Latest Publications
Fair Markets
Markets are the best way to create and distribute wealth, but they don’t always work well for all the people in them. We research ways that sensible interactions between the state and the private sector can maximise growth and fairness.
Latest Publications:
Publication
Reducing the burden of government regulation
Government regulations can result in higher consumers prices, make businesses less competitive, and they can prevent innovation and reinforce barriers to entry. In this paper, Harvard Senior Fellow and Regulatory Policy Committee Chair Stephen Gibson, reviews previous efforts to reduce red tape.
| Published: | 09 March 2023 |
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| Author(s): | Stephen Gibson, Will Henshall, Tasila Banda |
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The Nanny and the Night Watchman: The Conservative case for regulating freedom in a failed market
In the Conservative political tradition, state regulation is often viewed in binary terms – its presence an intrusion, and its absence a mark of freedom. This has certainly been the case in the ongoing debate surrounding the review of the 2005 Gambling Act. In this personal essay, SMF Senior Fellow Dr James Noyes rejects the binary view in favour of a more nuanced approach to regulation and the role that the state can – and should – play in the gambling market.
| Published: | 28 February 2023 |
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| Author: | Dr James Noyes |
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Getting in the spirit? Alcohol and the Scottish economy
The Scottish economy’s global reputation for producing alcohol has come with historically high levels of drinking and harm. The Scottish Government is currently consulting on a range of regulations on alcohol marketing. Analysing the relationship between alcohol and the Scottish economy, we find that such regulation is unlikely to have much of an effect on the Scottish economy, since so much of Scottish alcohol production – most notably whisky – is sold abroad.
| Published: | 09 February 2023 |
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| Author: | Aveek Bhattacharya |
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Squeezed out or opting out? Understanding ethnic differences in use of financial products and services
The ethnic minority gap in financial products such as pensions and insurance is well-documented, but poorly understood. Drawing on existing and new survey data, and in-depth interviews, this report seeks to understand the scale of this gap, and possible explanations behind it, as well as proposing recommendations to policymakers and the industry on how to reduce the risk of disadvantage faced by ethnic minorities.
| Published: | 06 February 2023 |
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| Author(s): | Niamh O Regan, Aveek Bhattacharya, Gideon Salutin, Scott Corfe |
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Just a click away: How e-commerce can boost UK exports and growth
The UK has had an exports problem since the financial crisis of 2008, further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this report, we show that e-commerce should be a key focus of trade policy effort as it offers a route to get more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) exporting, and how to remove the barriers they face.
| Published: | 02 November 2022 |
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| Author(s): | Richard Hyde, Scott Corfe |
Publication
Social value roadmap for real estate
This briefing paper argues that the real estate and investment sectors must accelerate their journey from theorising about social value into widespread practice. It sets out recommendations for how designers, developers, the financial services industry, and local and central government can work together to maximise social value.
| Published: | 28 September 2022 |
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| Author(s): | Scott Corfe, Linus Pardoe |
Publication
Household energy: a long-term funding proposal
This briefing presents a long-term solution for keeping consumer energy companies afloat through the current crisis while limiting the financial burden on taxpayers, drawing upon the structure of the Brady Plan which helped to successfully resolve the 1980s sovereign debt crisis.
| Published: | 01 September 2022 |
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| Author: | Michael Johnson |
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Childcare costs and poverty
Childcare costs in the UK are contributing to poverty and gender inequality. As part of our cross-party Commission on Childcare, we're publishing new analysis on the extent of the childcare crisis - the impact of being dragged out of the labour market to look after children has a long-term, scarring effect on wages. We'll be engaging with stakeholders and developing policy solutions in Autumn.
| Published: | 21 July 2022 |
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| Author: | Scott Corfe |
Publication
Banking on access: Ensuring access to banking in a digital age
The shift towards digital banking, accelerated by the pandemic, creates many opportunities and offers benefits for the economy as a whole – but also brings with it some risks. This report explores future access to retail banking services, and the best way to ensure any such changes take place fairly and sustainably, and no one is left behind.
| Published: | 22 June 2022 |
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| Author(s): | Scott Corfe, Richard Hyde, Bill Anderson-Samways |