In this Institute of Economic Affairs podcast, IEA Head of Communications Callum Price speaks with Editorial Director Kristian Niemietz and Managing Editor Daniel Freeman. The conversation covers the Treasury’s recent briefings that the OBR is predicted to downgrade UK productivity growth forecasts ahead of the budget, with Brexit being cited as a contributing factor. They examine whether there’s credibility to these claims and discuss how the political taboo around discussing Brexit has begun to break down at senior levels of the Labour Party.
The discussion moves to wealth taxes, with the panel analysing recent speculation about potential tax rises in the upcoming budget, including capital gains tax increases and changes to inheritance tax. They explore how these policies might affect economic behaviour and investment decisions, questioning whether the predicted revenue from such measures would materialise given likely behavioural responses from taxpayers.
The conversation concludes with an examination of the government’s ambitious housebuilding targets of 1.5 million homes over five years. Despite positive rhetoric from Housing Minister Steve Reed, housing starts are running at less than half the required 75,000 per quarter. The panel discusses the barriers preventing progress, including the building safety regulator, nutrient neutrality regulations, and affordable housing requirements, with London’s housing starts now falling behind even Auckland, New Zealand in absolute terms.
