This week’s revelations about Cambridge Analytica and Facebook’s alleged data breach — the subject of several great pieces on CapX — could hardly have come at a better time for Brussels officials unveiling the EU’s latest stick with which it plans to beat big tech. The proposed EU tech tax will be a 3 per […]
There is no God in Jonah Goldberg’s new book, Suicide of the West: How the Rebirth of Tribalism, Populism, Nationalism, and Identity Politics is Destroying American Democracy. But the book nonetheless revolves around a miracle. “The Miracle” is the shorthand Goldberg, a bestselling author, syndicated columnist, senior editor at National Review and a fellow at the […]
For the last two years, on both sides of the Atlantic, liberals and other concerned citizens have spent their time searching for an answer to the agonising, appalling, question “How did this happen?” How, for the love of God, could the United States have elected Donald Trump president? How, for crying out loud, could the […]
After revelations that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica allegedly appropriated Facebook user data to advise Donald Trump’s 2016 US presidential campaign, many are calling for greater regulation of social media networks, saying a “massive data breach” has occurred. The idea that governments can regulate their way into protecting citizen privacy is appealing, but I believe […]
The latest bright idea from Paul Mason is that Facebook must be regulated or changed in some manner to make damn sure it does what Paul Mason wants Facebook to be doing. Reminder: nobody needs to #Deletefacebook if there is one of a) strong regulation b) breakup c) public ownership — Paul Mason (@paulmasonnews) March […]
Fake news is the term that everyone uses, but no one really knows what to do about it. Collins Dictionary defines fake news as “false, often sensational, information disseminated under the guise of news reporting” and, for the purposes of this article, can be distinguished from political tools used to undermine unappealing, but true, reporting […]
Stephen Hawking’s work in physics was revolutionary. He is the one person who could write “the most beautiful paper in the history of physics.” Unimaginable brilliance in one area of endeavour does not translate into brilliance in all things. Because of Hawking’s celebrity status, many treat his opinions as important commentary on subjects outside his […]
When examining the alleged role played by Cambridge Analytica, Facebook and “big data” in the Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump, it’s worth looking at a book which opens by declaring that “is an attempt to explore a strange and rather exotic area of modern life”. It continues: “It is about the way […]
The news that an Uber self-driving vehicle has killed a pedestrian in the US has made headlines around the world. It’s a reminder that the era of self-driving cars is fast approaching. Decades of research into advanced sensors, mapping, navigation and control methods have now come to fruition and autonomous cars are starting to hit […]
The problem The UK leaving the EU will mean the reintroduction of a customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and between the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain. This entails a number of changes which could cause difficulties and delays for businesses and individuals on both sides of the Irish sea […]
On Thursday, President Trump held a meeting to discuss how and whether violent video games affect gun violence, particularly school shootings. Before getting into the details of this claim, perhaps we should take a step back and read a classic fairy tale from 1812, printed in the Brothers Grimm’s Nursery and Household Tales and titled “How the […]
The Chancellor is right to guard against complacency On the face of it, the Chancellor had reason to feel “Tiggerish” on delivering his Spring Statement: lower borrowing, continued employment growth, inflation set to fall, real wages set to rise, debt finally starting to fall as a percentage of GDP. But as Daniel Mahoney and I […]
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 […]
Despite the central role played by State controlled central banks and financial institutions in bringing about the conditions which led to the global credit crunch of 2008, free markets and capitalism, rather than government failure, have taken all the blame for that complex crisis, and Marxism and other varieties of socialism are once again attracting […]
I am excited for the future economic prospects of our country. Of course, in my job, I can see there are economic challenges ahead of us. But when I travel around the country, I see lots of exciting things happening. From Liverpool and its super-port, which will now be able to take ships through the […]
Fall armyworm infestations in large portions of southern and sub-Saharan Africa are threatening the food supply of over 200 million people. While indigenous to North and south America, in January 2016, the species was discovered for the first time in Nigeria. Since then the fall armyworm has spread to 28 African countries according to a […]
Watch or listen to CapX’s weekly podcast ‘The Capitalist’ wherever you get your podcasts.
