The Alchemist - Election promises taxes for votes

Critics of this Government deride it for weakness and indecision. But in what must now be the run-up to a general election, it is demonstrating astonishing mettle by introducing and proposing one new tax measure after another.

In investment terms, a wave of new regulations and personal liabilities is set for implementation just as election campaigns get under way. But candidates will probably escape unduly unpleasant questioning from voters as everyone will be too busy arranging their financial affairs. By loosely blaming the financial crisis and vilifying one particular sector, a populist association between wealth and criminality has been firmly established. It is widely accepted anyone caught in the new measures deserves to be hit, and in fact should be paying for their success. Whether it concerns pensi...