Markwadsworth

LATEST ARTICLES ( 4337 )

• Aligning National Insurance Rates - Half Right, but Apart from That, Completely...

  From The Daily Mail: Philip Hammond was last night urged to abandon plans for a £1billion tax raid on the self-employed, amid warnings it would wreck... Read more

  Posted on 07 March 2017 DEBATE

• Housing Crisis : Supply Vs Demand In Colour

  

  In the top graph we have a snapshot of the UK housing market, with 27 million dwellings being supplied at an average of £220K each. At £100K this... Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2017 DEBATE

• Small Local Businesses v Eton

  Via MBK from The Sunday Times: Eton College is eligible for an 80% discount on its business rates because, like most other independent schools, it is a charity. Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2017 DEBATE

• The Tax Returns You Can See and Those You Cannot

  Guardian, Independent and BBC try again here. If anybody here whose opinion I actually give a shit about about can quickly cast an eye over the accounts. If it... Read more

  Posted on 06 March 2017 DEBATE

• "According to Calculations by a Mortgage Broker…"

  Via MBK from The Times: According to calculations by David Hollingworth of the broker L C Mortgages, buying a house with £12,000 income and £6,000... Read more

  Posted on 05 March 2017 DEBATE

• Dear Phil....

  ...if this is your Bright Idea I'd like to point out that for my company to set up an ISA for a client I am supposed to produce at least 110 - yes one hundred... Read more

  Posted on 04 March 2017 DEBATE

• Shit (not to Mention Pointless and Unworkable) Ideas of the Week

  From The Evening Standard: The influential Institute For Public Policy Research said Mr Khan and other mayors should be put in charge of chairing health and car... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2017 DEBATE

• Killer Arguments Against Citizen's Income, Not (8)

  From The Independent: Finland’s basic income experiment is unworkable, uneconomical and ultimately useless. Plus, it will only encourage some people to work... Read more

  Posted on 03 March 2017 DEBATE

• City AM Jumps the Shark, Again.

  The Chief Executive of the British Retail Consortium in City AM: Retailers pay a quarter of all business rates and it is the single largest tax paid by the... Read more

  Posted on 02 March 2017 DEBATE

• A Right Royal Conspiracy

  It is strange that this story here should come up. I have heard about the case and the role of the security services in the Tomlinson union scandal. Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2017 DEBATE

• Economic Myths: "Party-loving Couple Build Their OWN Ultra-modern Home for Just...

  From The Daily Mail: * Derek Wright and Christine Burford wanted to retire in Kent from Huddersfield * They could not afford the house prices so bought a plot o... Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2017 DEBATE

• Economic Myths: "Pumpkin Artwork Valued up to £600,000 Smashed by Selfie-taker"

  From the BBC: A visitor to the Infinity Mirrors art exhibition in Washington DC has lost his footing, reportedly whilst* taking a selfie, and fallen into one... Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2017 DEBATE

• "Shipping Slump: Why a Vessel Worth $60m Was Sold as Scrap"

  From the BBC, mainly because of over-supply of ships, but also: The Panama effect And there was another reason to buy - and to buy big: the Panama Canal. Last... Read more

  Posted on 01 March 2017 DEBATE

• Laffer Curve of LVT Part 2

  Prof Nicolaus Tideman kindly e-mailed me his thoughts on the matter. "The answer is "it depends." I assume that we are talking about a tax on the rental value o... Read more

  Posted on 28 February 2017 DEBATE

• Another Classic Daily Mail Headline

  Husband, 65, and wife, 58, are found dead at the £300,000 house they shared with two of their four children 'after gunshots were heard' As an encore: Coupl... Read more

  Posted on 27 February 2017 DEBATE

• Outbreak of Common Sense at the TPA!

  Wonders never cease! From City AM: The TaxPayers' Alliance has suggested that business rates are a “bad tax” and could be replaced altogether. Read more

  Posted on 27 February 2017 DEBATE

• The Laffer Curve of Land Value Tax

  

  The principle that deadweight losses act as gravity on government revenue is uncontroversial. The top graph below is familiar and shows the effect of taxes on... Read more

  Posted on 27 February 2017 DEBATE

• Fun Online Polls: In-car Entertainment & Responding to a Speeding Ticket

  The results to last week's Fun Online Poll were as follows: What do you usually listen to when you're driving your car? (You can choose more than one if... Read more

  Posted on 26 February 2017 DEBATE

• Housing Supply (non)Crisis. LVT Will Sort It Out.

  

  Because freeholders do not pay compensation, as tax, for their right to exclude others from valuable locations, they are in receipt of an implicit State... Read more

  Posted on 24 February 2017 DEBATE

• "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Figures"

  From Wiki and Wiki: Mathematician Katherine Goble works as a "computer" in the segregated West Area Computers division of the Qing Dynasty during the 43rd year... Read more

  Posted on 24 February 2017 DEBATE