There has been speculation recently that the government is planning to divert millions of pounds in NHS funds from deprived urban areas in the north, to leafy, Conservative voting constituencies in the south. This stems from health secretary Andrew Lansley’s recent comment that “age is the principal determinant of health need” and that distribution of the £100bn budget for the NHS in England should “get progressively to a greater focus on what are the actual determinants of health need.” Somewhere along the line, those comments were interpreted by a generally cheesed-off medical profession that Mr Lansley intends to introduce an “age-only” NHS allocation formula, switching substantial NHS funds from, generally younger, Labour-voting constituencies in north to the octogenarians who thrive in the Conservative-voting villages of ... Continue reading →
Austerity versus growth. This debate is wrong. Policy-makers are often accused of being obsessed with fiscal austerity and ignoring the need for growth in Europe. Let me be clear: fiscal consolidation is not an end in itself. Rather, it is a pre-condition for achieving sustainable growth. Fiscal consolidation creates the confidence that investors and consumers need. Ultimately, it supports both economic growth and employment. The only alternative would be to fight debt with more debt. This is no solution. Improvements on the fiscal front are becoming visible in the data. The euro area public deficit declined to 4.1% of GDP in 2011. It is expected to fall to 3.2% in 2012. The French deficit, for instance, came in at 5.2% of GDP in 2011, 0.5 ... Continue reading →
A boy checks the list of voters' names inside a polling station in Cairo on May 23. AP Egypt’s “pioneering” role is hailed this morning by the press in the Arab world. And for good reason: the Egyptian presidential election is a historic moment for the region, the first time that Arabs are allowed to genuinely and freely choose their president. What happens in the largest Arab nation matters elsewhere – Egypt influences Arab public opinion and points to political trends. I’ve heard much talk in recent months about how Egypt’s chaotic transition is damping hopes for political change and frustrating those who want to put pressure for political reforms in other Arab states. Between Egypt’s messy transition and Syria’s violence, many have lost faith ... Continue reading →
