Evan loves tax

This is a quick plug for a 3-part series on Radio 4 this week, presented by Evan Davis and called Evan Loves Tax. The three episodes are being broadcast on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at 9am and 21.30 each day, and the first one yesterday was a fascinating mix of econmic history, political myopia and cigarette smuggling. Talking to three former chancellors - Nigel Lawson, Norman Lamont and Alasdair Darling - Evan looked at why, since the Second World War, public spending has just kept on rising, and why at the same time, politicians decided that paying for it by putting up income tax was unthinkable. The second episode will examine why the tax system is so complex, including the famous judgement about whether a Jaffa Cake is a cake or a biscuit, and why it matters, and also looks at tax avoidance schemes, then the third will ask how well we make decisions about tax in Britain, from the way we vote in elections to Chancellors and their Budgets.

Although the progammes are available on BBC i-player, each will only be there for 7 days so you need to move quickly if you think they may be useful as you examine fiscal policy in the UK!

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Unit 4 Macro: Competitive Advantage in Trade (Some Videos) [12 Jan 2012]
Keeping it local [24 Nov 2011]
Ten Things About Tax [23 Nov 2011]
Alcohol. Discuss! [18 Oct 2011]
50% tax rates - Chuck it George [7 Sep 2011]
Unit 4 Macro: Evan Davis on Re-Balancing the Economy [25 Aug 2011]
Timetric: Income Tax and VAT Revenues [8 Mar 2011]
Raising money from taxation - a BBC guide [31 Aug 2010]
How are taxes raised and spent? [8 Jun 2010]
A2 Economics Revision - Direct and Indirect Taxation [9 May 2010]
RES Essay Competition - Inequality Title [1 Apr 2010]
Two thought-provoking programmes this week [21 Feb 2010]
Bottom Line on Business Clusters [15 Nov 2009]
Politics Pen - Palatable Taxes [11 Nov 2009]
Addressing the deficit [10 Oct 2009]
The new higher income tax rate [24 Aug 2009]
Economics Snapshot - The Impact of Tax and Benefits on Inequality [30 Jul 2009]
Air passenger duty - a tax too far? [11 Jul 2009]
Radio discussion - is the credit crunch crisis over? [10 May 2009]
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First hints of the brain drain effect [26 Apr 2009]
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Power Relationships [22 Feb 2009]
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Bankers and the Blame Game [20 Dec 2008]
Fiscal Drag [7 Jul 2008]
More to life than GDP? [8 Apr 2008]
Revision: The Tax Burden [6 Apr 2008]
Measuring the Black Economy [3 Apr 2008]
Money’s too tight to mention [4 Mar 2008]
MP calls for tax-or-charity reform [12 Feb 2008]

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