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Tax Policy in the UK: Overloading or Freeloading?

Which actors are really 'spoiled' by the state?

Mar 06, 2018

Good morning Austerity Readers! This morning we feature the full paper by Dr. Richard Woodward (Coventry University in the UK) on the discourses and policy outcomes of popular tax narratives in the UK. From the 1970s and re-emerging after the 2008 Financial Crisis, an 'overload' discourse argued that the state was expanding constantly to meet the desires of the populace, and that this profligacy required austerity as a response. Richard contrasts this with corporate 'freeloading', whereby corporations benefit consistently and enormously from tax policy, despite decades of evasion, avoidance, and seeking to reduce labour costs (and thereby, the quality and number of jobs they provide).

You can find the full paper on our Research Page under 'Taxation and Revenue'!

To see more from Richard, check out his profile at https://pureportal.coventry.ac.uk/en/persons/richard-woodward

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