The book “Nudge”, published by Cass Sunstein and Richard Thaler in 2008, came as a godsend for politicians. Here they were at last, the much hoped-for theoretical underpinnings of government action that might even overcome fierce libertarian resistance. It is no coincidence that the two scholars – a law and economics professor and a behavioural […]
Yanis Varoufakis isn’t playing games. He’s been very clear about that. The Greek finance minister, whose resumé includes teaching Economic Theory at the University of Athens and designing the virtual economy of online gaming platform Steam, is not using game theory to gain the upper hand in negotiations between Greece and the European Troika. He […]
Does Giles Fraser have something on the producers of the Thought for the Day slot? What other explanation can there be for his ubiquity on BBC Radio 4? Again, apologies if you are reading this outside the UK and have no idea who Giles Fraser is. He is the trendy left-wing vicar who seems to […]
The GIPC International IP Index, 3rd Edition, 2015 Report was released yesterday by the Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) of the US Chamber of Commerce, Washington DC. Thirty (30) countries were covered (vs. 25 countries in the 2014 Report) and assessed on six IP categories: (1) Patents, Related Rights, and Limitations; (2) Copyrights, Related Rights, […]
Capitalists need a theory of the state and a theory of society. In order for free markets to function they need to understand what roles limited but strong states and free societies play in building vibrant economies. It’s something that Legatum Institute’s Prosperity Index measures every year. As well as looking at fundamental economic freedoms, […]
The recent attacks in Paris against the well-known satirical weekly, Charlie Hebdo, and a Jewish grocery store have been qualified as “Islamic terror”. This seems to me an hasty qualification, confusing the ideological label used by the criminals themselves and who they really were. Above all, they were criminals and nothing more. To proclaim, as […]
Suppose I were to tell you that the world’s super-rich are pulling further away from the mass of humanity. Suppose I were to cite the latest figures, showing that the top one per cent now own half the world’s wealth while the bottom 50 per cent own just one per cent. How does that make […]
Deepak Lal’s third article in his three part series on capitalism and inequality. My first and lasting impression of America, echoed by numerous observers from the hierarchical societies of Europe and Asia, was the absence of class, despite great inequalities of income and wealth. But today, many see a class society emerging in America. An important book […]
Deepak Lal introduces the first of his three part series on capitalism and inequality. In September my wife and I toured Indo-China. After seeing the glories of the partially restored Hindu temples of Angkor Wat, we cruised down past the lush fields of the reversed Mekong river from Siem Reap to Saigon, making various stops- […]
What is missing from Piketty’s whole thesis, and from the views of many others in this field, is the potential – which he largely ignores – for spreading the ownership of capital itself more equitably in society. Instead of further attacking income with blunt and dubiously effective tax weapons, a much nobler, and more practical […]
Tim Morgan explains why supporters of capitalism should welcome the debate over inequality – and must never allow it to appear synonymous with unfairness. Ever since the publication of Capital in the 21st Century, prominent supporters of capitalism have rivalled each other in their denunciations of Thomas Piketty’s egalitarian thesis. In so doing, they have […]
Where were you on the evening of November 9, 1989? Most Germans over the age of 35 can answer that question. It was perhaps the most important and certainly the most cheerful day in the history of post-war Germany. And it was a day completely dominated by the celebration of freedom. Looking at the faces […]
In his now-notorious book Capital in the 21st Century, Thomas Piketty asks whether the distribution of wealth is socially useful. His most straightforward statement of the importance of the “usefulness” of the distribution of wealth and income appears in Part 3 Chapter 11, in a subsection entitled “The Rentier, Enemy of Democracy”, wherein he says: […]
Russell Brand has made a very fine living out of the global entertainment industry, selling his wares via Hollywood films, concerts, DVDs and books. Good luck to him. While his particular brand of comedy has never been my thing, he does deserves credit for spotting a gap in the market and making a little go […]
Since the Great Recession, UK household incomes have been squeezed significantly. Median household incomes were still 6.2 per cent below their pre-crisis peak at the end of 2013/14. If the financial crisis had never occurred, households might have expected to have real incomes 20 per cent higher than they do now. This squeeze on real […]
If one thing can sully the appeal of retirement, it’s the ugly task of organising a pension. From April 2015, individuals will be allowed the option of withdrawing their pension in a lump sum (subject to tax at their marginal rate). While this option will be appealing for many retirees, many more will be uncertain […]
Watch or listen to CapX’s weekly podcast ‘The Capitalist’ wherever you get your podcasts.
