Should Tories celebrate Corbyn’s popularity? | Dr Madsen Pirie argues NO in the City AM debate

President of the ASI, Dr Madsen Pirie, argues that Jeremy Corbyn's growing popularity is nothing for Tories to celebrate in the City AM debate:

Dr Madsen Pirie is founder and president of the Adam Smith Institute, says No

Some Conservatives want Jeremy Corbyn to win because they think he will prompt lasting divisions within Labour, and make the party unelectable in a general election. They should not celebrate too soon. Even if this is true, there is a short-term price to be paid. If Corbyn became official Leader of the Opposition, it would legitimise economic and political fantasy. Every day the media would have to treat his proposals as serious politics. The discussions would centre on things we already know are unworkable. We have seen how nationalisation ruins industries by making them serve political, not economic, objectives. We have seen how high taxes squeeze out growth, and how they drive out our talent and deter outside talent from locating here. We have seen how unfunded largesse targeted at selected groups creates a black hole of debt. A Corbyn-led Labour would make this a legitimate matter of public debate. It should not be, because it remains the same nonsense it was before.

Read the full debate here.

Kate Andrews discusses executive pay on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme

Kate Andrews spoke to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme about the value a CEO and top executives can bring to a global company, and explained why capping high-pay does not solve the problem of low-pay and in-work poverty.

Kate Andrews discusses executive pay on BBC News and Sky News

Head of Communications Kate Andrews spoke to BBC News and Sky News about the value a CEO and top executives can bring to a global company, and how their decisions can translate into better, cheaper consumer products. Watch the BBC News interview here. (Starts 19:15)

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Watch the Sky News interview here:

Capping bosses’ salaries will not raise salaries of people at the bottom | Kate Andrews writes for City AM

Head of Communications Kate Andrews writes for City AM:

Today’s briefing paper from the High Pay Centre (HPC) has zoned in on the gap between FTSE 100 chief executive pay and the average salary of UK workers in 2014: 183/1.

Perhaps it is the HPC’s emphasis – or perhaps it is the world’s recent focus on inequality - that has most people, in the media and elsewhere, focused on this divide. The assumption is that high executive pay is costing lower earners a pay rise, and that condoning people getting rich at the top is an endorsement of keeping people poor at the bottom.

But one does not cause the other; and while it is crucial that we tackle in-work poverty and address long-term low pay, capping executive pay will not raise the salaries of people at the bottom. Indeed, this could lead to negative consequences of its own.

Read the full comment piece here.

Sam Bowman's comments on executive pay feature in: Financial Times, Huffington Post & BBC News

Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute Sam Bowman's comments on high executive pay featured in the Financial Times, Huffington Post, and in a BBC News article: From the Financial Times:

But Sam Bowman, deputy director of the Adam Smith Institute, said: “Investors see executives as extremely important to the value of firms, with the strategic decisions they make often determining whether a firm flourishes or goes bankrupt. For that reason, it can be sensible to pay a lot to get skilled executives with good judgment.”

Read the full article here.

From the Huffington Post:

Business lobby group CBI said high pay was only justified by "exceptional performance", while think tank, the Adam Smith Institute reportedly justified it by saying the salaries rewarded "extraordinary talent and skills" and the good decision-making that is "as close to invaluable as one can get".

Read the full article here.

From the BBC:

But the free-market think tank, the Adam Smith Institute, was more forthright, saying that the right chief executive could make or break a company.

"CEO pay rewards extraordinary talent and skills in a highly competitive, globalised market," said its deputy director Sam Bowman.

"Good decision-making from the top might not be invaluable, but CEO pay reflects that it is as close to invaluable as one can get."

Read the full article here.

Kate Andrews discusses executive pay on BBC Radio Stoke

Head of Communications Kate Andrews discussed executive pay on BBC Radio Stoke, arguing that capping high-pay will not help solve the issue of low-pay and in-work poverty. Listen to the interview here. (Starts 30:45)

Kate Andrews debates milk prices on BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Leeds, and BBC Radio Wiltshire

Head of Communications Kate Andrews debated UK milk prices, farming subsidies, and what is best for UK consumers on BBC 5 Live, BBC Radio Leeds and BBC Radio Wiltshire. Listen to the BBC 5 Live Breakfast Show interview here. (Starts 02:08:08)

Listen to the BBC Radio Leeds interview here. (Starts 9:48)

Listen to the BBC Radio Wiltshire interview here. (Starts 33:08)

Press Release | Executive pay: because they're worth it

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Head of Communications Kate Andrews: kate@adamsmith.org | 07584 778207.

Commenting on the High Pay Centre's briefing on executive pay, Deputy Director of the Adam Smith Institute Sam Bowman said:

Investors see executives as extremely important to the value of firms, with the strategic decisions they make often determining whether a firm flourishes or goes bankrupt. For that reason, it can be sensible to pay a lot to get skilled executives with good judgement.

It’s not hard to find examples on both sides: when Steve Ballmer stepped down as CEO of Microsoft, the firm’s value increased by billions overnight. Compare Ballmer to Tesco’s CEO David Lewis, who investors judged would make the firm millions of pounds more valuable.

A Steve Jobs can make a firm; a Steve Ballmer can break it.

CEO pay rewards extraordinary talent and skills in a highly competitive, globalized market. Good decision-making from the top might not be invaluable, but CEO pay reflects that it is as close to invaluable as one can get.

Notes to Editors:

The Adam Smith Institute is a free market, libertarian think tank based in London. It advocates classically liberal public policies to create a richer, freer world.

Kate Andrews discusses farming competition on BBC Radio Wales

Head of Communications at the Adam Smith Institute Kate Andrews spoke to BBC Radio Wales about farming protests across the UK and the importance of delivering the best-priced goods to consumers. Listen to the full interview here. (Starts 2:10:02)

Ben Southwood debates positive discrimination for female firefighters on BBC Three Counties

Head of Research Ben Southwood discusses the dangers of lowering safety standards to enable positive discrimination on BBC Three Counties. Listen to the interview here. (Starts 1:25:10)