Government finances and spending

OBR figures seem to suggest that Osborne’s tax scheme could cost £1bn a year. Paul Johnson writes in the Financial Times December 2012.

The government has committed itself to raising the share of revenues from green taxes over this Parliament. On its own definition of what constitutes a ‘green tax’, the pledge is on course to be met with ease. Alternative definitions of green taxes based on international convention, however, suggest that the pledge will be missed. We argue that such pledges are not a good guide to a government’s environmental credentials, and green tax policy should be justified by environmental issues rather than an arbitrary revenue target.

Presentation given at the Autumn Statement 2012 briefing, 6 December

Last week marked the 70th anniversary of the Beveridge report. Today’s social security system bears almost no resemblance to the one he envisaged. His ambition for a system of social insurance in which benefits would be paid in return for contributions to those experiencing unemployment, sickness or old age did not prove robust to changes in the economy, in demography and in the labour market. Other benefits, especially means-tested benefits, have been layered on top of the original social insurance benefits to create a system which is too complex and, at times, incoherent.

Article published in the Independent on Sunday, 2 December 2012

Presentation given at the House of Commons on 2 December 2012

Paper given at the ESRC festival of Social Science 2012 event on Higher Education Funding, Access and Outcomes

Presentation given at the CML on Wednesday 7th November 2012

Presentation given at Oxford Economics, UK Outlook Conference, London, 1 November 2012