Economics
Characteristics of Government Today
Two hundred years ago Lord Macauley wrote “the measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out”. This intriguing insight is as true of [more…]
Bank of England
Economics
Crisis After Crisis – The Economic Chain Reaction
Several readers expressed surprise that last week’s essay concerned my personal NHS experiences rather than the pressing issues of the day. In such a rapidly changing economic picture no commentary can ever be bang-up-to-date, while [more…]
Conservatives
“When the tide goes out you can see who has been bathing naked!”
Warren buffet famously quipped: “When the tide goes out you can see who has been bathing naked!” Now we know! Both candidates for the premiership are senior Conservative Cabinet members and Ministerial office-holders, and naturally [more…]
Business
All other things being equal
A paradox is an apparent absurdity or contradiction that, on close investigation, is found to be true. What’s happening in government right now is hardly paradoxical – it certainly appears to be both absurd and [more…]
Economics
The science of economics has lost its way
In 1798 Thomas Malthus postulated his gloomy theory that the growth in population must always outstrip the means of subsistence needed to support it: “Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only [more…]
Economics
Public Waste & Private Thrift
Veteran observers of economic folly have the advantage of experience. They are already familiar with the failed policies being enacted, yet again, by unprincipled politicians whose sole motivation is re-election. In the meanwhile these pillars [more…]
Economics
The Public are Waking up to the Evils of Inertial Manipulation
With prices increasing rapidly across a wide range of materials, goods and products, especially basics like foodstuffs and energy, it is astonishing that what citizens now encounter every day is so persistently, and perversely, denied [more…]
Economics
Basic Economics
The great debate now obsessing Treasury bosses and central bankers is whether all those trillions they continue to print so obsessively are at last producing a perceptible bout of hyperinflation. Before trying to make sense [more…]
Economics
How the Crisis Unfolds
Economically speaking, we are in a pickle. The blame-game is in full flow in its search for scapegoats. The most obvious culprit is, of course, the Covid virus, but it would be a huge mistake [more…]