Hallwood

Professor Hallwood and the Scotland Act

Posted on by

Professor Paul Hallwood’s work has been seen to have influenced the Constitutional settlement for Scotland – i.e. the Scotland Act of 2016.

“Have the wheels come off the plan to make Scotland a global player?” The Herald, 7th April 2012

“One paper, an eighth lecture – the [Allender] series was extended after the first seven – was delivered by the Scottish economist Ronald MacDonald and the American Paul Hallwood, and became the subject of intensive political scrutiny. They argued that greater fiscal autonomy for the Scottish Parliament might encourage better economic decision making”.

The Scotland Act of 2016 indeed incorporates many of their ideas for greater tax raising powers being devolved to the Scottish Parliament.

The Scottish Parliament’ s new powers are being delivered by the Scotland Act 2016 [1] :

  • Scotland has new powers as part of a secure UK.
  • The Scotland Act 2016 delivers the UK Government’ s commitment to the people of Scotland.
  • It brings a better balance to Scotland’ s devolution settlement.
  • The new powers give the Scottish Parliament much greater tax raising powers.
  • In future, Holyrood will be responsible for raising more than 50% of what it spends – making it one of the most powerful devolved parliaments in the world.
  • The Scottish Parliament will set the income tax rates and thresholds for earned income in Scotland.
  • This represents annual income tax revenues of around £11 billion.
  • The Scottish Parliament will retain around 95% of the income tax collected here.
  • The Scotland Act gives the Scottish Parliament the power to make decisions on important areas of daily life in Scotland

Posted by the Scottish Office: GetInOnTheAct

Hallwood, P and R MacDonald (2009) The Political Economy of Financing Scottish Government, Studies in Fiscal Federalism and State-local Finance, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham.

Hallwood P and R MacDonald (2006), “A Restatement of the Case for Scottish Fiscal Autonomy”, Quarterly Economic Commentary, Fraser of Allender Institute, 31, 49-53.

MacDonald R and P Hallwood (2006), “The Economic Case for Fiscal Autonomy with or without Independence”, The Policy Institute, Edinburgh.

 

[1] Scotland_Act_tax_factsheet.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Economics Faculty Recognized for Excellence in Teaching

Posted on by

The Provost’s office at the University of Connecticut regularly recognizes faculty members with excellent teaching evaluations commending them as achieving “excellence in teaching”.

A number of faculty members in the economics department have received this recognition in the past year:  Professors Talia Bar, Ken Couch, Delia Furtado, Paul Hallwood, Olivier Morand, Susan Randolph, Kathy Segerson, Mikhael Shor, Owen Svalestad, and Jackie Zhao.

Congratulations to these economics faculty for their important contributions to the educational mission of UConn!

Professor Hallwood Quoted in the Quarterly Journal of Political Science

Posted on by

hallwoodProfessor Paul Hallwood is quoted in a paper in the current issue of the Quarterly Journal of Political Science (Vol. 10, 2) b by Harvard and Princeton co- authors on the hot topic of inter-Arab state political relationships.

Professor Hallwood was for several years an economic advisor working in the London Embassy of the Saudi Arabian government.

Professor Hallwood’s Book Reviewed in Applied Economics Journal

Posted on by

Economics of the OceansBook Review

Paul Hallwood, Economics of the Oceans: Rights, Rents and Resources. Oxon and New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group. 298 pages. ISBN: 978-0-415-63911-8.

“Economics of the Oceans fills a critical gap between broad environmental economics texts and marine resource texts focused on only one resource. Its major strength is the ease with which Paul Hallwood blends background information, case studies and economic theory.

“Over fifty percent of the book is on non-fish resources and includes important ocean resource topics such as coral reef protection, mineral extraction, ocean pollution, maritime piracy and shipwreck recovery. The major strength of the book is the ease with which the author blends background information, interesting case studies and economic theory. The book is a great example of just how applicable basic microeconomic principles are to a range of policy issues (even in the often anarchic world of the ocean).

“The general theme of Economics of the Oceans is that property rights are what really matter in the ocean. This will come as no surprise to economists but the stark differences in outcomes across settings that differ primarily in terms of rights may surprise even the most ardent Coaseans. As an illustrative example, Hallwood cleverly compares and contrasts oil with fish. Offshore oil is heavily regulated in most countries with clear property rights and generates significant rents for host governments. Fish populations are poorly regulated in the waters of many countries with unclear property rights and generate little economic rents. Why this has come about and what can be done to remedy this situation is one of the key lessons in Economics of the Oceans.”

John Lynham, University of Hawai’i at Mānoa and Center for Ocean Solutions, Stanford University. (Applied Economics Journal Vol. 21 No. 2 (December 2014): 105-108).5

Professor Hallwood Wins Outstanding Researcher Award

Posted on by

hallwoodProfessor Paul Hallwood last week was awarded the Outstanding Researcher award by the Avery Point Director, Professor Marty Wood.  The prize is awarded annually to faculty including the science departments.

The citations mentioned that Professor Hallwood is the author of 10 books and about 70 papers in refereed journals, and that he is active in applied work – notably in redesigning a tax system for the Scottish government and earlier as an economic advisor to the Government of Saudi Arabia.

Prof. Hallwood’s Press Release

Posted on by

Prof. Paul Hallwood’s (with Professor Ronald MacDonald of University of Glasgow) Press Release on Wednesday of his position paper (submitted to the Smith Commission) outlining a new fiscal settlement for Scotland – following September’s Independence Referendum – had within 24-hours received widespread coverage in the Scottish Press; five newspapers covered it in six reports or editorials. The headlines of the news pieces were: “No Scots bail-out by Westminster, academics warn” (Daily Express), “Pressure mounts on Labour to review tax proposals” and an editorial “Party labours with its powers plan” (The Herald), “Scotland should have to wait 15 years for a bailout it its spends too much” (The Scotsman), “Tight rein on spending needed” (Aberdeen Press and Journal), and “Put up and Shut up” (Daily Record).

Prof. Hallwood’s Position Paper on Rearranging Scottish Finances Released

Posted on by

hallwoodAn excerpt from the Press Release is below.

A copy has been lodged with the Smith Commission on Scottish finances

 

NEWS RELEASE

22 October 2014

WHAT IS THE RIGHT BUDGET CONSTRAINT FOR SCOTLAND?

An analysis by Professor Paul Hallwood (University of Connecticut) and Professor Ronald MacDonald (University of Glasgow)

 

Highlighted recommendations include:

  • Block grants from Westminster should not be elastic in the sense that if the Scottish Parliament cannot finance its chosen spending level out of the existing block grant and own-sourced taxes, the block grant is not automatically or quickly increased.
  • Any extra taxes raised by Scotland are not shared with Westminster.
  • If the Scottish Parliament’s tax policy led to a smaller tax base (a shrinking economy), it should have to live with that during the extended period of non-adjustment.
  • Borrowing by the Scottish Government should be regulated.

 

The fiscal design proposals of all the main Scottish political parties are examined against these criteria. Only those of the Scottish Liberal Democrats and Scottish Conservatives are shown to be workable.

CHOICE reviews Prof. Hallwood

Posted on by

hallwood[1]CHOICE magazine reviewed Professor Hallwood’s Economics of the Oceans: Rights, Rents and Resource, Routledge, Oxford, 2014. It awards the book a “highly recommended” saying: “This unique study combines ecological concepts and neoclassical economic models with case studies to analyze critical problems relating to the oceans. Using the perspectives of law and economics, Hallwood (Univ. of Connecticut) provides both historical context and a discussion of how conflict resolution institutions may help solve problems pertaining to oceans. The book’s parts describe the study’s topical domain: historic wrecks, modern pirates; enclosure; fisheries economics; fisheries regime formation; marine mammals; coral reefs, marine protected areas, wetlands; pollution; and minerals. Each part includes one to four chapters. In every instance, the author couches problems in economic terms: free rider problems relate to maritime piracy; microeconomics concepts apply to resolving maritime boundaries; the Coase theorem applies to fisheries management.”