High Speed 2, aka HS2, was conceived in 2009 as plan to build a rail line between London and the North of England to reduce the North/South economic divide in the country. Construction was planned in phases with London to Birmingham being Phase 1, Birmingham to Crewe being phase 2a and Crewe to Manchester being phase 2b. Phase 1 was planned to open by 2026 … Continue reading Should HS2 Have Been Scrapped?
In November 2022 the Glazers finally announced the potential sale of Manchester United Football Club. A year later, has much changed? What is the issue? The Glazer family bought Manchester United Football Club in 2005 for £790m. The club is now valued at approximately £4.8bn, with the family having profited greatly by paying themselves dividends worth a whopping ~£20m per year from 2015-2022, the only … Continue reading Are the Glazers finally going?
In August 1980 during Margaret Thatcher’s first year in office, her government produced a Housing Act. Despite its lengthy and repetitive nature, its bold intention stood out: “to give … the right to buy their homes … to tenants of local authorities”. It proposed the idea that previously state-owned houses be sold back to the people. These homes were offered at 33% below their market value, … Continue reading “Right to buy” Evolution or Revolution
The Potential: The development of a second high-speed rail network was originally proposed in 2009 by the Labour government at the time, led by Gordon Brown. Concerns began to arise over capacity constraints on the West Coast Main Line railway as they were increasing with the network projected to be at full capacity by 2025. Therefore HS2 Ltd was established to explore the possibility of … Continue reading HS2: The potential vs the reality
In the weeks following Wednesday 16 September 1992, the Pound crashed 25% against the US Dollar. Dubbed ‘Black Wednesday’ or the ‘Sterling Crisis’, the chaotic events of that day would have a lasting impact on Britain’s economy, politics and relationship with Europe. But despite this fact, the causes and effects of the 1992 Sterling Crisis are still not widely understood among the general public today. … Continue reading Black Wednesday 1992: Lessons in Disaster
The theoretical premise (Fig.1) for introducing a national minimum wage (NMW) into an economy is embedded in aims to correct market failure, improve income inequality, expand incentives to work, and enhance productivity. That said, this policy can also bring disadvantages such as the potential to increase real wage or classical unemployment as firms recalibrate their requirements for labour in response to rising production costs. The … Continue reading Why the Minimum Wage should be increased in the UK
The first national minimum wage was implemented in New Zealand in 1894. It was intended to protect the rights of workers and give them fair pay for the work that they do. This move has since been followed by a majority of countries around the world however, there are certain notable exceptions. These include Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Italy. In these countries, minimum wages are, more often than not, set de facto by individual industries. Put … Continue reading Reviewing the Minimum Wage with Scepticism
The ongoing Energy Crisis has created unprecedented political, economic, and social distress in the UK. Some potential solutions exist to address the immediate issue of significant energy price rises. However, I believe that we must equally focus on implementing effective longer-term solutions to reduce the risk of a future, even more disruptive, energy crises. To do this, the UK needs to shift to a more … Continue reading The Energy Question
The 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire, which claimed 72 lives, served as a wake-up call to the inequalities in rich countries. Inequality, which is the variance in levels of wealth within a population, is globally measured using the Lorenz Curve. Figure 1: Lorenz curve for the UK (2018/19) In figure 1, the 45 degree line (red) represents perfect equality, and the more a Lorenz curve sags … Continue reading Education is the Remedy to UK Inequality
Wealth and income inequality have become focal points of social and political contention and are often conflated together by politicians. However, the two must be addressed separately. Wealth is the value of an individual’s assets and is often difficult to assess, monitor, and tax. Income includes various streams of revenue that a household or person earns, and drives well being and standards of living. But … Continue reading Should We Tax Wealth or Income?
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