My Blog
In the case of sugar, the nanny state really does know best
Boris Johnson created a furore last week by announcing that he was considering getting rid of the so-called sugar tax.
The left’s support for university students is fuelled by political self-interest
Why do left-wing politicians want to shower money on privileged members of society? In general, university students have a higher
Tragedy awaits if we don’t bridge the gap between beliefs and reality in the NHS
A tragic story over the weekend revealed how a man who died of lung cancer was failed abysmally by the
If you’re panicking about a spike in oil prices, look to history for a silver lining
The tanker attacks in the Gulf of Oman have raised fears of a sharp increase in the price of oil.
From taxes to cats, May’s government has been an affront to Tory ideology
Theresa May has finally announced her resignation. How can we capture the flavour of her tenure in office? This can
Puzzled over Australia’s shock election result? Economics can help explain
The surprise of the week was the re-election of the centre-right Coalition government in the Australian General Election. The Labor
You can’t take the economics out of football
The appearance of Liverpool and Spurs in the Champions League final and Arsenal and Chelsea in the Europa Cup one
It’s not cutting-edge AI we should fear, but mediocre automation
If there were a betting market in future winners of the Nobel prize in economics, MIT’s Daniel Acemoglu would be
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
