My Blog
Trouble at Co-op Bank raises questions about fitness of the mutual model
IT’S not all fun and games at the Co-op Bank. Just over a month ago, the bank was serious about
A wake-up call for the Department of Transport: do the proper sums, HS2 is worth it
The High Speed 2 rail project is under fire on many fronts. The Nimby protests in the affluent Home Counties
Scotland could be a scientific test bed for monetary theory
According to the Scottish National Party, after the referendum on independence next year, Scotland will be a land of milk
Ignore Krugman: We’re not caught in another depression
Spotting and identifying new species is always exciting. And the last couple of years has seen the emergence of a new
Will Barnet or Brentford ever topple Manchester United?
Manchester United have walked away with the Premiership title yet again. In the last seven seasons, they have won no
There are errors and errors. Does the Reinhardt and Rogoff miscalculation mean that Osborne should change tack?
The distinguished American academic economists, Carmen Reinhardt and Ken Rogoff, have been very much in the news. Their 2009 book,
Whatever happened to all those miners? Shocks and economic resilience
Where have all the miners gone? To judge by the rhetoric of the BBC and other Leftist media outlets, whole
Sovereign debt and Euro zone reality
The recent debacle in Cyprus has essentially been shrugged off by the markets. The European Central Bank vigorously asserts the
Are economics graduates fit for purpose?
Are economics graduates fit for purpose? This is a hot topic in policy making circles. A year ago, the Bank
The Market for Speeding Points
What is it worth to take someone else’s speeding points? The Huhne-Pryce case has brought this into sharp focus. Setting
Hip Hop and Why Some Things Succeed
Just over a month ago, a group of young men from a fairly yokel part of Australia posted a video
How expert are experts? Time to end the independence of the Bank
The Bank of England has held short-term interest rates very close to zero for several years, with devastating consequences for
What would Keynes have said? Ouija board active!
The loss of triple A status on UK government bonds has intensified the demands for a Plan B. So-called Keynesians
Networks, the North and Prosperity
What can be done about the North? The gap between London and the South East grows and grows. The response
Entrepreneurship and the filthy rich
Peter Mandelson famously said that he was ‘intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich’. As was the case with many
Today Singapore and Japan, Tomorrow China
It has suddenly become fashionable to be concerned about China’s growth rate slowing down. This is not a matter of
Tax cuts, public spending and morality
Kier Starmer, the Director of Public Prosecutions, has vowed to ‘ramp up’ prosecutions against individuals for tax evasion five-fold in
Springtime for America
Is America heading for a boom? Real GDP has risen for 13 successive quarters and now stands 3 per cent
Telling the Truth about the Retirement Age
In a democracy, it is always a risky business for politicians to tell the electorate things they do not want
Meat and potato pies and the Nobel Prize in economics
Tragedy struck at a mid-week game played during the holiday season in Football League Division Two. The pies ran out
