How much longer can the Treasury rig the housing market?
The past 15 months have produced a bizarre economic paradox. In 2020, the economy shrank at the fastest rate recorded…
Are PCR tests the best way to track Covid?
Throughout the pandemic doubts have been expressed about the reliability of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests which have been…
Why Warwick’s Covid modelling doesn’t add up
This week began with more frightening graphs from SPI-M, the government’s scientific modelling committee. A team at Warwick University calculated…
Rishi Sunak and the coming Tory battle over climate change
The Chancellor, Rishi Sunak, isn’t normally given to waffle, which makes his maiden appearance on GB News all the more…
Is inflation about to bite?
The signs were there for all to see — pubs, restaurants, hairdressers and so on all pushing up their prices. Businesses…
Covid and the difficulty with ‘following the science’
Did anyone fancy being in Boris Johnson’s shoes before he made the decision to delay the full lifting of Covid…
Is furlough holding back the jobs market?
The latest employment figures, published this morning, confirm a remarkable aspect of the Covid pandemic: that it appears to have…
Will the G7 tax deal survive?
What are the chances of the G7’s agreement on a minimum rate of corporation tax actually coming into effect? While…
Should we mix Pfizer and AstraZeneca Covid jabs?
Should the NHS be mixing vaccines for better effect, or at least offering people who have had one dose of…
Does the Indian variant increase the risk of hospitalisation?
Is the Indian variant really more like to land you in hospital? That is the claim being widely reported this…
Why the vaccines should prevent a deadly third wave
Among the scientists and medics calling this week for caution in the government’s reopening of the economy was Dr Lisa…
Has Covid accelerated the cashless society?
Time is, I fear, running out. Running out, that is, to avoid handing to a small number of multinational corporations…
The many failures of China’s vaccine programme
The many failures of China’s vaccine programme
Biden's tax plan spells bad news for Ireland
Biden’s America, of course, is all about re-engaging with the world after four years of isolationism. But if you are…
Covid deaths in context
What would have been your overall chances of dying in the first 19 weeks of 2021 compared with recent years?…
Covid sufferers aren't the only victims of the pandemic
Covid deaths are down to a trickle, but what about the indirect consequences of the pandemic: deaths that come from…
Is it time to phase out the AstraZeneca vaccine?
We still await good data on the transmissibility of the Indian variants of Sars-CoV-2, something the government insists is vital…
The post-Covid boom means inflation will be back
Amid the panic over the Indian variant this week it would have been easy to miss news that the Consumer…
Has India's second Covid wave peaked?
While the Indian variant continues to dominate the headlines, India itself seems to have dropped out of the news a…
Does getting Covid-19 protect you against reinfection?
How well does prior exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus protect you against reinfection? It has been a hotly-debated subject since…
What Greenpeace's 'Wasteminster' stunt won't tell you
Greenpeace has been responsible for many a fatuous stunt over the years, but its latest video has a point. It…
Is the Indian Covid variant more dangerous that other strains?
Does the Indian variant of Sars-CoV-2, B1.617.2, have the capacity to escape vaccines? Is it really more transmissible than the…
Could the Indian variant slow unlocking?
So is the ‘irreversible’ lifting of lockdown really irreversible after all? There is a grim echo of what happened last…
Will our vaccines stop the Indian variant?
As we have often found with Covid-19, no sooner does a path seem to emerge out of the woods than…
Why stamp duty should be lowered for good
Rishi Sunak’s stamp duty holiday has been credited with reviving the property market and blamed for stoking house price inflation,…
