My Blog
Don’t give in to Twitter mob: Social media is just an echo chamber
Greater Manchester Police staged a simulated terror attack in the massive Trafford Park retail complex last week. As with many
Is Britain on the edge of recession? History is an unreliable guide
Concerns are growing about a marked slowdown in the UK economy. The Lloyds Bank purchasing managers’ index, for example, fell to 52.1
There’s little logic to 2016’s shareholder revolts against executive pay
The crisis at BHS has focused as much on the ethics of Phillip Green’s behaviour as it has on the
Surviving the pensions crisis means encouraging work
The Queen’s 90th birthday has quite rightly dominated the media over the past week. Her Majesty continues to break all sorts
Forget avoidance outrage: this is what we really think about tax
Rather like a quantitative version of Hello! magazine, the Panama papers made headlines everywhere. Read all about the vast amount
From golf to GDP, why unlikely events confound forecasters
Life imitates art, as the sporting world has shown this week. The Grand National was won by a horse which
Bank bail outs are no model to follow for British steel
The potential closure of the Tata steel plants, and the plight of Port Talbot is a tragedy for those directly affected.
Scotland’s fiscal fantasy and the impact of an OUT vote
A short visit to the Highlands last week was refreshing. The scenery is just as spectacular as ever, and the
How technology is driving inequality
Inequality is one of the major political topics of our times. Rather like a Shakespearean tragedy, the current splits in
Why we are much better off than the official statistics say
The oldest surviving map of Britain was created in Canterbury a thousand years ago. Our ancestors had a good idea
The IMF is in trouble – and not just due to its poor forecasts
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has played a prominent role in world financial affairs in the post-Second World War period.
A radical idea to revive the North
The Head of OFSTED, Sir Michael Wilshaw, warned last week that secondary schools in Liverpool and Manchester were ‘going into
What game theory tells us about David Cameron’s EU deal
Game theory is the study of how rules and tactics affect outcomes, and it is pervasive in academic economics. The
Ticket prices, fairness and behavioural economics
Who wants to watch the Scousers play football? Certainly no Mancunian, and probably no self-respecting Londoner either. Yet demand for
Why Julian Assange shows that only intelligent machines can be truly rational
Is Julian Assange rational? There are no prizes for guessing the responses of most City A.M. readers to this question.
If it costs nothing, is it worth anything?
Most of us don’t love our banks. We have all experienced the unanswered letter, the seemingly interminable waits on hold
Are the markets telling the truth?
The opening month of 2016 has been marked by sharp falls in asset prices, not just in financial markets but
China is drowning in private sector debt: there’s no telling how this one will end
The eyes of the financial and economics worlds are now fixed on China, with focus predominantly on Chinese stock markets and
Science does not always make sense
The story of the week for many people was the new alcohol guidelines issued by the UK’s chief medical officers.
No more whingeing, please. The recovery is solid.
Last month saw some very positive economic news. The US Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in
