A lesson in cognitive dissonance for the Corbynites
Behavioural economics — which extends the ability of economics to explain the world — has become very fashionable. Richard Thaler, Nobel Prize winner for his work in this area, observed that most of the time, the rational choice model of standard economics works well. People gather information on the various alternatives open to them, and […]
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, the shadow chancellor, wrote to the Treasury to say that in power he would require them to “widen the range of economic theories and approaches in which its officials and those in the rest of […]
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 his time as finance minister of Greece, and his negotiations with the IMF, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission. Varoufakis was only in the job between January and July 2015. He had the […]
Doublethinking or dim? Why the Labour party can’t be trusted with the economy
Are members of the Labour Party frontbench experts in doublethink? The concept was invented by George Orwell for his novel 1984, written in the 1940s as a critique of the Soviet Union. Masters of doublethink can hold, for purposes of political expediency, two opposing opinions at the same time, one of which might be complete […]
Instilling competitive gender quotas could end the Crisis of the Mediocre Men
Gender issues in the workplace are currently a hot topic. First, we had the furore about male and female pay at the BBC. Next, the notorious memo from a Google employee which alleged that women are less biologically suited to be software engineers than men. A paper in the latest American Economic Review (AER) provides […]
Corbyn and McDonnell’s delusional tax plan would cut revenue and harm growth
The income tax system in the UK is highly progressive. Not many people know that, to use a catch phrase attributed, rightly or wrongly, to the great actor Michael Caine. The top one per cent of earners contribute 27 per cent of all income tax receipts. To put it in context, just 300,000 people pay […]
Need a reason to cut public sector pay and pensions? Look at Jeremy Corbyn
The shambles over the treatment of National Insurance has dominated the media’s reporting of the recent Budget. But only the previous week, Jeremy Corbyn made a complete horlicks of his tax return for the second year running. The Bearded One makes a saintly fuss over making his tax affairs transparent. In 2016, he forgot to […]
Corbyn is completely out of touch with the real debate about UK austerity
Following the Brexit vote, normal service seems to have resumed. A key question in economic policy since the General Election of 2010 has moved centre stage once again: should the government abandon austerity? At one level, the question has an easy answer. Interest rates are now so low that the UK government can borrow for 30 […]
Blame Jeremy Corbyn for the increasing number of public sector strikes
The total number of working days lost through labour disputes last year was, at just 170,000, the second lowest annual total since records began in 1891. What a difference a year can make. Southern Rail commuters have endured months of misery due to the prolonged series of strikes called by the RMT. Union members on […]
Christmas jerseys: a great intellectual challenge
What would you buy Jeremy Corbyn for Christmas? Printable answers only, please. But somehow, a Christmas jumper seems appropriate. It would match the 1980s-style shell suit he wore the other day. Perhaps one with a portrait of Stalin and the slogan ‘Teacher, Leader, Friend’, a phrase in widespread use in the old Soviet Union, a […]
