that real wages influenced employment.
ON THE U.S. BUDGET DEFICIT
Authors: Shaw G K
Published: May 2006

By the end of 1985 the USA will bo the most heavily indebted nation on the planet. Professor G. K. Shaw of the University of Buckingham and Geoffrey Wood of the City University Business School differ on Reagan's budgetary policy.
Futures Finally Refute Keynes
Authors: Miller Robert C B
Published: May 2006

Keynesian economists, such as Lord Kaldor, have argued that the development of futures markets, exchanges based on anticipated prices deflect investment from the capital markets and stunt economic growth. Robert Miller, a Consultant to the London International Financial Futures Exchange, argues that Professor Ludwig Lachmann discovered a fundamental flaw in Keynesian economics which has been confirmed by the development of trading in financial futures.
No Case for Home‐Taping Levy
Authors: Coskeran Thomas
Published: May 2006

Successive Governments have been unremittingly lobbied by the recording industry to impose a levy on blank cassette tapes to compensate it for the‘negative externality’ of home taping. Thomas Coskeran argues that the Government should rescind the Green Paper and seek a solution in the re‐allocation of property rights.
No Merit in State Education
Authors: Dawson Graham
Published: May 2006

Supporters of the welfare state have contended that health and education are ‘merit goods’ which will be undervalued by individual consumers so that they must be provided by the state. Dr Graham Dawson, a specialist in the economics of education, considers means of paying for private education which will keep the consumer better informed of his costs and options and avoid the wastage which follows when state action divorces producer from consumer.
Standards are Too High
Authors: Hartley Keith
Published: May 2006

Government action to establish minimum standards in a wide range of consumer activities almost invariably ignores the obvious economic truth that standards can be too high: they must have a cost, by forcing up prices, reducing choice and so on. Dr Keith Hartley, of the University of York, argues that the market, not the state, will provide the amount of information on quality that consumers want.
Competition in Political Markets
Authors: Bruce‐Gardyne Jock
Published: May 2006

The political ‘convergence theorem’ argues that, in countries where there are two main parties or coalitions, their policies tend to converge. In Economic Affairs, January‐March 1985, Professor Josef Molsberger traced the rise and fall of the social market in Germany. With the ascent in Britain of the Social Democratic Party and the demise of Labour, Lord Bruce‐Gardyne and Dick Taverne reflect on the prospects for convergence between SDP and Conservatives, on policies to liberalise the British economy. Both are Treasury Ministers.
Socialist Men, Liberal Measures?
Authors: Wright Alison
Published: May 2006

The Spanish Socialist party, led by Felipe Gonzales (above), is proving far readier to liberalise the Spanish economy than its centre‐right predecessors in government. Alison Wright, a specialist in Spanish economic and political affairs, welcomes this surprising development but warns Spain's liberal Socialists that they have a long way to go in restoring efficiency to her economy.
The Lessons of Iceland's Inflation
Authors: Eggertsson Thráinn
Published: May 2006

The drastic inflation which Iceland experienced in the late‐1970s to the mid‐‘80s has lessons for the rest, of the world, Thráinn Eggertsson, Professor of Economics at the University of Iceland, examine the degree to which the Central Bank intervenes increasingly in the economy.
Can Socialism Use Markets?
Authors: Kellner Peter
Published: May 2006

In Economic Affairs, January‐March 1985, the Editor invited socialist writers of varying kinds to debate the extent to which markets are workable under socialism or capitalism. Two British commentators ‐ the Political Editor of the New Statesman, and a Fellow of Ruskin College, Oxford ‐ and the President of the Hungarian Economics Association discuss the compatibility of choice in the market with state.
Abolish the Poverty Trap
Authors: Beenstock Michael , Parker Michael
Published: May 2006

The measures proposed in the Green Paper on Social Security will do little to remove the poverty trap. Professor Michael Beenstock and Michael Parker, of the City University Business School, condemn the Government's proposals as vacuous, ill‐considered and hall‐hearted. The proposals in the Green Paper would intensity the poverty trap for some by weakening incentives to work.
Youth Training Scheme ‘Voucher’
Authors: Parode John
Published: May 2006

Education forms another arm of the welfare state. The school. voucher was dropped in 1983 partly because of the argument that it would be impossible to create the wide‐range of schools necessary to redeem it in primary and secondary education. John Pardoe (right), former Liberal MP, who runs courses for the Youth Training Scheme of the Manpower Services Commission, has found that 4,000 sources of supply emerged, from ‘Nowhere’ to honour the YTS grants to young people. His evidence confirms the Austrian argument that suppliers would soon emerge in response to the new, voucher‐stim ulaied demand.
Government Slows Economic Growth
Authors: Datta Samar , Gordon Peter
Published: May 2006

For decades the conventional wisdom maintained that ‘public’ (a euphemism for government) expenditure was good for economic life Professors Datta and Gordon, of the Universities of Visra‐Bhariti (West Bengal) and Southern California, claim that evidence from the Third World suggests how government retards economic growth and depresses living standards Their argument may be technical but their conclusions cannot be misinterpreted even by politicians
Hecrth, Public Investment’ and the People of Consett
Authors: Atkinson Rodney
Published: May 2006

Edward Heath continues intermittently to call for increased state spending to relieve unemployment and stimulate economic growth. Rodney Atkinson examines the history of the steel town, Consett (Mr Heath's example), to reveal that government intervention is the cause of its problems, not its potential saviour.
Ethiopia: Man‐made Disaster
Authors: Elliott Nick
Published: May 2006

Highly publicised Western, aid to Ethiopia will do little to relieve the source of her distress, Nick Elliott (right), at the University of York, blames the attempted eradication of markets by Mengistu's regime.
Mortgage Subsidy—the Myth
Authors: Lewis John Parry
Published: May 2006

Is tax relief on mortgage interest a subsidy to the home owner or do private house‐holders live in the shadow of Westminster (above)? Professor Parry Lewis challenges the Report of the Committee chaired by the Duke of Edinburgh, and argues for the retention of relief.
Competition in Book Publishing
Authors: Curwen Peter
Published: May 2006

Mergersm the publishing industry have been criticised as concentrating power in the hands of a few largefirms Peter Curwen, of Sheffield Polytechnic, finds recent take‐overs to be a response to increased competition as the publishing industry wakes up to economic reality Mark Rogers condemns the Net Book Agreement of major UK publishers as a cartelistic device which restricts competition and choice
Pensions Nightmare after 1999
Authors: Barry Norman
Published: May 2006

Economists have long argued that the current state method of financing old‐age pensions is a time‐bomb that may blow up in the lap of future generations. Professor Norman Barry (right), of the University of Buckingham, welcomes the proposals in the Green Paper on welfare but argues that government must act much more rapidly to avoid burdening future Britons with the enormous dimensions of the pensions of the debt the American Government is building up fonts coming citizens.
Anti‐Public Broadcasting
Authors: Graham David
Published: May 2006

The BBC has constantly sought to justify its state support by claiming that it must offer ‘public‐service’ broadcasting. David Graham (right), of Channel 4′s Diverse Reports, argues that the BBC's position is both a misunderstanding of economic reality and a brake upon the development of consumer choice and diversity in the market. The Government's ‘protection of the well‐heeled’ imposes ‘middle‐class tastes on ordinary men and women’.