The tax-cutters have tested their established strategies to destruction. When they got their woman into Downing Street, it took just 45 days for their agenda to crash-and-burn.
In the first piece of a mini-series, our guest author also argues the Government should look again at IR35, and make it more worthwhile to work.
Keep them low where possible; find the optimal point on the Laffer Curve; avoid taxes which are expensive to collect; and undo the harm of Stamp Duty and Inheritance Tax.
It is the spending that needs to be controlled and reduced, rather than taxes increased yet further.
The tax take is at its highest ever, and yet the Government is looking at ways to raise yet more taxes.
If Italy really is to make a radical, momentous break with the Euro, sooner or later, voters should explicitly endorse the move.
The Treasury often fails to recognise the potential benefits of lower taxes, because they don’t properly factor in how behaviour changes.