Terraced housing in the UK

Thatcher and the Right to Buy

Between 1945 and 1979, reducing unemployment remained one of the most crucial macroeconomic objectives of 20th century British fiscal policy. Keynesian economic policy was particularly influential in the period with both Labour and Conservative governments choosing to increase government spending as a part of demand-side strategy, all in the name of battling unemployment, stimulating growth in the economy and nationalising the commanding heights of industries.  … Continue reading Thatcher and the Right to Buy

How Far Can Central Banks Chain Inflation?

After interest-rate cuts and huge quantitative easing in 2020, investors felt that central-bank stimulus would last forever. But free money was coming to an end as COVID-stricken economies began to recover. A tide of inflation was carried alongside them, reaching peaks not seen for 40 years. Central banks scrambled to minimise the impact by increasing rates; the Bank of England (BoE) was first, announcing rate … Continue reading How Far Can Central Banks Chain Inflation?

The IPL: A blessing or a curse?

The Indian Premier League (IPL), founded by Lalit Modi and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2007, has been a huge asset since for world cricket. Its fast-paced, explosive, shorter format of the game, known as 20/20 cricket, has taken a sport criticised for slow, actionless entertainment and transformed it into something consumable and enjoyable to watch. The sheer scale of … Continue reading The IPL: A blessing or a curse?

Cyber Attacks and the UK Economy

With the world’s increasing reliance on technological and online infrastructure, a new potential battlefront has opened up from which certain groups can cause catastrophic damage to countries’ security and reputation. Cyber-attacks are gaining increasing publicity on the world stage, from the NotPetya attack on Ukraine in 2017 to ransomware attacks such as on Swissport in February, and not least, in Die Hard 4. The effects … Continue reading Cyber Attacks and the UK Economy

China, Taiwan, USA: Conflicts and the impact of technology

Tensions between China and Taiwan escalated significantly in August with the visit of US House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan. Despite Chinese foreign ministry delegate Zhao Lijian warning the US that ‘there [would] be serious consequences if she [insisted] on making the visit’ and President Joe Biden’s discouragement, Pelosi still undertook the journey as part of an overall visit to Asia.  Such tension … Continue reading China, Taiwan, USA: Conflicts and the impact of technology

The Great Deficit Robbery 2.0

In July 2021, I wrote a piece titled “The Great Deficit Robbery”. It was an article cautioning against the new orthodoxy emerging among many mainstream economists and politicians suggesting that government spending had no limits, and that the once scary bogeyman of inflation was simply a relic of the past. I wrote that ‘if constant spending persists with no guardrails in sight, economic trouble may … Continue reading The Great Deficit Robbery 2.0