Economics
Milton Friedman – economic visionary or scourge of the world?
Monetarism, with which his name is associated, has long defined economic policy. But what would Friedman have made of the banking collapse, so soon after his death in 2006?
The bubble bursts
It was a born of a specific macroclimate of low interest rates following the global financial crisis – but all that is melting away and, in the case of crypto, not before time
The lesson of Looney: every board should prepare for scandal
Bernard Looney, the fallen BP chief, always had a certain swagger about him. I’ve no idea whether he was unsafe…
Will Brits feel richer if inflation halves?
The government’s objective to ‘halve inflation’ by the end of the year seems to be back on track – for…
Who deserves a free lunch?
It is a tenet of neo-liberal economics that there is no such thing as a free lunch. This is obvious…
Worthless pieces of paper
The first banknotes were greeted with deep suspicion in 1769 – but it was nothing to the distrust that Soviet and post-Soviet issues aroused
Liz Truss: my part in her downfall
Her former economic adviser on what went wrong
Can you feel sorry for Liz Truss?
It is not easy to feel sorry for Liz Truss. She has a deeply unattractive streak of vanity – when…
Truss says no to spending cuts. Here’s the caveat
The mini-Budget was a spending spree. The ‘medium-term fiscal plan’ was meant to explain the funding. But what exactly is…
What crisis?
A tough week for Trussonomics
Will Liz Truss take on the IMF?
Tonight the International Monetary Fund has weighed in on the UK’s mini-Budget, offering a direct rebuke of Liz Truss and…
Why football needs a regulator
Plans by the government to introduce a regulator to the football industry – endorsed by all Westminster parties just a…
Can the Bank of England inspire confidence?
It has dawned on the government that last week’s mini-Budget might have been a bit too one-sided: £70 billion worth…
How worrying is the falling pound?
How are markets responding to Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget? A sharp fall in the pound today has plenty of critics arguing…
Who is Gordon Brown to pose as the voice of fiscal sanity?
Gordon Brown is demanding Parliament be recalled for an emergency budget. By October, he says, quoting a study he commissioned…
Is the US in recession?
There’s an almighty debate ongoing in the US about what exactly a ‘recession’ is. Regardless of semantics, the numbers are…
Read: the new Chancellor’s interview with the BBC
This is an edited transcript of the interview with the new chancellor Nadhim Zahawi on the Today programme this morning. Nick Robinson: You…
Inflation is a social evil, so why don’t our leaders care?
It was a ‘destroyer of society’, a ‘tax on ordinary people’s savings’ and a threat to social order. You don’t…
Down to grass roots
Thomas Piketty, the French economist who shot to fame for writing a colossal work of economics that many people bought…
The threat from within
According to Vladimir Putin, liberalism is an ‘obsolete’ doctrine, a worn-out political philosophy no longer fit for purpose. In this…
The Biden Bust is here
A wave of government spending would reboot the economy. Fairer taxes would pay for restored infrastructure. Skills would be improved,…
Be your own bank
There was a time when you could read a book to keep up to date about a subject. Well, that’s…
Rishi Sunak’s spring statement speech in full
Mr Speaker, As I stand here, men, women and children are huddled in basements across Ukraine seeking protection. Soldiers and…
