One of the central policies put forward by the Coalition government is that workers in the public and private sectors should be prepared to take wage cuts and freezes and put up with low wages for the good of their companies and the economy in general. Does this make any economic sense and is such [...]
The respected research body the non-political Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has proved what we all knew intuitively: the cuts announced in the emergency budget will hit the poorest hardest. This is their conclusion in their report issued at the end of August 2010 on the effects of the emergency budget. The only thing progressive [...]
The Coalition’s economic policies are the most right wing liberal capitalist policies of any of the world’s major governments. They wish to transform a structurally weak UK economy based on credit, an unregulated financial system and public services supported by a structural spending deficit into a power house free enterprise economy based on a dynamic [...]
As a party the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP) is not only opposed to the cuts but says there is no need for cuts. Unlike other parties who are opposed to the cuts but are quite willing to implement them directly and indirectly because they have no alternative framework for running the economy. Our alternative framework [...]
Our ability to plan for a reasonable retirement is under severe attack. But why this is happening? There are three main types of pensions: private pensions received by those who worked for private corporations, public pensions for those employed in the state sector and retirement pensions paid by the state to those over a certain [...]
Recently large numbers have been thrown around for the amount of tax that is lost from tax avoidance. The figure which I have most often seen quoted is £130 billion form the PCS. This turns out to be the historic cumulative total for tax which is uncollected, evaded (illegal) and avoided (legal (sic)). The danger [...]
The agreement between the Conservatives and the Lib Dems marks the first coalition government since 1931. The situation in both cases was very familiar. Capitalism is struggling with a severe economic and financial crisis that the wealthy, rich and bankers want to make the bulk of the population – the working class and the poor [...]
Unemployment Continues To Rise despite Drop in Those Seeking Job Seekers Allowance The latest unemployment data released today, 21 April 2010, continues to see the recession bite hard. Unemployment rose to 8% in February from 7.8% in January to 2.5 million people with those in employment falling by 89,000 over the three months. The percentage [...]
The bankers and government caused the crisis by creating a massive credit bubble economy. The wealthy have benefited most from this financial bubble. Could they both pay for it rather than making the majority of us do it through cuts in public services, jobs and wages? The Institute of Fiscal Studies* have found that Britain [...]
Brown and Cameron are both misleading voters in their war of words over Labour’s propose National Insurance rise for 2011/2012. The planned national insurance tax rise applies to both employees and employers. The tax on employees will reduce spending power in the economy with a disproportionate impact on lower paid workers. This is because there [...]
