Economics
Can the Bank of England inspire confidence?
It has dawned on the government that last week’s mini-Budget might have been a bit too one-sided: £70 billion worth…
How worrying is the falling pound?
How are markets responding to Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-Budget? A sharp fall in the pound today has plenty of critics arguing…
Who is Gordon Brown to pose as the voice of fiscal sanity?
Gordon Brown is demanding Parliament be recalled for an emergency budget. By October, he says, quoting a study he commissioned…
Is the US in recession?
There’s an almighty debate ongoing in the US about what exactly a ‘recession’ is. Regardless of semantics, the numbers are…
Read: the new Chancellor's interview with the BBC
This is an edited transcript of the interview with the new chancellor Nadhim Zahawi on the Today programme this morning. Nick Robinson: You…
Inflation is a social evil, so why don't our leaders care?
It was a ‘destroyer of society’, a ‘tax on ordinary people’s savings’ and a threat to social order. You don’t…
The deep roots of global inequality
Thomas Piketty, the French economist who shot to fame for writing a colossal work of economics that many people bought…
Has liberalism destroyed itself?
According to Vladimir Putin, liberalism is an ‘obsolete’ doctrine, a worn-out political philosophy no longer fit for purpose. In this…
The Biden Bust is here
A wave of government spending would reboot the economy. Fairer taxes would pay for restored infrastructure. Skills would be improved,…
Like it or not, cryptocurrency is here to stay
There was a time when you could read a book to keep up to date about a subject. Well, that’s…
Rishi Sunak's spring statement speech in full
Mr Speaker, As I stand here, men, women and children are huddled in basements across Ukraine seeking protection. Soldiers and…
Rishi Sunak’s energy bill dilemma
This morning’s revelation that the UK economy grew 0.8 per cent in January, the fastest growth since April last year, is…
Is the government in denial about the looming economic crisis?
The priority for the UK and other rich democracies is to protect the people of Ukraine from the depredations of…
Get ready to start paying the cost of Covid
Forget the desirability (or lack thereof) of tax hikes: can Britain survive them? That’s the economic question that kicked off…
The hypocrisy of Elon Musk
Tesla’s sleek, if expensive, electric cars are leading the battle against climate change. Its batteries are moving renewable energy into the…
Eighteen months of inflation is not 'transitory'
The big central banks have been insisting for months now that the rise in inflation is temporary, and will fade…
What is the Bank of England playing at?
Last week, the Bank of England sent a number of confused messages. One was almost shocking: Andrew Bailey said that…
Will the Tories cut taxes before the next election?
The Tory party has reached a fork in the road, I say in the Times today. One path involves sticking…
Rishi Sunak's low tax pitch to MPs
Is Rishi Sunak a low tax chancellor? He certainly likes to tell anyone who will listen that he is. Yet…
Sunak faces the free-marketeers
Rishi Sunak didn’t give too much away tonight when he spoke at the ThinkTent Conservative Party Conference. The Chancellor is…
We're living through eerie reminders of the 1970s
There are eerie parallels with 1970s at the moment, I say in the Times today. The inflation of that decade was…
China and the WHO are given an easy ride in the Covid blame game
Are you ready to relive 2020? That’s what Adam Tooze is offering as he tells the story of Covid-19 through…
Could the squeeze on living standards bring down Boris?
There is about to be a two-phase onslaught on the living standards of those on low-to-middling incomes. On 1 October…
Has the Bank of England given up on its duty on inflation?
Has the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee quietly excused itself from its duty of keeping inflation down: namely, keeping the…
The EU's debt bondage expansion
In the global market for government debt, worth an estimated $92 trillion (£66 trillion), it amounts to little more than a…
