No 280: USA and EU, Very Different Green Policies

 THE USA has just announced over $1 billion of government funding for tree planting schemes across the country. The money is part of Joe Biden's "Inflation Reduction Act", which has made hundreds of billions of dollars of funding and subsidies available for green uses.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/14/tree-planting-us-climate-crisis

Meanwhile, in a similar move to those by Richi Sunak last week, the European Union has pushed back new stricter air pollution limits from 2030 to 2035, in what environmentalists have caused a "lifeline for dirty cars".

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/sep/13/eu-air-pollution-limits-2035

What do you think: do you agree with the Biden administration that net zero should happen as quickly as possible (and that being first will have economic advantages), or with the UK and EU that some policies need to be delayed to avoid high costs, especially for consumers and households?

No 279: Increased Alcohol Prices in Scotland?

 SCOTLAND since 2018 has a price floor law for alcohol, which stipulates a minimum price a unit of alcohol can be sold for.

Now, some economists are calling for the minimum price to be raised. The policy has so far been mixed in its effectiveness, with some saying this was just due to the unfortunate impact of Covid lockdowns on alcohol consumption, others saying it proves the minimum price isn't working, and still others saying it does work, just needs to be higher.

Read this and then see what you think:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66865144.amp

No 278: UK Government Borrowing in August

 WAS "only" £11.6 billion, which was in fact lower than expected.

As you may know, when the government's spending is more than its tax revenue (i.e. so it needs to borrow money), this is called a "budget deficit".

More here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66872233

No 277: HS2 Even Shorter?

 MORE controversy over HS2 - the high speed rail link being built from London to Manchester. It is projected to cost at least £50billion, about £20 billion more than planned, and to to not be ready until 2035 - 5 years later than planned. (See https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/24/how-much-has-been-spent-on-hs2-so-far-and-what-is-at-stake).

The central London link section has already been scrapped. Now the government is considering cancelling the section from Birmingham to Manchester, citing the high costs, the poor state of government finances, and the need to invest the money in other projects and/or tax cuts.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/sep/23/rishi-sunak-pushes-to-axe-northern-hs2-rail-line-ahead-of-tory-conference

Question for you: What would be the economic impacts of not building HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester? Would the benefits outweigh the costs?

No 276: Amazon In Legal Trouble

IN the USA, regulators have sued Amazon, alleging that the internet giant is illegally maintaining monopoly power.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said Amazon uses "a set of interlocking anticompetitive and unfair strategies" to push up prices and stifle competition.

If the legal action is successful, Amazon may have to pay hundreds of million of dollars in fines. Jeff Bezos probably won't go to jail though!

Meanwhile, Google is also in a similar situation.

Read more here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66920137

No 275: Should Inheritance Tax Be Abolished

THE link below will take you to an interesting exchange of letters on the topic of UK inheritance tax - a tax that households pay on the value of the estate left behind when a family member dies. 

There are predictions that the Conservative Party will soon announce the abolition of the tax will be one of their manifesto policies for the election next year.

Many agree - thinking the tax is unfair since everything in a person's estate has already been taxed in their lifetime - but others point out that it is only the very rich (about 3.7% of the population) who are liable for the tax anyway, and many of these people employ tax accountants to help them avoid paying the tax at all.

What do you think?

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/sep/28/will-ditching-inheritance-tax-make-british-society-a-fairer-place