MONEYWEEK 8October 2021 moneyweek.com
“Doyouknow
howharditis
forwomen
toaskfor
money?To
askfora
payriseor
askforwhat
they’re
entitledto?
Iwant[mydaughters]tobe
des ensitisedtoit,sothat
askingformoneywillbe
likeaskingfo racupoftea.”
Broa dcaster MyleeneKlass
(pictured)onwhy she
makesher da ughterslog
earn ings –for everything
from endorsingbrandson
YouTubetodomestic
chores –inaledger“Thecapitalist
achievementdoesnot
typicallyconsistin
providingmoresilk
stockingsforqueens
butinbrin ging them
withinth ereachof
factorygirlsinreturnfor
steadil ydecreas ing
amou ntsofeffort.”
EconomistJoseph
Schumpeter,quotedin
TheSundayTelegraph“Icouldhavephonedina
showbizbi ogof60,000
words,stuckacoupleof
picture sin,cashthe
cheque,great.ButIdidn’t
wanttoshortchange
anybod yandinth eendit
becamealabouroflove.”
Comedian JimmyCarron
hismemoir/self-helpbook,
quotedinT he Guardian“‘WhydoIh avetwoTVs?
WhydoIhaveclothe sI
rarelywear?IrealisedIwas
buyi ngthingsbecauseI
hadthemoney,rath erthan
investingforthefuture.”
Strictly ComeDancingstar
NeilJones,quotedin
TheMailonSunday“In2008theyputmeon
12millio nbeercanswith
mysayings ,suchas:‘Ifit
weren’tforluck,I’dwin
themall,’andpaidme
$70,000–thecoolestthing
that’shappenedtome.”
Poke rstarPhil Hellmuth, in
TheDaily Telegraph“Iintendtos taya
bachelorbecauseIdon’t
wanttogetdivorcedand
havethewifetaking
allmym oney,andthat
seem stobehappeningso
oftennowadaysthatI
won’ttaketheri sk”.
A12-year-old Jacob
Rees-Mogg,now married
withsix children,quotedin
TheTimesMoneytalks22 Bestofthefinancialcolumnists
Localism
will level-
upBritain
WilliamHague
TheTimes
Austria must
stop bribing
pensioners
FranzSchellhorn
Profil
Acar-sized
holeinthe
accounts
ChrisGiles
FinancialTimes
Acrisis
for sperm
shoppers
Kathle enParker
TheWashingtonPost
Centre-right thinktanks have beenbusyworking out howbesttolevel-up
Britain,says William Hague. Andtheir analyses “all pointemphatically
in thesamedirection”. It will only work with“radical decentralisation”.
That’s nottosay thereisnorolefor thestate;morecashfor areassuch
as transport, digitalinfrastructureand technicaleducationwill be
neededto help weaken the“cycleof deprivation,dependenceand low
productivity”, buttop-downspendingalone will notsuffice. Levelling
up means“peopleclimbingup, havingbeengiven theopportunityand
powertodoso”.Specific ideasincludegivingcouncilsmorepower,
fundingand responsibility;tweakingprocurement rules to encourage
councilsto awardcontracts locally;helping localstakeoverempty
buildingsand shops; andestablishingneighbourhood councils,which
have proved successful in Germany. Ofcourse,noneof thisisacure-
all.Central government hasalwaysbeenloath to trulydevolve power
andif“hundreds of communities” make theirowndecisions,they
will sometimesget things badlywrong.But thenotionof“givinglocal
leadership adramaticallygreater chance is onewhose timehascome”.Here wego again, says FranzSchellhorn. Everytimethere is an election,
thegovernmenttopsupthe statepension.Thistime, shortlybefore
avoteinUpper Austria, it wasdecided that thoseonmonthlypayouts
of up to €1,000 will get3%morein 2022,asopposed to the1.8%
originallyforeseen. This hasgot to stop.Populationsare ageing
everywhere so thenumberofpensionersissoaring whilethe number
of peopleworking to supportthemisshrinking. ButAustria isblithely
ignoring theproblem.Weretireatthe same ageaswedid four decades
ago,andlivelonger.The upshotis that pensionersreceive€59bnayear
fromthestate whilethe workforcepays€35bn into thepensionsystem.
Themissing €24bnhas to comefromtheannualfederalbudget.
Thesumis theequivalentofthe incometaxpaidbetween Januaryand
October. In otherwords,peopletoilfor most of theyearsimplytostuff
theholeinthe pensionsystem. Fixing this isn’trocketscience:justraise
theretirementage andreformlabourlawstoencourageolder people
to stay in or enterthe workforce.But governmentscan’t seebeyond
making pensionershappy beforeelections.Take into accountthe lowerdepreciation andfuelcosts,and electric
vehiclesnowcost roughly thesameaspetrolones,saysChris Giles. Tax
incentivesmakethe switch a“no-brainer”for companycar drivers. The
result is that “the bigswitchinmotoringishappening”. Electric cars made
up 11%ofall newcar registrationsinAugust, closeto double that ofayear
ago. Norway’s experience wouldsuggest that electric cars will make up the
majority of salesby2027. That maybegreat fortheenvironment. Butspare
athoughtfor RishiSunak.Comparedwiththe ownerofanewVWGolf,
an ownerof theequivalentelectricID3benefitsfroma£2,500plug-in
grantfor thenewcar, a5%VATrate on electricity, no fuel duty andno
annual cartax.Company cardrivers also benefitfrommuchlower income
taxontheir benefitinkind. So,for higher-ratetaxpayers, everymillion
people whoswitchtoanelectricvehiclecomeswithacosttothe exchequer
of an annual£4bn–enough to wipe outathird of thetax increaseson
earnings that Sunakhas just imposedto bail outtheNHSandsocialcare.
Findingasubstitutefor the£30bn it currentlyraisesannuallyfromroad
fuel duties will notbeeasy.Roadpricing lookstobethe only answer.In theUS, morewomenare goingontohighereducationthanmen –the
ratiois3:2.Thatsurprisedheadline writers, butthewritinghas beenon
thewall fordecades,saysKathleenParker. Fiftyyearsoffeminist advances
combinedwitheconomicshiftshaveleftmen “unemployedand socially
sidelined”. Theearly warning signscamewhenmen startedorganising
around grievances aboutdivorceand child-custody arrangements.Then
youngermenwere hitasschoolcurriculumswere adjusted–books about
heroes andchivalrywereout;“girlpower”and fantasiesabout becoming
SupremeCourtjustices were in –and normalboybehaviourquashed
or medicatedaway. Spermbanks beganflourishing in the1980s so that
financiallysecurewomen coulddowithoutmenaltogether.Studies duly
appeared that argued fathersjustweren’t necessary. Allthismatters.
Boys withoutfathersstruggletofigureout howtoorganise theirlives and
becomemen.But giventhe waythingsare going, whywould youngmen go
to university? Theirony is that womenwhogoshopping forfrozensperm
only wantthehighest quality,university-educated kind.“If trends continue,
wemaybejoining theivory-billed woodpeckeramongthe extinct.” ©GettyImages