People have been shocked by the images of destruction and violence coming out of Great Britain in the past few days. But if they tracked the steady loss of freedom and the simultaneous rise in the number of Britons dependent on the largesse of the state over the past few years, they should not be surprised. The Heritage Foundation’s annual Index of Economic Freedom documents a steady decline in U.K. scores since 2006. British freedom has been dragged down by heavy government spending. Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s deficits to …
President Obama’s address to Britain’s Parliament in historic Westminster Hall was of a piece with many of his speeches: a mixture of soaring generalities and devils in the details, with some dubious history thrown in. The President’s entire visit to Britain has delivered a mixed message. Both leaders have evidently been told that they should downplay the fact that a Special Relationship exists between the U.S. and Britain and focus instead on what is now supposedly an “essential” relationship. But both the President and the Prime Minister have—rightly—ignored these promptings …
The results of the UK elections and the new coalition government that has resulted have sparked much commentary and debate. But few Americans actually understand how the British election system works. In this week’s Heritage in Focus podcast, Ted Bromund, senior research fellow at the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom, explains how Britain’s election and government-formation system differs from America’s, and what this year’s results mean to the special relationship between our two countries. Listen to Heritage in Focus: Ted Bromund on the UK Elections here.
UK Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg, increasingly a darling of American liberals, has come under heavy fire today from three leading former defence, intelligence and counter-terror chiefs. The attack in The Times of London on Clegg’s left-wing national security policies comes just two days before the British General Election on Thursday, and highlights the glaring weaknesses of his foreign and defence policies. Here’s an excerpt: We are concerned that the Liberal Democrats make no mention of Nato in their manifesto. Almost every reference to the United States is accompanied by …
Few economists have a good word for the Smoot-Hawley tariffs of 1930, which provoked a worldwide round of competitive protectionism that reduced trade, deepened and prolonged the Great Depression, and aided the rise of the Nazi Party. Out of that disaster came a bipartisan consensus: the U.S., for decades a protectionist country, needed to stand for free trade. Against considerable opposition at home and abroad, the U.S. led the charge for global openness after 1945. At first, the struggle centered on tariffs and quotas. But the U.S. soon came to …
