What, exactly, is the Covid-19 problem that governments are trying to address? That seems a bizarre question, given escalating death numbers and widespread economic destruction. But if forced to, could you say, with clarity, what the aim of your country’s government currently is? Is it to manage the flow of caseloads to “protect the healthcare […]
Even if not a technical recession (two quarters of negative growth), a severe coronavirus-induced downturn looks certain across major economies. Markets signal it. Top economists predict it (a recent IGM poll showed 62% to 8% “agreeing” it would happen.) And many “feel it” already – from disruptions to supply chains and work arrangements, to collapsing demand for leisure, travel, […]
It may be early days in the Democratic primary race, but Bernie Sanders is now the favourite to win the party’s nomination and set up a Trump-Sanders presidential election. As the prospect of Sanders winning becomes ever more real, some commentators are downplaying his socialist credentials, painting the veteran Senator as no more than a moderate social democrat. “Memo […]
Boris Johnson’s stonking majority means the coming five years will finally answer a long-disputed riddle: how free-market on economics is the modern Conservative Party? Overhanging most of the past two decades has been the long shadow of Thatcherism, and disputes on where the party’s economic platform should go next. At various times, “dries” – those […]
Rory Stewart wants to make Britain a “much better and a much happier place”. As he tours the country’s streets, delighting commentators (most of whom detest conservativism), the Tory leadership hopeful sees opportunity for its people. We might be currently “less than the sum of our parts”, he says, but Stewart sees a population “buzzing with […]
It’s fair to say the modern left has schizophrenic views about Walmart. Back in 2005, the left-leaning economist and future head of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers Jason Furman wrote a paean to the company. He argued that the big-box chain supermarket was a “progressive success story,” due to its role in driving down […]
A recent study estimates that the full burden of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump fell on American consumers. As reports claim that the Department for International Trade (DIT) intends to cut 80-90 per cent of the UK’s import tariffs if Britain leaves the EU without a deal, that’s worth remembering. For though there were very different reactions to […]
“In a negotiation, you’re not going to get everything you want. Why not just accept the Withdrawal Agreement and finally get Brexit over the line? Otherwise you risk losing it entirely.” The above quotation is imaginary. But the sentiment is real. Notable journalists, MPs, think-tankers and some Brexit-supporting conservative commentators are now convinced that we intransigent Brexiteers are inflexible […]
Over the Christmas week, CapX is republishing its favourite pieces from the past year. This was first published on January 23. Credit to Oxfam’s communications team. Each year, riding on the coattails of the jamboree in Davos, they manage to make a huge splash about global wealth inequality. And every year, it is pointed out that, […]
“Amazon to Raise Its Minimum U.S. Wage to $15 an Hour” is a typical headline that one has seen today. The company has announced that from November 1st its lowest pay rate will increase to $15 per hour in the U.S., £10.50 in London and £9.50 elsewhere in the U.K. It follows criticism of Amazon’s pay and […]
In a recent extract of her book Squeezed, Guardian columnist Alissa Quart documented in detail the insecurities faced by many ordinary American families. Student loan debt, housing costs, and healthcare bills can be crippling even for those on decent enough incomes. For the struggling poor with job insecurities, the situation can be worse still. Even with the […]
Someone at the Labour party’s headquarters has a rudimentary understanding of the Keynesian multiplier and is not afraid to use it. The party’s academic supporters have of late tried to suggest the Corbyn-McDonnell economic worldview is nuanced, with a sophisticated fiscal rule that recognises balance in day-to-day government spending is a reasonable aim, and the […]
Some UK conservative thinkers and commentators have a problem with libertarians. Though self-defined libertarians could probably fit on a single London bus, the ire thrown their way is palpable. Tim Montgomerie has been one crusader, previously setting up a website called “The Good Right” to push an agenda seemingly distinguished from the “Bad Right” of […]
The Financial Times’s Chris Giles is a must-read economics commentator. But he has gone too far in suggesting Chancellor Philip Hammond has “outsourced his spending plans” to the Office for Budget Responsibility. Chris refers to Hammond’s Spring Statement where he said: “If, in the autumn, the public finances continue to reflect the improvements that today’s [OBR] report hints […]
President Trump’s plan to impose import tariffs on steel and aluminium has provoked righteous anger from the EU. The Commission wants to respond with targeted tariffs on US goods such as motorcycles, jeans and bourbon whiskey – tradeables with major producers in GOP areas. The thinking? To put maximum political pressure on Republicans to change […]
Credit to Oxfam’s communications team. Each year, riding on the coattails of the jamboree in Davos, they manage to make a huge splash about global wealth inequality. And every year, it is pointed out that, as Tim Worstall explained on CapX last January, wealth is not some fixed pie. It is usually accumulated through entrepreneurial […]
Until I came to work in the US, I had little understanding of the federal government’s long-term fiscal challenge. The UK’s long-term debt outlook was only too familiar, and pretty frightening – mainly because it concerned an ageing population interacting with pay-as-you-go state pension and healthcare systems. But there was, at least in the near-term, […]
I’ve been living in Washington now for nearly 12 months and there are still things I just can’t get used to. Like using words such as “eggplant,” “sneakers” and “soccer”. This festive period I’ve also bemoaned the absence of mince pies and proper Christmas music. I crave a good curry. My unpopular opinion here is […]
Donald Trump has kicked off a “Tax Reform Roadshow”, as he begins efforts to encourage lawmakers (particularly Republicans) to get legislation passed. Sounds fun. How important is it that tax reform is successful? Politically? Very. Having seen attempted healthcare reform fail and with infrastructure investment now relegated to a second-order priority, Trump needs a legislative win on […]
“Drain the swamp!” was a powerful rallying cry during Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. The businessman promised to govern in the public interest, and end the revolving door between politics and lobbying. If anyone had the chance to overturn special carve-outs, subsidies, regulatory barriers and access generated by special pleading, it was surely a wealthy populist […]
