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The UK financial sector, one of our most important industries, has had its share of problems and faces more than its share of challenges.The uncertainty about Brexit and access to European markets, specifically the lack of much positive government action to capture the advantages of Brexit, does not help. Also, business is still flat since the Covid lockdowns; additionally, commercial property has been hit and more people are defaulting on loans. Higher interest rates have hit the mortgage market too. Then there is Fintech (financial technology) which is challenging some of the traditional players, like the high street banks. Though customers are increasingly demanding digital banking, their systems are largely stuck in a previous era — thanks to the laziness that comes from having a cosy regulated market rather than one more open to new competition. Plus all the problems in the pensions sector — investment conditions and the multiplicity of pension plans, and the general lack of transparency in pensions (need I say over-regulation by a jealous Treasury?). And there is growing competition from other financial sectors such as New York and Singapore (which again, is a direct result of the UK government's over-taxing and over-regulating).So what is to be done? Lower taxes on UK businesses would help. Instead of companies (and their financial needs) going abroad, or not coming to the UK in the first place, we need to attract businesses in and induce them to say. And encourage people to start new businesses too. High tax, by increasing the risk in already risky ventures, kills business creation stone dead.We need more competition, too. Right now, getting a banking licence out of the regulators is like getting a smile out of a stone. The barriers to entry should be a lot lower. Right now, we are regulating banks as if they are all enormous, and that their failure would be a national disaster — as the failure of big banks was in the 2008-09 financial crisis. (And what did Gordon Brown do about it? He forced banks to merge, creating institutions that were arguably safer but which were even more 'too big to fail'. ) And yes, if we have institutions that we really cannot afford to lose, they should indeed be carefully regulated.But new, small banks are different. If a small bank fails, it's a very limited disaster, not a nationwide one. We can get over it. Even if deposits are guaranteed by the taxpayer, the amounts at risk are manageable, unlike the 2008-09 bank bailouts, which saw government debt soaring and gave us much of the debt overhang we have today. It is quite possible too that customers of new banks are more aware of the risks than customers of large and established banks; so perhaps the need for taxpayer bailouts is less.So the answer there is to have banking regulation that reflects the existential risk (or lack of it) of the institution. Large 'too big to fail' banks should have tough regulation, small 'if it fails we can deal with it' banks should be more lightly regulated. That would encourage more competition in financial services, and therefore greater focus on customers and keeping customers safe, instead of regulator-focused box-ticking complacency.

Intro -- The author -- Introduction -- 1 The nature of trade -- Trade is (and was) everywhere -- Specialisation and efficiency -- Concerns over winners and losers -- Protectionism -- Efforts to reduce trade barriers -- Transnational corporations -- Trade as a moral good -- The future of trade -- PART ONE -- THE RISE OF TRADE -- 2 The origins of trade -- Stone Age trade -- Records and recriminations -- Gift exchange and the money revolution -- Medieval trading routes -- New ideas and new worlds -- 3 The rise of international trade -- The mercantilist era -- Faltering moves towards free trade

Why Ayn Rand is important -- Rand's life and writings -- A timeline of Rand's life and work -- Outline of Rand's worldview -- Rand on the nature of reality -- How we understand the world -- Rand on morality -- Politics and economics -- Rand on public issues -- The nature and importance of art -- Rand's novels -- Rand's critics -- Quotations by and about Rand

Acknowledgements; The author; Foreword; _GoBack; 16; Summary; 1Introduction; The purpose of this book; Outline of the book; 2What is classical liberalism?; Ten principles of classical liberalism; 3Classical liberalism: the family tree; Early ancestors; The rise of classical liberalism; Success and reassessment; The modern revival of classical liberalism; The diversity of classical liberal ideas; 4Classical liberalism and freedom; The arguments for freedom; Positive and negative liberty; Rights and freedoms; Restraints on freedom; 5Classical liberal morality; Coercion and toleration.

In this new myth busting book Director of the Adam Smith Institute Eamon Butler describes how it is by looking to the markets, rather than to the politicians, that we will return to prosperity. Butler decribes how the free market harnesses self-interest and punishes greed, how government intervention raises everybody's costs and how it is capitalism ? not socialism ? that has made Britain rich. In twelve eye-opening chapters, Economics of Sucess illustrates how capitalism is the hero of its own story.

Intro -- Contents -- About the Author -- Introduction -- A Timeline of F. A. Hayek's Life and Work -- Chapter 1: Hayek and HIs Influence -- Chapter 2: Understanding Society -- Chapter 3: Freedom and the Law -- Chapter 4: The Market Process -- Chapter 5: Money, Inflation, Booms and Busts -- Chapter 6: Psychology, Science and Sorcery -- Chapter 7: Why Socialism Was a Mistake -- Chapter 8: The Social Justice Myth -- Chapter 9: The Foundations of a Free Society -- Chapter 10: The Continuing Evolution -- Further Reading -- Index.