What is best: gas or electric?

Hobs choice

Oxford City Council has banned the installation of gas hobs in new homes from 2025. What is best: gas or electric?

– According to Which? running a gas cooker costs £23 a year, compared with £61 for an electric cooker. Boiling a large pot of water takes an average of 9.69 minutes on a gas hob, compared with 4.81 minutes on an electric induction hob. Getting a gas oven up to temperature will take around 15 minutes, and up to 25 minutes for an electric oven.

– The nation is divided on the merits of gas vs electric cooking. According to the Office for National Statistics, 70% of us have electric ovens and only 30% gas. But on hobs the position is reversed, with 61% using gas and 38% electric.

The 1%

An Oxfam report claimed the ‘super-rich’, who make up the wealthiest 1% of the world’s population, are responsible for as many carbon emissions as the poorest 66% (both groups contributing 16% of emissions). How much income do you need to qualify to be the richest 1%  – adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP), so taking into account local living standards?

Threshold $US PPP

Top 50% – $5,000

Top 10% – $41,000

Top 1% – $140,000

Top 0.1% – $500,000

Top 0.01% – $1.8m

High tax, low tax

When were the best and worst years to be a taxpayer? Post 1945, the tax burden was at its highest in 1948, when it reached 37.2% of GDP. It was at its lowest in 1960/61, at 27.89%. Peaks and troughs since then:

1969/70 – 35.12%    

1973/74 – 29.79%    

1975/76 – 33.35%    

1978/79 – 30.37%    

1981/82 – 34.01%    

1993/94 – 28.33%

2000/01 – 33.07%

2002/03 – 31.44%

2011/12 – 33.48%

2014/15 – 32.61%

Source: Office for Budget Responsibility

Be more productive?

Last month, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) showed annual inflation falling from 6.7% to 4.6%. Median wages, on the other hand, have risen at 7.7%