Economics
We’re living through eerie reminders of the 1970s
There are eerie parallels with 1970s at the moment, I say in the Times today. The inflation of that decade was…
The Covid blame game
Are you ready to relive 2020? That’s what Adam Tooze is offering as he tells the story of Covid-19 through…
Could the squeeze on living standards bring down Boris?
There is about to be a two-phase onslaught on the living standards of those on low-to-middling incomes. On 1 October…
Has the Bank of England given up on its duty on inflation?
Has the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee quietly excused itself from its duty of keeping inflation down: namely, keeping the…
The EU’s debt bondage expansion
In the global market for government debt, worth an estimated $92 trillion (£66 trillion), it amounts to little more than a…
What China wants from Britain
What are we to do about China? To turn a phrase beloved by the Chinese Communist party (CCP) on its…
A windfall tax would only hurt our weakened economy
The calls for tax hikes is ramping up. Last December the Wealth Tax Commission recommended a ‘one-off’ 5 per cent…
Now is the time for the Tories to be borrowing more
How should fiscal conservatism be defined? George Osborne inherited a fiscal deficit that was clearly unsustainable. During the panic over…
Why extravagant things don’t have to feel expensive
‘Suppose you bought a case of claret a few years ago for £20 a bottle. It now sells at auction…
John McDonnell’s right – the four-day week could work
Most people were scandalised by John McDonnell’s proposal to promote a four-day working week. But before we get incensed about…
Interview: Meet Mariana Mazzucato, big-state capitalism’s new champion
‘It was Plato who said storytellers rule the world,’ observes Mariana Mazzucato, her powerful voice tempered with a beaming smile,…
Letters
Let’s talk about guns Sir: I was surprised that the cover stories on the recent shootings in Las Vegas (‘Say…
What stopped Stoppard?
Two programmes this week presented two radically different world views, or rather ways of life. Aditya Chakrabortty’s series for Radio…
How your brain buys a sofa
Almost every popular commercial product owes its success to two different qualities. First, it does the job it is ostensibly…
Who needs governments?
The Spanish seem to be doing better without one
If you’re riding the FTSE rebound you might still want to sell in May
When the FTSE100 fell close to 5,500 in February, we all said ‘Mr Bear is back’. On Tuesday the index…
My tip for the next cool shop: Argos
When I was at school in the 1970s, some of the richer kids would come back from their summer holidays…
It’s the Labour moderates who need to get real
It has become commonplace to remark that there exists in Britain a mainstream political grouping that seems to be dwelling…
Who killed murder?
The mystery of violent crime’s dramatic decline
I told you so: the UK electricity gap looms wider than ever
Amid all the turmoil in global energy markets, we should not lose sight of the UK power programme that we’re…
Keynes’s big mistake
The one thing most people think they know about economics is wrong
If the world economy crashes again, blame the central bankers
Like the Christmas pudding sampled by Hercule Poirot at Kings Lacey — but six weeks early — our Spectator Money…
John McDonnell’s true economic guru: the emperor Nero
John McDonnell, shadow chancellor in the Corbynite splinter-group, has announced that £120 billion is waiting to be reclaimed from tax…
Cheer up: we’re robust enough to withstand a shock from China
Home from the hot Aegean, huddled by the fire as rain ruins the bank holiday weekend, I’m thinking: what gloom…
Sorry, but I can’t join in the China panic
MS Queen Victoria, 38°N 19°E I’ll do my best, but I’ve got to be honest: being surrounded by shining Ionian…
