My Blog
Extinction Rebellion hates capitalism, but they wouldn’t exist without it
The Extinction Rebellion protesters on the streets of London seemed to consist of two disparate interest groups: pensioners and the
Want to tackle the scourge of fake reviews? The market can help with that
The internet has led to a massive increase in the amount of information available. Often, this is a good thing.
Britain is more optimistic about Brexit than gloomy forecasts suggest
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is up to its usual tricks. Last week, it predicted a two-year recession in the
Modern Monetary Theory? More like Magic Money Tree
As the Brexit process unfolds, the possibility of a Corbyn government has become much more tangible. Last month, John McDonnell,
If there is something fishy about influencers, why do we take the bait?
Social media influencer, Yovana Mendoza, provided an amusing diversion from Brexit last week. The 20-something vlogger built a very lucrative
This Nobel-winning economist can tell you why there’s no Brexit consensus
Should pure blue sky research be funded? Certainly, the answer from government-backed research councils seems to be “no”. The emphasis
Emojis are a better metric for wellbeing than traditional data methods
HMRC’s programme to make tax digital continues to roll out. Anyone with a small business will know about the imminent
Economics could teach Theresa May a thing or two about tackling knife crime
Knife crime continues to dominate the headlines. What can be done about it? Economics does not pretend to provide all
Like the myth of a flat Earth, the socialist conspiracy theory never dies
The idea that the Earth is flat is a rapidly growing trend on social media. The Flat Earth Society’s Twitter
Time for an honest talk about the costs of climate action
Sydney University’s Centre for Complex Systems does innovative work on a broad range of topics. But spending the last couple
Why we should allow second-rate universities to go bankrupt
The political spotlight remains focused on Brexit, but an important dogfight is developing in the area of higher education. The
Looking out for the next financial crisis? Keep an eye on spiralling debt
Concerns are growing that another financial crisis is imminent. No less important a figure than Kenneth Rogoff wrote last week
What’s the point of economists? Look to America’s tech giants to find out
Despite the dire predictions from the economics profession about Brexit, the UK economy is doing well. Growth continues at a
AI has not yet spurred a productivity boom, but just you wait
Nobel laureate Bob Solow pronounced 30 years ago that “you can see the computer age everywhere but in the productivity
No matter how we measure inflation, politics will forever trump economics
THE ECONOMIC Affairs Committee of the House of Lords has got its bovver boots on. Last week, the government was
Capitalism has reduced inequality and improved the world, yet still it is under attack
DESPITE the First World War ending the previous November, the year 1919 was a very bad one. For example, the
Europe has suffered from the euro – just ask the Greeks
One of the entertainments of the holiday period was reading Adults In The Room, the book by Yanis Varoufakis. It describes
The Ghost of Christmas Past could tell us where the negotiations all went wrong
In Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Scrooge finds being haunted by the Ghost of Christmas Past unbearable. He begs it
Hyperbolic discounting explains why the French are revolting over Macron’s fuel tax
Economists have long argued that an effective way of reducing carbon emissions is by increasing taxes on energy consumption. This
From Northern Rock to lunch tables, no one is immune from the herd mentality
The Bank of England and Federal Reserve held a two-day conference last week in London on big data and machine
