We often think of exports and imports as things made in one country and consumed in another – I export cars to you and import socks you’ve made. In fact the majority of UK exports and imports are now made up of goods or services which are themselves inputs into production. I export engines to your car factory and import cotton to make into socks. This sort of trade is particularly important for understanding the UK’s trade with the EU. In this observation we look at the implications this has for the UK’s future trade policies.
Most analyses of inequality and tax and benefit reforms are based on measures of individuals’ circumstances at a point in time. But strong age-profiles in earnings, among other characteristics that the tax and benefit system conditions upon, combined with individuals’ ability to transfer resources across time suggests that measuring circumstances over longer horizons may lead to a very different picture. In this article, we consider how our impression of inequality and the tax and benefit system changes when the horizon under consideration is extended.
The Department for Work and Pensions today published the recommendations of its review into automatic enrolment. This focussed on issues around membership of, contributions to, and engagement with, workplace pensions. This observation looks at two specific measures – both of which are likely to boost the amounts going into workplace pensions – and the proposed trials of ways to boost pension saving among the self-employed who are not covered by automatic enrolment.
Following a recent judgment, the UK Supreme Court confirmed that Scottish Government legislation for a minimum unit price for alcohol is lawful. The Scottish Government plans to introduce the measure on 1 May 2018. Meanwhile, the Welsh National Assembly is considering introducing a minimum unit price for alcohol. In this briefing note, we provide evidence on the likely impact of this type of reform.
