ASI Bulletin: VAT's all folks!
Dr. Eamonn Butler, our Director and Co-Founder, takes you through the last few (always hectic) weeks at the Adam Smith Institute.
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Congratulations to our Dr Madsen Pirie on his being awarded the OBE.
VAT on school fees: Sorry, but it could cost money, not raise it.
Internships: better hurry!
But first...
In shock political news, septuagenarian Vladimir Putin (71) has been re-elected President of Russia. (Though critics have questioned the authenticity of a photograph of the Princess of Wales casting her vote for him.) No need for septuagenarian Xi Jinping (70) to stand for election as he’s already in there for life. But in the US, octogenarian Joe Biden (81) and septuagenarian Donald Trump (77) will face each other in the November election, which will probably be more entertaining than having them arm-wrestle for it. It’s so good to know that the leadership of the world superpowers isn’t going to end up in the hands of people too young and inexperienced.
Right-wing Tory MPs are urging Penny Mordaunt to stand for the leadership. (I suppose they think that voters believe the Tory Party is only good at two things, changing their leader and carrying a sword, so that would give them a double whammy ahead of the general election.) However, former defence secretary Ben Wallace says it’s too late to change leaders and the Conservatives must ‘march towards the sound of the guns’ (though I think the gunfire is mostly coming from his own party). Meanwhile, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has insisted that his party is totally united (but didn’t reveal whether they were united behind him or against him).
Royal biographer Sally Bedell Smith has claimed that Meghan Markle is as narcissistic as Wallis Simpson. (Which isn’t going to sell many books, because we all know that.) Staff at the insurance giant Scottish Widows have been told not to mention the word ‘widow’ because it might make some people uncomfortable. (I can see why. They are always represented by attractive young women in black, who I can only imagine have all poisoned their husbands. Can’t be very good for business, though, when you can’t mention the name of the company you work for. And North Berwick has been voted the best place to live in the UK. I guess that is because it has a fine view across the Firth of Forth to the Adam Smith statue in Edinburgh (yes, really!).
Yet I digress...
Congratulations…
Congratulations to my long-time friend, colleague and ASI co-founder Dr Madsen Pirie, who is collecting letters after his name like you and I collect parking tickets. This week he has been invested with the insignia of Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [Are we allowed to mention ‘empire’ these days?—Ed.] in the grand surroundings of Windsor Castle.
RESEARCH
Boosting Brownfield
Full expensing? Doesn’t sound very exciting, does it? But we have advocated it for years and now it’s happening. And as we explain in this new report with our friends Priced Out, this should be expanded to cover development on brownfield sites. This would mean that brownfield developers can deduct the cost of plant and equipment from their company taxes. So that’s an incentive to build more, and in the right places. The point won’t be lost on the thousands of young people struggling to raise enough money for a deposit.
Free Wills
This paper, newly updated since its initial publication in 1995, finds that many of the arguments made in favour of the abolition of inheritance tax (IHT) nearly thirty years ago are still relevant today- and, in some cases, are even more so.
My Generation
To accompany the launch of our Next Generation Centre, Sam Bidwell, published the My Generation. As Sam outlines, young people feel that the economy is no longer working for them, in particular when it comes to housing affordability, rental costs, taxation, higher education and professional prospects, family formation and savings.
But, he says, there is a way forward. There are policy levers we can pull to give young people a stake in society again. And fixing the intergenerational gap has the potential to be enormously popular, as international comparisons and polling from the ASI show.
Short-Term Thinking
Our new report on education finance has been attracting a lot of attention. We discovered that advocates of putting VAT on independent school fees — motivated by the thought of £££ coming into the Treasury — have got their economics all wrong. Parents who can’t afford the increased fees (and for many it’s already a struggle) will of course take their children out of independent schools and state schools may be swamped by a sudden.
Our VAT paper sparked a national conversation: it first appeared in the Telegraph, and was written up again for the following day’s Telegraph and the Daily Mail.
Nick Ferrari and Tom Swarbrick led segments on LBC about the proposal to apply VAT to independent schools, as did Jeremy Vine and Storm Huntley on Channel 5.
It was mentioned in the Spectator Magazine by James Heale, and again in the Spectator Online by Stephen Daisley. Sarah Vine mentioned it in her weekly Daily Mail column, and it featured in a debate in the House of Lords.
Members of our own team appeared in print and on national television to talk about it. Director of Government Relations, James Price, was on BBC Politics Live, and Director of the Next Generation Centre, Sam Bidwell, was on GB News.
And you can read Maxwell Marlow’s piece in CapX here, Sam Bidwell in ConservativeHome and James Price in CityAm.
YOUTH
The Next Generation is getting a new research dimension. The Next Generation Centre will bring together the policymakers of the future, and we are inviting young thinkers and writers to join as Next Generation Fellows, and generate policy by young people, for young people.
If you’re under 35, and are interested in policy, research and communications, find out how to register your interest in applying here.
Internships — but hurry! We’re offering two-week unpaid internships to university students and recent graduates who are interested in public policy and economics. It’s an excellent opportunity to learn about how policy is made [Take my advice: if you like laws and sausages, don’t watch either being made—Ed.] ASI being such a great place to work, there’s always a lot of applicants, and the application window closes on 1 April, so hurry and send in a covering letter, your CV, 300 words on a policy area you are interested in, and your availability. More information here.
Freedom Week!
As usual this summer, we will be taking around thirty of the world’s brightest freedom-minded students to Cambridge for our intense training course featuring prominent speakers, parties and punting. There’s always a huge demand so keep an eye on our dedicated website for more information.
The Adam Smith Institute is entirely independent of the state, and relies solely on donations from private supporters. We can only educate the policy-makers of tomorrow, and make the case for ideas which will make Britain a richer, freer place with your help.
If you would like to support our educational work, please consider donating today.
Events
Let there be light! Join us on 26th March for the launch of our new series of events, Enlightenment Evenings, where our Chairman James Lawson will interview authors, academics and wonks on topics of interest. We’re starting the series with our own Director of Research Maxwell to talk about our new knockout paper on private schools, Short Term Thinking - analysing the effect of applying VAT to school fees.
David Friedman lecture. Libertarian thinker, legal specialist and scion of the great monetary economist, David Friedman, joins us for a special lecture. His theme: Arguments Libertarians Shouldn't Make. It’s on 25th April in Westminster, venue to be announced soon.
The Next Generation. Our Westminster group of young thinkers and doers, first inspired decades ago by Sheldon Wilkie, meets again on 9th April. We’ll be welcoming Sascha O’Sullivan of POLITICO Europe and Host of the Westminster Insider Podcast. If you're under 35 sign up here. Refreshments provided, as always.
And at last month's TNG, by the way, we had a short talk from Saqib Bhatti MBE MP, Minister for Tech and Digital Economy, who spoke on why we should celebrate how the UK is leading the world in AI, start-ups, unicorns and technology R&D. He also said some very nice things about the Next Generation Centre launch, and quite right too!
And I quote…
Thinking as I was about elderly leaders, this inspiring idea about the government, from US President Ronald Reagan, came to mind:
Let’s close the place down and see if anybody notices.
Sounds with a try, doesn’t it?
Bye,
e
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Do you check these bulletins for typos and omissions before you float 'em ? Or are you already addicted to AI ?
Must contact my friend in North Berwick to see if she agrees.