who controls gas prices

Another decent article on who controls gas prices:

Run Your Car On Water
able border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 align=center bgcolor=000000 Read more...

Off-site content that may be related to who controls gas prices
We may post information in this space from time to time.

Gordon Brown announces expansion of apprenticeships on three-day tour of Britain
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/75825?ns=guardian&pageName=Politics%3A+PM+announces+apprenticeships+expansion+on+three-day+tour+of+Britain&ch=Politics&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Economic+policy%2CGordon+Brown%2CPolitics%2CUK+news%2CBusiness%2CSociety%2CSocial+exclusion+%28Society%29%2CEducation%2CFurther+education&c5=Society+Weekly%2CCredit+Crunch%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CEducation+Weekly+Education%2CFE+Education%2CSocial+Care+Society&c6=Andrew+Sparrow&c7=2009_01_07&c8=1143407&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Politics&c12=Economic+policy&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FEconomic+policy" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Gordon Brown will announce a further expansion of apprenticeships today as he kicks off a three-day tour of the regions.</p><p>The prime minister will use a visit to a Rolls-Royce plant in the east Midlands to highlight a £140m scheme to create an extra 35,000 posts in 2009-10.</p><p>The announcement ? which will take the total number of apprenticeships over 250,000 ? comes as Brown presses his argument that the global economic downturn is a reason to increase investment, not reduce it.</p><p>Over the coming days, he will also be visiting the West Midlands, north-west England, and Wales, while the whole cabinet is due to hold a special "away day" in Liverpool. It will be the third meeting of the cabinet outside London since September.</p><p>This week a response to a freedom of information request showed that the cost of policing November's cabinet meeting in Leeds was £137,719. Some Conservatives have criticised Brown's decision to hold cabinet meetings outside London as a costly "gimmick", although yesterday members of David Cameron's shadow cabinet were holding a series of meetings in cities around Britain as part of a coordinated Tory "Get Britain Working" event.</p><p>In a speech earlier this week Brown explained why he was going on a regional tour. He said it was "more important than ever for us to talk to people right across the country about what they are going though, listening to their views, addressing their concerns and learning from their experiences".</p><p>Brown will follow up the tour with a "jobs summit" in Downing Street on Monday next week.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/gordon-brown">Gordon Brown</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/socialexclusion">Social exclusion</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/furthereducation">Further education</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327959925010711323860088"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327959925010711323860088" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a><p style="clear:both" />
Darling admits recession deeper than government expected
Chancellor says he may be forced to rip up his previous economic forecasts
Matthew Elliott: There is plenty of scope for David Cameron to make his £5bn cut in public spending without affecting frontline services
Matthew Elliott: There is plenty of scope for the Tory leader to make his proposed £5bn cut in public spending without affecting frontline services
Guardian Weekly podcast: Israel's tactics in Gaza, and Minnesota's new senator
Middle east editor Ian Black analyses the conflict in Gaza. Plus, Daniel Nasaw reports on Minnesota's new senator, Al Franken. And Deborah Hargreaves on the economic propects for 2009
David Cameron calls for league tables to improve UK prisons
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/82245?ns=guardian&pageName=Politics%3A+David+Cameron+calls+for+league+tables+to+improve+UK+prisons&ch=Politics&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=David+Cameron%2CConservatives%2CEconomic+policy%2CRecession+%28UK%29%2CHousing+market+%28Business%29%2CBanking+%28Business%29%2CBanks+and+building+societies%2CInterest+rates+%28Money%29%2CHouse+prices+%28Money%29%2CPolitics%2CBusiness%2CMoney%2CUK+news%2CPrisons+and+probation+%28Society%29%2CCriminal+justice+%28politics%29%2CUS+economy+%28Business%29&c5=Personal+Finance%2CInvestments%2CCredit+Crunch%2CPolicy+Society%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCommunities+Society%2CProperty+Mortgages+and+Interest+Rates%2CUS+Economy&c6=Helen+Carter&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142822&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Politics&c12=David+Cameron&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FDavid+Cameron" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>David Cameron said today that he would introduce league tables for prisons to cut reoffending rates with an increased emphasis on rehabilitation and follow-up care after release.</p><p>The Tory leader also indicated that he was against the government's "Titan prisons", which he thought were a "bad idea".</p><p>"The idea that big is beautiful with prisons is wrong," he told 20 handpicked members of the public in Manchester, in a session led by Channel M television presenter Andy Crane.</p><p>"I&nbsp;have spent some time in prison ? purely in a professional capacity ? at Wandsworth prison and was profoundly depressed by the size and impersonality," Cameron said. "I asked the governor what percentage offend when they leave prison and he couldn't tell me.</p><p>"The system is not designed that way; it is just designed to put them in prison and hold them there, locked in cells for up to 23 hours a day, and then let them out. Every other public service is paid for by result."</p><p>Cameron said there was a need to incentivise prisons. "Are you saying league tables for prisons?" asked Crane. "Yes," ­Cameron replied.</p><p>Edward Garnier, the shadow justice minister, said: "Prisons should be places where people can be contained humanely, rehabilitated and taught to read and write, and get off drugs. This is most unlikely to be achieved in enormous Titan prisons.</p><p>"Jack Straw [the justice secretary] insisted that the design for three Titan prisons was predominantly based on cheapness rather than value for money and also that they should be designed to accommodate more than 2,500 prisoners. They are designed for overcrowding before they dig the first foundations; that to us is ridiculous.</p><p>"Experience suggests to us these large prisons are dangerous and inefficient. We suggest prisons become part of prison rehabilitation trusts similar to hospital trusts. In charge of each trust will be a highly skilled and experienced person and his job is not simply to lock up prisoners but take real and active interest of rehabilitation of offenders and promote reduction in reoffending."</p><p>Such a duty would be rewarded on the basis of the lowest reoffending rate, Garnier added.</p><p>Earlier, at a meeting at the Lowry arts centre in nearby Salford, 60 business people gathered with Cameron at his inaugural Get Britain Working Forum, which will tour the country.</p><p>A chartered surveyor told him that the government's VAT cut was a "damp squib" and suggested the housing market needed to get going as the engine of the economy. Mortgages were being advertised, but were only available to first-time buyers with a 35% deposit, and he suggested emulating an Australian scheme in which taxpayers fund first-time buyers' deposit.</p><p>"It seems to me the most important thing is to get banks lending again to businesses," Cameron said. "Businesses large, medium and small are all writing to me saying effectively the same thing: my credit line has been withdrawn, my overdraft facility has been taken away ? I'm having to lay people off."</p><p>The Tory leader said that government borrowing was a reason why sterling had fallen and said he was a firm believer in floating exchange rates, as he was in the Treasury during the exchange rate mechanism debacle of the 1990s.</p><p>"I see no circumstances in which joining the euro would be a good thing because I&nbsp;want us to set our own interest rates. We just need a government that puts fiscal responsibility at the heart of what it does." He made it clear that when he is prime minister "we will keep the pound".</p><p>Yesterday, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jan/06/david-cameron-conservatives-economic-policy" title="">Cameron offered tax breaks worth a total of £5bn to millions of pensioners and savers</a>. The Tories have also promised a £50bn loan guarantee scheme with the government "standing behind" loans to firms.</p><p>At the later session in Manchester, the Tory leader contradicted Eric Pickles, the shadow minister for communities and local government, over the abolition of regional development agencies, saying that councils in north-west England "may come together and keep the Northwest Development Agency, but in other parts of the country, like the south-east, the councils may say no".</p><p>There was only one sour note struck at the forum, when a retired man asked a question on the basis that "every immigrant who comes to this country gets benefits and the benefit system is totally abused". An audible intake of breath could be heard from other members of the audience who clearly disagreed with his view.</p><p>Cameron answered a different question and said immigrants came here to work and that he would target instead the 2.6 million people claiming incapacity benefit.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron">David Cameron</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/conservatives">Conservatives</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/recession">Recession</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/housingmarket">Housing market</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking">Banking</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/banks">Banks and building societies</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/interestrates">Interest rates</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/houseprices">House prices</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/prisonsandprobation">Prisons and probation</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/justice">Criminal justice</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/useconomy">US economy</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960287010711323860088"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960287010711323860088" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a><p style="clear:both" />
Polly Toynbee: It might sound appealing, but this is populist poison
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/5551?ns=guardian&pageName=Comment+is+free%3A+It+might+sound+appealing%2C+but+this+is+populist+poison&ch=Comment+is+free&c3=The+Guardian&c4=David+Cameron%2CConservatives%2CEconomic+policy%2CPolitics%2CEconomics+%28Business%29%2CRecession+%28UK%29%2CCredit+crunch+%28Business%29%2CSaving+money+%28Money%29%2CTax+%28Money%29%2CTax+and+spending%2CMoney%2CBusiness%2CUK+news%2CPublic+finance+%28Society%29%2CSociety%2CPublic+services+policy+%28Society%29&c5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CPersonal+Finance%2CCredit+Crunch%2CPolicy+Society%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful&c6=Polly+Toynbee&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142531&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Comment+is+free&c12=blog&c13=&c14=Comment+is+free&h2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FComment+is+free" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>The ideological gap just yawned yet wider as David Cameron sprang into the New Year with tigerish ferocity. The longer Labour is in power, he said, the worse it gets - for the economy, national debt, crime, education, welfare dependency, the health service and family breakdown; all worse, worse, worse. Broken Britain needs an election now when "change is going to come". But president-elect Barack Obama, Cameron is certainly not. As the new president plans a trillion-dollar Keynesian stimulus in the United States economy, Cameron retreats into Thatcher's 1980s. Every time he speaks, he climbs deeper into the recesses of her handbag economics, preaching thrift and a bonfire of public spending.</p><p>He is right that this year things can only get much worse: every economic commentator says so. Any government seeking re-election after a year like 2009 with three million unemployed and gaping black holes in high street shopfronts can expect an uphill struggle. On the face of it, Cameron should walk it with constant finger-pointing - who was at the wheel when the economy crashed? Revenge is a strong voting motive. Superficially, he has all the best lines. The question is whether his phoney economics fool enough of the people enough of the time. </p><p>Yesterday's speech extolled the moral case for saving and thrift, "where government and citizens live within their means, save for a rainy day, waste not, want not". How well that chimes with the current mood, in which the worried rein in spending and even the comfortable indulge in frugality chic. It chimes with the bishops' call for less shopping and more praying. It chimes with commonsense instinct: in hard times pull in your horns, don't borrow, don't spend; hide under the duvet until it's all over. So when Cameron ratchets up the rhetoric by calling the VAT cut "an absolutely criminal waste of public money", plenty of voters will nod in agreement. Labour's &pound;12.5bn cash splurge did feel odd. When Cameron claims: "We are in this mess because of too much government debt", it sounds plausible. When he offers &pound;5bn in tax cuts for penny-wise savers by taking money out of current spending to salt away in savings accounts, that too may seem like prudent policy. All this goes with the grain of human instinct - and Labour has yet to find resonant language to challenge it.</p><p>Cameron's plan for retrenchment is economically illiterate, and would be frighteningly dangerous if he were in power. But it's hard to explain why thrift is not the answer in a punchy political message. Keynesianism is counter-intuitive: he wrote himself about the problem of the "thrift paradox" - persuading people and governments to spend, lend and invest at a time when every fibre of their being urges slamming on the brakes. But let's examine why the Cameron prescription is part populism, part poison and part snake-oil: since he's not stupid, presumably he knows it. </p><p>Take his plan for a loan guarantee to let banks lend again with the state as guarantor. It sounds good - indeed, the government has already said it will do the same, responding to the Crosby report. Cameron's deceit, in his eagerness to cut borrowing, is to pretend he can do it cost-free by raising interest rates enough to cover any losses from failed loans. Nonsense, say those working on the scheme. To make it self-financing, he would have to raise the loan interest rates to many times their present rate, and no one would want them. Guaranteeing loans, some of which would fail, costs some &pound;2bn - but in Cameron's fantasy economics he pretends he can both fix this crisis and cut spending.</p><p>Take his key claim that Britain's debt "puts us in a much weaker position than other countries". Is that true? Ask the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies - by no means always a friend of Gordon Brown's previous economic policies - and here's their verdict: of the G7 richest nations, only Canada has a lower stock of debt than the UK. The US, France, Germany, Japan and Italy have even higher debts than the sizeable 57% of gross domestic product Labour now plans. Compared with all the leading economies, the UK is still only in the middle of the debt table. So yes, we can well afford to borrow more to avoid the worst of this year's cataclysm - and that is the right thing to do. What of Cameron's plan? To make a sudden &pound;5bn cut in spending this April is an anti-stimulus at a time when money needs to be spent. The Institute for Fiscal Studies warns that the only way to cut quickly is to axe whatever is easiest with random destruction, without rational planning. </p><p>Was the VAT cut "a criminal waste"? The IFS says it was the best way to get money out there fast. What of Cameron's plan to encourage saving with tax cuts? Not a bad idea, but absolutely not in the depth of recession. For years the IFS has criticised Brown for adding to national debt by failing to raise enough tax to cover his higher spending in the good years. Now, the IFS's Carl Emmerson says: "But even if he had, that slight cushion would no way have insulated us from this crisis." </p><p>Cameron's proposed cuts in public services would be disastrous in a year like this. He would ring-fence only NHS, schools and defence spending, while from April he would cut planned spending on everything else. But how could he cut Department for Work and Pensions funds as unemployment claimants soar? Why cut the big rise in apprenticeships, just as the young are leaving school to sign on? How do you create jobs if all infrastructure is cut back? (His high-speed rail would take years to set up - and it needs state funds.) During the last Tory government, average capital spending was just 0.6% - while Labour has spent more than 2%, the price of repairing 20 years of public squalor. Labour's plan to bring forward &pound;10bn of capital spending to create 100,000 jobs is a vital necessity.</p><p>Labour relies on real economics winning over the plausible lie in the long run. After all, the Confederation of British Industry, the International Monetary Fund and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development all urge Keynesian policies, with Barack Obama leading the way. Labour's serious problem is that no one will ever be able to prove whether what they did worked: if the recession is less deep, were these debts really necessary? Economists will argue for years, but nobody will ever know how much worse things might have been, had Cameron been in power.</p><p><a href="mailto:polly.toynbee@guardian.co.uk">polly.toynbee@guardian.co.uk</a></p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron">David Cameron</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/conservatives">Conservatives</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics">Economics</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/recession">Recession</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/creditcrunch">Credit crunch</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/saving-money">Saving money</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/tax">Tax</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/taxandspending">Tax and spending</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/public-finance">Public finance</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/policy">Public services policy</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Commentisfree&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960360010711323860088"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Commentisfree&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960360010711323860088" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a><p style="clear:both" />
Obituary: Sir Alan Walters
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/42797?ns=guardian&pageName=Politics%3A+Sir+Alan+Walters&ch=Politics&c3=The+Guardian&c4=Politics+past%2CConservatives%2CEconomic+policy%2CMargaret+Thatcher%2CUK+news%2CPolitics&c5=Credit+Crunch%2CNot+commercially+useful&c6=Alan+Budd&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142529&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Politics&c12=Politics+past&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FPolitics+past" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Sir Alan Walters, who has died aged 82, achieved fame as an economic adviser, sometimes official, sometimes unofficial, to Margaret Thatcher when she was Conservative prime minister. In 1989, Nigel Lawson resigned as chancellor of the exchequer when she refused to dismiss the economist. Walters himself resigned shortly afterwards. But these moments of political turmoil were just interruptions to a long and distinguished career as an academic economist.</p><p>Walters was an official adviser to Thatcher for two periods: from 1981 to 1984, and in 1989. The second was the more dramatic, but the controversies of the first included the questions of money supply targets and the origins of Geoffrey Howe's budget of 1981, which prompted a condemnatory letter from 364 economists. In 1979, Howe had set targets for the growth of "broad money" which included a wide range of bank deposits. By 1981 the targets had been greatly exceeded, but there was every sign of a severe monetary squeeze. Walters advised Thatcher that the Treasury was looking at the wrong numbers and should have paid more attention to narrower definitions of the money supply. </p><p>The 1981 budget saw a significant tightening of policy (mainly through a failure to raise personal tax allowances) at a time when the economy was in a deep recession. Thatcher claimed that this tough approach had been devised by Walters and imposed on a reluctant Treasury. Howe denied this completely.</p><p>Lawson's summary of Walters's role during this first period was: "For all his faults, Walters had the great strength that he was prepared to argue with Margaret on issues when he was convinced she was mistaken." But Lawson was much more worried about Walters's later reappointment, and argued against it. By then Walters had become far better known and was identified as a critic of many aspects of Treasury policy, particularly in relation to exchange rate policy. Lawson suspected that Walters had turned Thatcher against the policy of "shadowing" the deutschmark.</p><p>Lawson was angered when Walters published, in October 1989, an article opposing UK membership of the Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM) at a time when the government's policy was to join. But in the end it was not, according to Lawson, Walters's opposition to the ERM that was the problem, but his persistent attempts to support policies that would lower the value of the pound. As Lawson wrote: "The problem was not Walters as such: nor was it even the difference between Margaret and myself over the crucial question of exchange rate policy. It was her persistent public exposure of that difference, of which Walters was the most obvious outward and visible symbol." Lawson resigned on 26 October 1989 and Walters stood down an hour later.</p><p>Born in Leicester, Walters went to Alderman Newton school, Leicester, and University College, Leicester (now Leicester University). He was a graduate student at Nuffield College, Oxford. In 1951 he became lecturer in econometrics at Birmingham University, which had an extraordinary concentration of talent including Terence Gorman and Frank Hahn. Ten years later he was appointed professor of econometrics and social statistics and stayed at Birmingham until 1968, with periods as visiting professor at Northwestern University, Illinois, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1968 to 1976 he was Sir Ernest Cassell professor of economics at the London School of Economics, and from 1976 to 1991 professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. He was knighted in 1983.</p><p>His career outside academia also included membership of the Roskill commission on the third London airport from 1968 to 1970. He commented afterwards that the commission was not asked whether a third airport was necessary. Walters's view was that it was not, provided that airlines were charged properly for the use of runways. His wide range of interests as an economist is demonstrated by the topics on which he wrote or co-authored books. These included economic growth, road user charges, ocean freight rates, money, port pricing, noise and sterling. He wrote an introductory text on econometrics and, with Richard Layard, the standard textbook Microeconomic Theory (1977). In 1986 he published Britain's Economic Renaissance, his account of the results of the Thatcherite reforms. He spent two periods as economic adviser to the World Bank (1976-80 and 1984-88).</p><p>After his resignation as adviser to Thatcher, Walters campaigned against Britain's membership of the ERM, and predicted doom once the decision to join in 1990 had been taken: the core of his attack became known as the Walters critique. He argued that a member of the ERM experiencing excessive inflation would, because it was unable to change interest rates, have low "real" interest rates, which was the opposite of what was needed. Similarly a member with weak demand and low inflation would have high real interest rates and would sink further into recession. The arguments were developed in his book Sterling in Danger (1990).</p><p>He stood for the Referendum party in the Cities of London and Westminster constituency in the 1997 general election. After leaving Johns Hopkins, he became vice-chairman and director of the AIG Trading Group until 2003.</p><p>Walters may have been surprised, after many years as an academic economist, to find himself the subject of so much attention and the cause of so much controversy. He showed every sign of enjoying the debate. He lectured and spoke in a slightly high-pitched voice that was able to convey a sense of baffled surprise at the views of his opponents and a tone of astonishment that anyone could disagree with him. </p><p>In the early days of Thatcher's government, he was a valued member of the small group of outsiders who provided intellectual and academic support for its policies. His departure in 1989 was a symptom, rather than a cause, of the complete breakdown of trust between the prime minister and her chancellor.</p><p>He is survived by his wife Paddie (Margaret Patricia Wilson), whom he married in 1975, and a daughter from his first marriage.</p><p>? Alan Arthur Walters, economist, born 17 June 1926; died 3 January 2009</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/past">Politics past</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/conservatives">Conservatives</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/margaretthatcher">Margaret Thatcher</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960389010711323860088"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960389010711323860088" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a><p style="clear:both" />
Cameron offers savings tax cut plus clamp on public spending
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/36158?ns=guardian&pageName=Politics%3A+Cameron+offers+savings+tax+cut+plus+clamp+on+public+spending&ch=Politics&c3=The+Guardian&c4=David+Cameron%2CConservatives%2CEconomic+policy%2CGordon+Brown%2CTax+and+spending%2CPolitics%2CCredit+crunch+%28Business%29%2CSmall+business+%28Business%29%2CBanking+%28Business%29%2CRecession+%28UK%29%2CBusiness%2CBanks+and+building+societies%2CSavings+%28Money%29%2CIncome+tax%2CTax+%28Money%29%2CMoney%2CUK+news%2CPublic+services+policy+%28Society%29%2CPublic+finance+%28Society%29%2CSociety&c5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CPersonal+Finance%2CInvestments%2CCredit+Crunch%2CPolicy+Society%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful&c6=Patrick+Wintour&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142525&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Politics&c12=David+Cameron&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FDavid+Cameron" width="1" height="1" /></div><p> David Cameron took the side of savers hit by tumbling interest rates yesterday and promised to abolish tax on the savings income of all basic-rate taxpayers. He also promised to lift personal allowances for pensioners by &pound;2,000 a year. </p><p>Pounded by Labour charges of offering a do-nothing approach to the crisis, the Tory leader said that he wanted to help the "innocent victims" of the recession.</p><p>Cameron also toughened his approach to public spending, by proposing for the first time that its growth in the financial year 2009-10 be cut from 3.4% to 2.6%, saving &pound;5bn. Setting out a plan for Conservative government, he said spending on schools, health, defence and international development would be maintained at Labour's planned levels, meaning projected spending in other departments could grow only 1% in real terms, instead of the 4.1% planned by Labour. Cameron said he did not think 1% unreasonable. </p><p> But his move imposes tight constraints on departments such as the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, business department, and communities department. George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, pointed out that public spending would still be rising by &pound;25bn under the Tory regime, as opposed to &pound;30bn, leading Tory rightwingers to claim that Cameron was not doing enough to break with Labour spending or borrowing. </p><p>The chief secretary to the Treasury, Yvette Cooper, said it was "economic madness" to slow public spending - the Conservatives were isolated internationally, she claimed. Downing Street was last night pointing to reports that Germany is planning a &pound;50bn fiscal stimulus.</p><p>But Cameron is increasingly bold in advocating tighter spending, and has already proposed a lower level than the government plan for 2010-11. The country, he said, was facing a "catastrophic legacy of debt and disrepair"; he sometimes wanted to shake Gordon Brown, he said, to get him to understand his errors.</p><p>Cameron put his proposals in the context of a wider claim about the need for an economy that is more balanced, and not so tilted towards housing, the public sector and financial services. </p><p>He published reports on creating green technology incubators, and buidling the world's first trading market for environmental companies. He also revealed a review into how to give every home ultra-fast broadband within a decade. Brown is proposing a green and digital infrastructure renewal programme this spring.</p><p>The Tory leader's move came ahead of Thursday's meeting of the Bank of England monetary policy committee, expected to cut interest rates to possibly 1%, the lowest since the Bank's formation in 1694. A cut from the current 2% would further damage the interests of savers when savings are at their lowest for 50 years. </p><p>Cameron said: "We need to make a really big change in Britain from an economy built on debt to an economy built on savings. A culture of thrift at the heart of government and a culture of saving at the heart of our economy - these changes will provide strong foundations for the new economy we plan to build."</p><p>Privately, the Tories accept that the cost, and therefore the impact, of abolishing tax on savings for basic-rate taxpayers - &pound;2.6bn - may be too high, since it is based on estimates made at a time when interest rates were much higher.</p><p>The proposal to lift tax on savings income would, the Conservatives say, simplify the tax system, since banks would no longer have to withhold 20% of interest income at source, and people on low incomes who currently do not pay tax at 20% would no longer be forced to apply for their money back.</p><p>In practice, a third of savers already have their savings in tax-free Isas, and yesterday's initiative by the Tories may prompt Brown (planning a tour of English regions starting tomorrow) to raise the maximum amount of income that can be invested in an Isa tax-free, currently &pound;7,200. </p><p>The Tories denied that helping savers would take money out of the economy. They argued that advisers to the Obama administration are suggesting that tax cuts are three times as effective at raising growth as spending increases.</p><p>More broadly, Cameron insisted he was optimistic that his policy package was winning converts: the government's 2.5% VAT cut in December had been "a criminal waste" of &pound;12.5bn of taxpayers' money, saying the government might as well have burnt the cash.</p><p>Cameron also repeated his call for a government insurance scheme to back banks lending to customers and businesses. The Treasury is looking at a similar scheme, but the government will be determined to present any proposal as sharply different to the Conservatives' socialisation of credit.</p><h2>Parties' policies</h2><p><strong>Labour plans</strong></p><p>? Cut VAT by 2.5%at cost of &pound;11bn to stimulate demand.</p><p>? Consider second round of help for banks following &pound;50bn recapitalisation, but put the idea of more government cash for banks on the back burner.</p><p>? Create 100,000 jobs by advancing extra capital investment directed at green jobs and school building.</p><p>? Publish interim report on digital Britain.</p><p>? Encourage ailing firms to switch staff to part-time work and allow staff to train for remainder of time.</p><p>? Consider bringing forward extension of school leaving age. </p><p>? Allow mortgage holders in difficulty to have a two-year interest rate holiday.</p><p>? Consider help for savers in March budget.</p><p><strong>Tory plans </strong></p><p>? &pound;50bn national loan guarantee scheme to help free up credit for business. Focused on short-term credit lines, overdrafts and trade credit - the lifelines all businesses need to keep afloat. </p><p>? &pound;3bn tax breaks to reward companies who take on new staff. </p><p>? Small businesses to enjoy six-month VAT holiday. </p><p>? An environmental stockmarket, where green companies are listed and traded.</p><p>? No tax to be paid on savers' incomes for basic rate taxpayers. Help 5 million taxpaying pensioners by increasing personal allowances. </p><p>? Commission report on how UK households will have access to high-speed broadband internet within next 10 years.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron">David Cameron</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/conservatives">Conservatives</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/gordon-brown">Gordon Brown</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/taxandspending">Tax and spending</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/creditcrunch">Credit crunch</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/small-business">Small business</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking">Banking</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/recession">Recession</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/banks">Banks and building societies</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/savings">Savings</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/incometax">Income tax</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/tax">Tax</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/policy">Public services policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/public-finance">Public finance</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960449010711323860088"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960449010711323860088" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a><p style="clear:both" />
Viewpoint: The spivs are back, but on a short leash
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/67831?ns=guardian&pageName=Business%3A+The+spivs+are+back%2C+but+on+a+short+leash&ch=Business&c3=The+Guardian&c4=Regulators%2CBanking+%28Business%29%2CCredit+crunch+%28Business%29%2CBusiness%2CEconomic+policy%2CPolitics&c5=Investments%2CCredit+Crunch%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Markets&c6=Nils+Pratley&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142494&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Business&c12=Regulators&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FBusiness%2FRegulators" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Nobody loves a short seller, which is why the Financial Services Authority's decision to lift the ban on short selling financial stocks will be greeted with dismay by many politicians. But it is the right decision and should be seen as a sign of progress. The regulator deems the banking and financial sector to be sufficiently strong now to withstand the normal argy-bargy of market activity.</p><p>Such a view tends to horrify those who regard short sellers as spivs whose sole intention is to create havoc and catastrophe. Why do we tolerate their activities at all? The answer is that the short selling plays a legitimate and useful role. It is part of the means by which markets set a fair price for capital, goods and services. By seeking situations where prices have risen too far, short sellers hope to profit from others' excessive or misplaced optimism. Their scepticism is one way in which markets become more efficient.</p><p>The temporary ban on shorting in financial stocks was justified only because stockmarkets last October had ceased to function normally. A potential death spiral for banks had been created: a falling share price could undermine confidence, provoking counter-parties to withdraw credit lines, which in turn could threaten collapse of the institution. Allowing short sellers to operate in such an environment was to risk making a bad situation more dangerous.</p><p>Whether the danger was real is a moot point. Plenty of academic studies claim that the prohibition has not reduced volatility in banks' share prices one iota. </p><p>Frankly, it doesn't really matter whether the statistic is correct or not: in the panicked conditions of last autumn, the FSA's preference for safety was understandable.</p><p>By implication, its view now is that last autumn's climate of fear could not be recreated easily. That's probably an accurate assessment. The big banks have been recapitalised and the UK government's commitment to financial stability has been made plain. Indeed, all governments are wiser now: nobody would allow another Lehman Brothers to collapse without a struggle. That is one reason to believe that the return of short selling will not lead to a fall in banks' share prices</p><p>Another is that the FSA reserves the right to reintroduce a ban without warning. To many short sellers, that is a big disincentive: they would regard a reintroduction as a change of the rules in the middle of the game. So yes, short selling in financial stocks is back - but don't expect a stampede.</p><p><strong>Kingman's cue</strong></p><p>It's time for John Kingman to be tougher with the banks. The chief executive of UK Financial Investments, the body overseeing the taxpayers' stakes in the nationalised and part-nationalised banks, has done an excellent job so far in sitting on the fence.</p><p>He has told us that UKFI will operate at arm's length and not try to micro-manage; but he has also said he will challenge banks' boards to make a link between their commercial lending practices and the health of the economy. These ambitions are (just about) compatible but now is the moment to emphasise the second ambition over the first. Kingman must be bolder in using his powers to challenge.</p><p>Why? Well, a new year has brought a new realisation that banks' reluctance to lend risks doing serious damage to the economy. Reckless caution - City minister Lord Myners's phrase to describe the reverse of the reckless lending of the pre-crisis years - seems to be the mindset of too many bankers.</p><p>The argument from bankers themselves is that inability, not reluctance, to lend is the problem. Funding from overseas money market funds has disappeared and it is impossible to magic capital from thin air, they argue. Besides, the regulators also seem to be demanding healthier capital ratios.</p><p>Getting to the bottom of this issue should be Kingman's number one priority. It seems clear that banks are passing up opportunities to lend to perfectly viable businesses at attractive rates. Is carrot or stick the best way to improve the position? Kingman is the person best placed to answer that question.</p><p>Indeed, we need an answer before we rush down the route of giving loan guarantees to banks, as the Tories now propose. The danger in a guarantee scheme is that the banks simply abuse the system by shuffling bad loans on to the taxpayer. That would clearly be unacceptable.</p><p>Kingman could do everybody a favour here. His portfolio of investments will be complete on 19 January, when Lloyds TSB and HBOS should finally complete their merger. That would be a good moment for UKPI to make clear that an arm's length approach to investment does not equate to passivity.</p><p><a href="mailto:nils.pratley@guardian.co.uk">nils.pratley@guardian.co.uk</a></p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/regulators">Regulators</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking">Banking</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/creditcrunch">Credit crunch</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Business&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960486010711323860088"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Business&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960486010711323860088" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a><p style="clear:both" />
Editorial: Give and take
Editorial: Community schemes bankrolled by big City firms are already facing the axe
Editorial: How political parties can make it a green recession
Editorial: All political parties need to think much more broadly and radically if this really is going to be a green recession
Hopes that banks may begin lending again
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/28352?ns=guardian&pageName=Business%3A+Lower+Libor+may+lead+to+freer+credit+flow&ch=Business&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Banking+%28Business%29%2CBanks+and+building+societies%2CEconomic+policy%2CGlobal+recession%2CGlobal+economy+%28Business%29%2CCredit+crunch+%28Business%29%2CBank+of+England+%28Business%29&c5=Investments%2CCredit+Crunch%2CBusiness+Markets&c6=Jill+Treanor&c7=2009_01_05&c8=1142444&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Business&c12=Banking&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FBusiness%2FBanking" width="1" height="1" /></div><p><strong></strong>Signs of thawing in the money markets emerged today, raising hopes that banks may begin lending again to small businesses and households.</p><p>The closely watched spread between the price banks charge each other to borrow on the money markets and the price set by the Bank of England fell to its lowest level since March, when the industry was stunned by the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/mar/15/creditcrunch.useconomy4" title="">collapse of Bear Stearns</a>.</p><p>Three-month <a href="http://www.bba.org.uk/public/libor/" title="">Libor</a> ? the London inter-bank offered rate ? was set at 2.64% ? 64 basis points above the Bank of England base rate of 2%. Though the 64-point gap is considerably higher than the 10 points that would have commonly registered before the August 2007 credit crunch, it was narrower than any time since 18 March, according to data provided the British Bankers' Association.</p><p>The apparent reluctance of banks to lend to small businesses and homeowners has in part been blamed on the stubbornly high level of Libor. However, even those who sought solace in the reduction of the spread pointed out that the base rate was expected to fall to at least 1.5% after the monetary policy committee meeting on Thursday, raising the gap above one percentage point again.</p><p>The struggle to persuade banks to lend is continuing to cause controversy and the Treasury is considering ways to force banks to keep finance flowing through the system.</p><p>The industry is keen for proposals by Sir James Crosby to be implemented as soon as possible. The former HBOS chief executive outlined a plan to guarantee £100bn of bonds backed by mortgages to kick-start mortgage lending. There are hopes that the proposals, which the Treasury is discussing with EU state aid experts, could be extended to cover loans to the small-business sector.</p><p>There are also suggestions that the government could create a bank to hold the toxic assets clogging up balance sheets, though many bankers believe that such a move may not be necessary.</p><p>"There is no magic bullet," one banker said. "But the government also has to have reasonable expectations."</p><p>Though the Bank of England's credit outlook last week showed banks had reduced lending in the last three months of 2008 and expected to do so again in the first three months of 2009, the big banks argue this is because lenders who were active before the credit crunch are no longer in the market. These include banks in Iceland and Ireland, as well as specialist lenders and many building societies.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking">Banking</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/banks">Banks and building societies</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/globalrecession">Global recession</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/globaleconomy">Global economy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/creditcrunch">Credit crunch</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/bankofenglandgovernor">Bank of England</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Business&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960586010711323860088"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Business&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960586010711323860088" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a><p style="clear:both" />
Jill Kirby: David Cameron's proposed tax cuts are sensible, but don't go far enough
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/95731?ns=guardian&pageName=Comment+is+free%3A+Cameron%27s+economic+plan+lacks+vision&ch=Comment+is+free&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=David+Cameron%2CPolitics%2CEconomic+policy%2CConservatives%2CGordon+Brown%2CMoney%2CTax+%28Money%29%2CSavings+%28Money%29%2CBusiness%2CRecession+%28UK%29&c5=Personal+Finance%2CCredit+Crunch%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful&c6=Jill+Kirby&c7=2009_01_05&c8=1142408&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Comment+is+free&c12=blog&c13=&c14=Comment+is+free&h2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FComment+is+free" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>To make an upbeat speech about the British economy on a bleak January morning in the midst of a painful and deepening financial crisis might seem a task reserved to the recklessly optimistic. Today, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jan/05/davidcameron-conservatives">David Cameron attempted</a> such a <a href="http://www.conservatives.com/News/Speeches/2008/12/David_Cameron_Britains_Economic_Future.aspx">speech</a>, determined to leaven his stern critique of Gordon Brown's economic policies with "the vision thing".</p><p>As Cameron's Conservatives become more trenchant in their criticism of what <a href="http://politics.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Archive/0,,649666,00.html">Cameron</a> termed "Labour's debt crisis", the edict has gone out that Tories must not appear to revel in the political opportunities provided by the downturn. And the media-savvy Conservative leader knows that audiences will turn away from a negative message. They want to hear some good news.</p><p>Justifiably, they also want to know if ? and how ? a Conservative government would handle things differently. So what is the vision for Britain that Cameron is sketching out? Not exactly utopian, he describes it as "an economy where government and its citizens live within their means, save for a rainy day, waste not and want not". It's also "a better balanced economy where we spread ownership and opportunity" and where we "work to live, not live to work". In other words, there's more to life than money, cherish what you have and don't expect a return to the days of high living and high spending.</p><p>To set us on the path to this new Britain, Cameron ? sensibly enough ? proposes some tax incentives for savers (abolishing basic rate tax for savings) and relief for pensioners (a £2,000 increase in their tax allowance). These are the two large groups whose financial security is damaged by the savage cuts in interest rates that the government and the monetary policy committee seem to consider the tool to get lending moving again (though with little evidence of success so far). The Tory proposals will win plaudits from "justice for savers" campaigners, not least in the right-leaning press.</p><p>Importantly, they provide specific examples of Tory tax cuts aimed at restoring a savings culture, in sharp contrast to the government's spend now, pay later approach.</p><p>The modest nature of the tax cuts makes it relatively easy for the Tories to claim that they will be paid for by restraining spending growth to 1% in all departments except NHS, education, defence and international development.</p><p>Cameron's reference to "2009 spending", however, makes it unclear whether he is promising future Tory restraint or simply recommending government action for the year in hand, and this needs to be spelt out. So, a little cheer for most of us and a few signposts to the spending restraint, tax cuts and good housekeeping that Cameron believes would characterise a future Conservative government. </p><p>Good as far as it goes, but it seems all too likely that the package will be overtaken by events. I suspect it will not be long before Brown is compelled to announce his own real-time spending cuts, as it will become impossible for him to sustain the illusion that public sector Britain can grow while commercial Britain implodes. As Cameron rightly pointed out yesterday, it's "back to the 70s" (or worse) for the government. The Conservatives are whistling the first few bars of the tune to help us out of this mess but their vision needs to spell out much more clearly the shape of a Britain where the public sector is small enough to live within the means of its revenue-producing citizens.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron">David Cameron</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/conservatives">Conservatives</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/gordon-brown">Gordon Brown</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/tax">Tax</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/savings">Savings</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/recession">Recession</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Commentisfree&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960625010711323860088"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Commentisfree&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960625010711323860088" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a><p style="clear:both" />
Fresh injection of funds for Europe's biggest economy
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/78702?ns=guardian&pageName=Business%3A+Merkel+coalition+goes+to+work+on+%E2%82%AC50bn+stimulus+package&ch=Business&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Economics+%28Business%29%2CWorld+news%2CGermany%2CGlobal+recession%2CEconomic+policy%2CGlobal+economy+%28Business%29&c5=Credit+Crunch%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful&c6=Kate+Connolly&c7=2009_01_05&c8=1142417&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Business&c12=Economics&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FBusiness%2FEconomics" width="1" height="1" /></div><p><strong></strong>The German government today began hammering out the structure for a stimulus package that is expected to infuse the economy with about ?50bn (£46bn).</p><p>The three parties that make up chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition appeared to have overcome differences over whether a&nbsp;fresh package was necessary after a ?31bn plan launched last month. With hard-up banks reluctant to lend cash to businesses and the rise in the euro making German exports more expensive, a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/10/barroso-joint-us-european-package" title="">second package is seen as vital</a> to provide a much needed boost to Europe's largest economy.</p><p>The government, however, remains at odds over whether to reduce taxes. Merkel, who has been widely criticised for her apparent slowness to react to the global downturn, has resisted calls for tax relief, arguing that German consumers would be more likely to save the money than go out and spend it. But at a meeting on Sunday between her Christian Democrats and their sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), she signalled she was ready to give in to the demands within her own ranks to reduce taxes.</p><p>The Social Democrats, who are also in the coalition, have ruled out tax relief, calling instead for an increase in levies on higher earners.</p><p>The majority of consumers have yet to feel the downturn after a recent spate of wage rises and increases in social benefits. Data out today even showed that unemployment in Germany is now at its lowest level since the war.</p><p>But experts said there was little to celebrate as unemployment was likely to start climbing steadily again over the next 12 months. Many companies have already started laying off workers or forcing them to take leave as production lines have been frozen.</p><p>The measures discussed today are expected to include investment in transport, education and infrastructure projects in an effort to save and create jobs, as well as financial incentives for people who trade in gas-guzzling cars for more environmentally sound vehicles. The package is expected to be finalised this month.</p><p>Hans-Werner Sinn, the head of the leading economic research institute, the <a href="http://www.ifo.de/portal/page/portal/ifoHome" title="">Ifo Institute</a>, predicted today that Germany was facing two years of deep recession, its worst since the war, and that unemployment would increase by half a million by December.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics">Economics</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/germany">Germany</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/globalrecession">Global recession</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/globaleconomy">Global economy</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Business&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960664010711323860088"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Business&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960664010711323860088" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a><p style="clear:both" />
David Cameron tax plans: who would benefit?
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/59928?ns=guardian&pageName=Politics%3A+David+Cameron+tax+plans%3A+who+would+benefit%3F&ch=Politics&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=David+Cameron%2CEconomic+policy%2CPolitics%2CUK+news%2CTax+and+spending%2CTax+%28Money%29%2CMoney%2CBusiness%2CSociety%2CCredit+crunch+%28Business%29%2CSmall+business+%28Business%29%2CBanking+%28Business%29%2CRecession+%28UK%29%2CBanks+and+building+societies%2CSavings+%28Money%29%2CIncome+tax%2CPublic+services+policy+%28Society%29%2CPublic+finance+%28Society%29&c5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CPersonal+Finance%2CInvestments%2CCredit+Crunch%2CPolicy+Society%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful&c6=Andrew+Sparrow&c7=2009_01_05&c8=1142405&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Politics&c12=blog&c13=&c14=Politics+blog&h2=GU%2FPolitics%2Fblog%2FPolitics+blog" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>David Cameron proposed two tax cuts today, affecting savers and pensioners (and pensioners with an income from savings, who conceivably could benefit twice). As I write it is not entirely clear how many people could benefit, and by how much ? not least because the Institute for Fiscal Studies, which is normally relied upon to produce authoritative figures, suffered a power cut this afternoon (maybe we are going back to the 1970s?). But this is what we know so far:</p><p><strong></strong><h2><strong>Pensioners</strong></h2><p> The Tories would raise age-related personal allowances for pensioners by £2,000. They say that this would benefit those aged between 65 and 74 with pension income and other earnings between £9,490 and £32,930.</p><p>According to the IFS, most pensioners in this category would gain £400 a year. Those near the top or the bottom of the scale would gain less.</p><p>Around 5 million pensioners would benefit. But Labour point out that 60% of pensioners do not pay any tax at all, so the gains would only go to those who were relatively well off.</p><p><strong></strong><h2><strong>Savers</strong></h2><p> The Tories would abolish the basic rate of tax on savings. The Tories say that there are around 18 million people who receive interest from savings who would benefit.</p><p>Given that the Tories say the tax cut would cost £2.6bn, this suggests an average saving of £144 a year. But this figure is almost certainly misleading because some people will have disproportionately large sums saved up. The Tories admit that some individuals could save as much as £7,200 from their tax cut, although they have not said how many.</p><p>Labour say that, according to Treasury figures, anyone with an income worth less than £30,000 a year will benefit by less than £5 a year.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron">David Cameron</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/taxandspending">Tax and spending</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/tax">Tax</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/creditcrunch">Credit crunch</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/small-business">Small business</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking">Banking</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/recession">Recession</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/banks">Banks and building societies</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/savings">Savings</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/incometax">Income tax</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/policy">Public services policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/public-finance">Public finance</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960713010711323860088"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231327960713010711323860088" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a><p style="clear:both" />

__________________________________________________________________

Go here for information on who controls gas prices - Below we have some more links to our pages on gas, lowest gas prices, why are gas prices so high, gas prices going to go up, cheap gas prices, local gas prices, gas prices in europe, natural gas prices, high gas prices, world gas prices, gas prices around the world, history of gas prices, what can we do about gas prices, rising gas prices, gas prices in canada, cheapest gas prices, best gas prices, will gas prices ever go down, california and gas prices, michigan gas prices, who controls gas prices, canadian gas prices, how to lower gas prices, historical gas prices, global gas prices, national gas prices, propane gas prices, gas prices in mexico, projected gas prices, oil and gas prices, current gas prices, worldwide gas prices, why are gas prices going up, california gas prices, nj gas prices, gas furnace prices, european gas prices, low gas prices, msn gas prices, gas prices in texas, gas and oil prices, indiana gas prices, illinois gas prices, canada gas prices, future gas prices, international gas prices, why should the gas prices be lower, average gas prices, gas prices in crystal minnesota, historic gas prices, ontario gas prices, anchorage gas prices, us gas prices, detroit gas prices, gas prices in california, gas prices in england, georgia natural gas prices, missouri gas prices, how high will gas prices go, san diego gas prices, find gas prices, gas prices in new york, ohio gas prices, gas prices by state, gas prices in germany, compare gas prices, gas prices by zip code, highest gas prices, twin cities gas prices, why are gas prices increasing, hawaii gas prices, lowering gas prices, lp gas prices, europe gas prices, gas prices worldwide, world wide gas prices, aaa gas prices, gas prices canada, gas prices europe, gas prices in hawaii, find cheap gas prices, minnesota gas prices, why are gas prices rising, atlanta gas prices, costco gas prices, florida gas prices, maine gas prices, why are gas prices high, alaska gas prices, colorado gas prices, compare gas prices country dubai usa africa, gas prices in china, gas prices in los angeles, mexico gas prices, toronto gas prices, calgary gas prices, gas prices going to high, gas prices in other countries, wisconsin gas prices, gas prices in florida, gas price, gasoline prices, price of gas, gasoline price, natural gas price, average gas price, gas price watch, price of gasoline, gas price history, gas prices com, average price of gas, gas price finder, chicago gas prices, lowest gas price, gas prices 2007, gas price increase, price of natural gas, columbus gas prices, texas gas prices, milwaukee gas prices, utah gas prices, st louis gas prices, oregon gas prices, gas station prices, national gas price, gas price gouging, gas price comparison, mn gas prices, gas prices going up, highest gas price, iowa gas prices, gas price chart, lower gas prices, virginia gas prices, gas prices in us, gas prices history, gas prices in michigan, los angeles gas prices, current gas price, gas price map, state gas prices, grand rapids gas prices, ca gas prices, seattle gas prices, the price of gas, phoenix gas prices, gas prices in the us, gas price predictions, cheap gas price, georgia gas prices, dayton gas prices, average gasoline prices, gas price calculator, austin gas prices, cleveland gas prices, pa gas prices, houston gas prices, area gas prices, average price of gasoline, cheapest gas price, gasoline price history, summer gas prices, denver gas prices, gas prices rise, gas prices in ohio, average gasoline price, check gas prices, las vegas gas prices, arizona gas prices, nc gas prices, san francisco gas prices, prices of gas, national average gas price, diesel gas prices, ny gas prices, new york gas prices, gas prices chart, gas prices in my area, indy gas prices, kansas gas prices, gas prices in chicago, portland gas prices, historical gasoline prices, dallas gas prices, us gasoline prices, indianapolis gas prices, maryland gas prices, albuquerque gas prices, best gas price, gas prices in san diego, vegas gas prices, us gas price, gas prices 2006, albany gas prices, gasbuddy, gas buddy, nymex, opec, crude oil, bloomberg energy, oil futures, cheapest gas, heating oil, wti, natural gas, henry hub, gas stations, gas scooters, gas prices, gas savers, find cheap gas, gas fireplaces, save gas, gas scooter, shell gas card, cheap gas, georgia natural gas, hydrogen gas saver, gas grills, prepaid gas cards, texaco gas cards, browns gas, super gas saver, motorcycle gas mileage, gas mileage calculator, gas mileage, kangaroo gas stations, brown s gas, gas cards, better gas mileage, area cheapest gas, gas chambers, tax irs gas mileage, bp gas card, gas saver cars, hho gas, water for gas, gas engine fuel saver, gas budy, gas mileage devices, best gas mileage, gas mileage improvements, improve my gas mileage, kansas gas service, greenhouse gases, exxon gas card, citgo gas card, gas mileage reimbursement, apply for gas card, gas powered scooters, tips to save gas, gas mask, gas saving devices, gases in the air, improve gas mileage, gas credit cards, eagle research gas saver, weber gas grills, mobil gas cards, corner gas, ways to improve gas mileage, classical gas, gas grill, chevron gas card, oklahoma natural gas, gas pump, ways to increase gas mileage, best gas mileage cars, fina gas cards, gas chamber, british gas telephone number, water 4 gas, cheap gas scooters, gas companies, brown gas, locking gas caps, gas milage, gas station, increase gas mileage, gas grilling steak tips, gas tungsten arc welding, bp gas stations, gases, gas to liquids, natural gas processing transmission storage, best gas grills, locking gas cap, used gas powered scooter, southwest gas, gas fireplace, gas metal arc welding - they may help you with your research.