Research and analysis

In our article in the July 1980 issue of Fiscal Studies, we examined the impact of the growth of North Sea oil production on the domestic economy.

The economist's approach to this question must rest on the basic concept of the opportunity cost arising when individuals engage in market work rather than producing goods and services at home.

Recent British Governments of both Left and Right have been agreed that merger policy is in need of review.

After the 1979 budget, in which the Chancellor reduced income tax but increased VAT to 15 per cent, we presented (Kay and Morris (1979)) a simple framework to describe the UK tax system.

In the budget of 1980 the current administration launched the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), a four year plan designed primarily to reduce inflation but also to generate economic growth, see FSBR (1980).

The discussion of British industry tends (understandably) to be dominated by the disappointing record of the past twenty years.

This paper examines in some detail the question of whether married couples should be taxed individually or jointly.

Much interest has recently been expressed in the scope and growth of the black economy, and several estimates of its size have been presented, which invariably receive wide coverage in the press and elsewhere

The Institute for Fiscal Studies has earned for itself a high reputation for intellectual excellence, a quality which I am sure will be much in evidence during this symposium.

There are two reasons for concern about the effect fo the tax and benefit system on incentives for low paid workers.

Cash Limits were introduced for the financial year 1976-77 by the Treasury as the dominant basis of control over a wide range of expenditures by central departments; health, local and water authorities; and public corporations.

In a separate article (Forsyth and Kay, Fiscal Studies, No.3), we have described the gains to the British economy from the exploitation of North Sea oil reserves.

In the course of his discussion of benefit indexation during the 1980 Budget speech, the Chancellor of the Exchequer remarked that:

This paper argues that the UK financial year (FY) should be moved from April-April to coincide with the calendar year (CY).

The growth of North Sea oil revenues is the most important fiscal development in the British economy in teh 1980s.

A distinctive freature of the British tax system is the very wide range of incomes which is subject to tax at the basic rate.

In the earlier article (Kay and Morris, 1979), we examined the effects of the 1979 budget on distribution and incentives by looking at the tax system as a whole in terms of a 'tax credit' and a marginal tax rate.

The direct tax structure of the UK has grown by continuous accretion since its principal elements were set out by Addington in 1803.

The wage determination process in Australia operates substantially under the guidelines set down by the Australian Arbitration and Conciliation Commission.

It has always been difficult to justify the existence of a separate tax on corporations in a fiscal system based ultimately on individual ability to pay and many, indeed, have argued that the corporation tax should, in principle, be abrogated.