Sam Desborough looks at the suggestion that the role of immigration in filling job vacancies will have long-term intergenerational implications in the UK One and a half million. This is the number of people in the UK – according to most recent figures from the Department of Work and Pensions – who have never had a… Read more »
Antony Mason
Inflation and its intergenerational impact
Angus Hanton looks at the pros and cons of rising inflation, and its effects on interest rates Inflation is now running at about 5% pa, with interest rates standing at below 1%. The result is that, when you take account of inflation, real interest rates are negative, so that savers are seeing their savings reduced… Read more »
Does the increase in pension contributions for government workers matter intergenerationally?
Angus Hanton looks at the proposals for meeting the gaping liabilities in public-service pensions In the UK we are saving too little, according to the experts such as Martin Weale of the Bank of England. This ties up with personal observations: people expect to live longer, they expect to spend more, and they retire at… Read more »
Large scale tax avoidance in the housing market
Angus Hanton shows how current tax loopholes have intergenerational consequences People disagree on how housing should be taxed. Some people would like to see higher annual holding taxes, whether this is called Council Tax, Land Value Tax or just Property Tax, while others want to see the introduction of Capital Gains Tax on residential house… Read more »
Will future generations eat fish?
Antony Mason sees the EU fisheries policy as a classic intergenerational issue At the end of last month the TV chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall took his “Fish Fight” campaign to Brussels, as the first stage of rolling it out across the EU.
The Church and Intergenerational Justice
Angus Hanton explains why, as he sees it, the Church(es) are not on board when it comes to intergenerational matters It is perhaps surprising that British Churches, both Protestant and Catholic, have been so quiet on the subject of Intergenerational Justice, both in relation to imbalances between younger and older generations and in relation to… Read more »
The housing crisis
Antony Mason see that something has to give – but where? The Halifax came up with some depressing statistics last week. Based on a poll of 4000 non-homeowners, they found that two-thirds of young people (20–45 year olds) believe they have no prospect of ever getting on the property ladder.
New book highlights scandal of internships
David Kingman reflects on the internship debate A new book ‘Intern Nation: How to earn nothing and learn little in the brave new economy’ by Ross Perlin, an American author, analyses in impressive detail the growing exploitation of young people by the older generation in the corporate world.
Can Britain afford higher tuition fees?
David Kingman asks if higher tuition fees that the government plans to charge will actually cost it more money because of a financial miscalculation Since the government’s plan to charge £9,000 a year for tuition fees was announced, most of the debate surrounding them has centred on whether the plan is socially, rather than… Read more »
How is happiness distributed intergenerationally?
Angus Hanton sees happiness as a valuable benefit of intergenerational sharing It is becoming fashionable to consider measures of happiness in formulating policy, but the essential pattern of happiness is well known.