This article provides a comparative analysis of different voting systems and the concept of true democracy. It highlights the Swiss system of democracy as the closest example to true democracy, where the people have a high standard of living and low government expenditure, among other benefits....

How the 'grassroots' movement has got it totally wrongExecutive Summary:UK Uncut’s campaign against companies that are supposedly not paying sufficient tax is wholly misconceived.UK Uncut has attacked Vodafone for not paying £6 billion of tax on the profits made by its German operations....

Why it won't work and will damage the economyExecutive summaryThere is strong economic evidence that the proposed Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) would not increase the amount of tax revenue collected by governments. In fact it would reduce total tax revenue by shrinking the economy.Workers and...

How Keynesian policies would not have worked then, and why they will not work nowExecutive SummaryAs calls for Plan B mount, it is increasingly being suggested that the UK is making the same mistakes as in the Great Depression of the 1930s by not expanding fiscal policy. This paper demonstrates...

A prelude to radical reformExecutive summaryThere are many reasons for aligning the main rate of corporation tax with the basic rate of income tax (currently 20 per cent). Any one of these reasons alone would be sufficient to justify reform. Together they make an overwhelming case:The tax bias...

New fiscal rules needed to control government spendingIn a new paper released by the Institute of Economic Affairs, Kwasi Kwarteng and Jonathan Dupont argue that Britain should introduce a debt brake to ensure the Chancellor balances his budget.Looking at evidence from Switzerland and Germany,...

New IEA paper argued that reforms are needed to encourage more choice and more trading in Britain’s water market.Tackling water shortages and ensuring water costs are kept low for consumers requires changes in how water is regulated. A new report, Water: Supply, Prices, Scarcity and...

Former Senior Reagan economist warns against US stimulus spendingExecutive SummaryIf there is a Republican administration after the November presidential elections, we can expect a significant change of policy on tax, spending and stimulus.There is a rich variety of data from the USA that...

Not only is fuel duty unfair on motorists, it also puts British companies at a competitive disadvantageExecutive summary:Taxes comprise 60 per cent of the cost of a litre of petrol or diesel. Fuel duty will contribute about £33 billion to the Treasury in 2012.[1]Currently, revenues from fuel...