R. Ross Mackay

Regional Taxing and Spending: The Search for Balance

The financial settlement has been described as the key to devolution. Public spending above tax in Scotland and Wales has been criticized. Public spending is above tax in seven UK regions, including four English regions. If we treat equal citizens equally, public spending will be above tax in poorer regions. There is nothing extraordinary about spending above tax, but there are important questions with regard to regional levels of expenditure. In four regions (London, South East, Scotland and Northern Ireland) public expenditure is well above the level expected for their degree of prosperity. This article provides possible explanations.

Thinking about need: Public spending on the regions

MacKay R. R. and Williams J. (2005) Thinking about need: public spending on the regions, Regional Studies 39 , 815–828. The UK Treasury accepts that need is the correct guide to spending on public services in different parts of the UK. But the formula used to decide changes in devolved spending in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland depends on the population: it does not compensate for differences in need. With devolved spending determined by need, there would be consistency across 11 of the 12 UK regions. London would be the sole exception. The heavy cost of the capitals public services is part of the argument for a more even distribution of income, wealth and employment.

The death of regional policy—Or resurrection squared?

MacKay R. (1979) The death of regional policy—or resurrection squared? Reg. Studies 13, 281–295. The emphasis is on change in regional performance as we move from weak to strong regional policies. With employment measured in different ways we can look for consistency checks, the timing of change and the nature of important alterations in performance. There are strong indications of a substantial regional policy impact. Regional policy (1945–51) provided more than a temporary improvement in the expansion path of the assisted regions. Change in the age of capital is regarded as an important indication of alteration in growth potential. As national unemployment has risen the emphasis has moved from regional specific policies to the difficulties of the aggregate economy.

Unemployment, Permanent Sickness, and Nonwork in the United Kingdom

Employment, unemployment, and inactivity need to be studied in real historical time, not in the context of theoretical, timeless, market-clearing equilibrium. Four data sets from the UK Census, the Labour Force Survey, the Department of Employment, and Social Security Statistics are used to show changes in employment, unemployment, inactivity, and permanent sickness between 1971 and 2001. The different sources confirm that unemployment becomes increasingly unreliable as a measure of labour market slack. In low-opportunity labour markets many potential workers are not part of the labour force; they are not looking for work or are classified as unemployed. Low levels of opportunity add to measured sickness. The general rule is the greater the degree of labour market slack, the less appropriate unemployment is as a measure of labour reserve.

Bank Finance and the Regions: A European Perspective

Close contact between finance and industry and between the regions is part of the supposed institutional make-up of continental European economies. While differences in ownership concentration, company law and forms of corporate control have been widely discussed in the academic literature (for example Franks and Mayer, 1992; Mayer, 1993) much less attention has been paid to the regional characteristics of bank lending.