Why does US federal spending matter? There are many reasons, but perhaps the most fundamental is that free markets allocate resources better than governments because markets rely on price instead of politics. Many industries show this observation to be true, but the emerging field of “green banks” offers perhaps one of the clearest recent examples. […]
There are few issues in Britain that provoke as much passion or cut across the usual party lines as sharply as membership of the European Union. Being labelled pro- or anti-European has come to be regarded as a term of abuse or a badge of honour, depending on your view. It is an issue that […]
The name Will Rogers is not well known this side of the Atlantic. On the other side of the pond, however, the folksy wisdom of this Cherokee cowboy, vaudevillian, movie actor, humorist, newspaper columnist and social commentator is still a regular feature of political debate, his words frequently quoted by journalists who want to take […]
China’s economy is slowing. Much of this slowdown has been planned but in recent weeks a collapsing Shanghai stock market threatened to undermine confidence at just the wrong time and triggered fears among the authorities that they might lose control. It explains why the Chinese authorities intervened aggressively recently to halt the stock market’s decline. […]
Many people have been drawn to the EU because its founders claimed it was intended to avoid another war in Europe. It was all about ‘working together’ instead of fighting. But in truth, building a new regional state at the expense of existing nation states has achieved even less than other post-war nostrums, such as […]
Sugar is much in the news at the moment, with the British Medical Association calling for a tax on sugary drinks and the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition expected to announce new advice on how much sugar to eat very soon. It has also been claimed that the government has shelved a report from Public […]
Liam Byrne, the Labour Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said it all in the notorious 2010 note to his successor: “There is no money left.” Socialists in countries like Britain thrived during the post-war years when the world was a much less competitive place. Their self-indulgent fantasies appeared affordable while giant nations like China were […]
Driving kills more than 30,000 Americans every year. Wrecks cause billions of dollars in damages. The average commuter spends nearly 40 hours a year stuck in traffic and almost five years just driving in general. But there is light at the end of the traffic-jammed tunnel: the driverless car. Thanks to millions of dollars in […]
There is little that can win candidates easier points in American politics than lashing out against big financial firms that caused the crisis of 2008, or decrying the existence of income inequality reducing the standard of living for middle class American families. Hillary Clinton, in her first major economic address on Monday, managed to hit […]
Iain Martin argues not just that George Osborne was right to raise the minimum wage but that: “It must feel good to be pure. While others make messy compromises, the hardened ideologue, convinced he or she at all times has unique insight into a central universal truth, can sigh and shake their head at the […]
In the media across Europe, one story continues to dominate the news agenda: the recovery of European countries from the deep recession of recent years. Some choose to focus on employment figures as proof of a recovery (or lack thereof); others look at the strength of the Euro; others still choose to look at GDP […]
The crash in the Chinese stock market (down 30 percent in three weeks with no end in sight) is bringing forth comparisons to the big U.S. stock crash of 1929, as well it should. In the world of central banks and fiat money, inevitable busts follow unsustainable booms. The closer one watches the “experts” at […]
The Chinese stock markets have experienced significant turmoil in recent weeks, with the Shanghai Composite Index – the country’s major reference – falling by 32% since June 12. But this fall was preceded by an equally sharp rise of 150% over the previous nine months. In the 20 years since I have been working in […]
Will the small country of Macedonia, a candidate country to join the EU, get out from the ongoing deep political crisis or it will face escalation? Through political agreement or violent rallies? With EU alone or with the help of the other international partners, respectively, USA will be able to help the process? These and […]
In 2012, the UK Home Secretary Theresa May announced that from April 2016 the United Kingdom will force non European Union immigrants who earn less than £35,000 back to their home countries. The radical anti-immigration reforms championed by Prime Minister David Cameron’s administration will bring about negative consequences for the UK economy. The traditional anti-immigration logic […]
“Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast”. George Osborne might well heed Shakespeare’s warning in “Romeo and Juliet” as he stands at the Dispatch Box for this week’s Budget. The Chancellor’s last effort contained 127 clauses, 21 schedules, and more than 700 pages of changes and explanatory notes. Yet it was passed as a […]
The gap between the levels of education received by people in developed countries and those in emerging countries is astounding. Research by the Brookings Institution in 2010 found that the average number of years of education completed in developing countries was 6.5, versus 12 in the developed world. The research concluded that unless the system is dramatically improved, it […]
Australia’s Trade Minister Andrew Robb is regularly lauded as one of the most effective performers in the federal government for finalising his “trifecta” of free trade agreements with South Korea, Japan and China – three of our fourth biggest trading partners. And this week Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been out selling an upcoming review […]
Alexis Tsipras has repeatedly praised the way Argentina handled its 2001 economic crisis. The current events in Greece, unfortunately, seem to be a déjà vu of the Argentinian collapse. Now that the Syriza administration has imposed capital controls and flirts with default and Grexit, a calm assessment of the Argentinian crisis might be needed more […]
A few billion here, a few billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking serious money. If you combine the highly-developed capacity of the financial markets for misbehaviour with the regulatory appetite for ever tougher sanctions, you quickly get to some very big numbers. In the context of this drip feed of relentless scandal – whether […]
