Britain and America have spent a decade arguing about Nimbyism as if it were a housing problem. It is much bigger than that: our inability to build, in a broad sense, has grown into a source of geopolitical weakness. The economic argument has been made already. Growth controls add anywhere from 17% to 38% to […]
Last Friday, the most capable AI model in the world went dark. Anthropic had released Fable 5 three days earlier; on June 12, a U.S. executive order cut off access for foreign nationals. With no clean way to wall Americans off from the rest of us inside a global system used by hundreds of millions […]
For America’s anxious European allies, few questions matter as much as whether Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024 marks a permanent shift in the role played by the United States in the world, or whether it is just a passing phase. On trade, the answer is reasonably clearcut. As US average tariffs congeal somewhere in the […]
The decision by US Court of International Trade to block Donald Trump’s tariffs, declared by the President under International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), comes as a relief after the weeks of uncertainty and policy reversals that followed the ‘Liberation Day’ on April 2. It also shows that, while businesses had good reasons to be rattled […]
Under one particularly charitable reading, Donald Trump’s discontent with the global financial status quo, reflected in his administration’s drastic trade policies, is a response to the pressure that a chronically overvalued dollar puts on the competitiveness of US industry. As the prospect of a likely trade war-induced recession shows, tariffs carry large economic costs, including […]
Shortly after becoming president, Vladimir Putin held a now-historic meeting in the Kremlin with Russia’s oligarchs. The deal he put on the table in the summer of 2000 was simple: the country’s economic elite could keep and further cumulate their enormous wealth, more often than not acquired through legally and ethically dubious means, but they […]
Is it time for the EU to introduce qualified majority voting on foreign policy matters? The foreign ministers of seven member states have made an eloquent case for such a change in a recent article for Politico. Their piece is striking for several reasons. First, unlike most earlier attempts to push for deeper integration, it […]
While in Westminster eyes are fixed on the new government, financial instability, and a migrant crisis in Kent, the world is not exactly standing still. In Ukraine, as Ukrainians close in on Kherson, Iranian-manufactured drones deployed by Russia are wreaking havoc on the civilian population. In the EU, the relationship between France and Germany has […]
The EU’s trade policy under the slogan of “open strategic autonomy” reminds one of the famous quip about the Holy Roman Empire, which was neither ‘Holy’ nor ‘Roman’ nor much of an ‘empire’. Likewise, European Commission’s recent Trade Policy Review betrays a view of trade relations that is neither open nor particularly strategic. And if it does offer ‘autonomy’, it comes at the cost […]
With the support of the Atlas Network, CapX is publishing a new series of essays on the theme of Illiberalism in Europe, looking at the different threats to liberal economies and societies across the continent, from populism to protectionism and corruption. During the early 1960s, the conservative movement in the United States underwent a deep transformation, […]
This week’s decision from the European People’s Party’s political assembly to suspend Viktor Orban’s Fidesz came a bit late was more timid than it needed to be. Without any doubt, however, it is a step in the right direction. Just to be clear, the EPP has not expelled Fidesz from its ranks. Instead, a statement said “the EPP Presidency […]
Can you guess who said the following? “Republicans have considered it their duty to make the world safe for banking, while simultaneously prosecuting ever more foreign wars.” If you thought of Senator Bernie Sanders or Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, you are wrong. This searing indictment of the GOP came recently from the influential Fox News presenter […]
Although Viktor Orbán’s Hungary has seen periodic protests before, those taking place now feel different. In the past, anti-Orbán protests — over the government’s treatment of asylum-seekers, its crackdown on NGOs, and expulsion of the Central European University — were mostly limited to Budapest and to a fairly narrow demographic group. This time, they are […]
Ever had a friend who constantly talked about themselves and their esoteric personal problems? Here is an Anglophile’s message to the British political class: Do not be that friend. Whatever you decide to do about Brexit is fine. Really, just do it and move on. Nobody wants to hear about it anymore. Even in the […]
The historian Arnold Toynbee characterised civilisation as “a movement and not a condition, a voyage and not a harbour.” By necessity, civilisations are curious, forward- and outward-looking, and animated by the belief that their best days are still ahead of them. Seen through that prism, Europe is in trouble. According to a new report by […]
Contrary to conventional wisdom, Italy’s economic problems have little to do with the common European currency, the Euro. Conversely, however, Italy’s draft budget, with a deficit far above Rome’s original commitments, is a ticking time bomb for the Eurozone. And waiting to take decisive action until after the European election next year carries an existential […]
The new United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is an illustration of President Donald Trump’s political business model – echoing the one he employed as real estate developer. There was a lot of bluster and noise over the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) – “the worst trade deal in the history of the country” – followed […]
If the recent vote in European Parliament to pursue unprecedented action against Hungary’s breaches of the EU’s core values has already had an unfortunate side effect, it is the elevation of Viktor Orbán as a martyr and leader of nationalist forces in Europe. According to The Telegraph, Orbán “issued a personal behind-the-scenes challenge to the French […]
Here’s a paradox. Donald Trump arrived in office riding a wave of popular backlash against free trade, bashing NAFTA, WTO, and TPP. But today, it is hard to see evidence of that backlash. According to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, “record percentages of Americans now say that trade is good for the US economy (82 per […]
First, a confession. I wasn’t particularly pleased to learn that Boris Johnson would be awarded this year’s Irving Kristol award at the Annual Dinner hosted by my intellectual and professional home: the American Enterprise Institute. I am not a fan of Johnson — nor of his political style. Johnson’s support for Brexit was a decisive factor […]
