What is fascism?
The word “fascism” is often used – and mis-used – to describe politicians and policies which are perceived to be somehow aligned with totalitarian ideas. But while it is often apparent right-wing policies that are described as fascist, in fact, fascism shares its ideological roots with progressive politics.
Indeed, to understand fascism, we [...]
The BoE hike: caught in a trap of its own making
On Thursday, the Bank of England raised the benchmark base rate for the first time in a decade. The modest 25bp increase takes the base rate back to where it was before the [...]
Could Brexit give us a free market in farming products?
Brexit is an opportunity. The European Union is rife with waste, bureaucracy and subsidies, but Britain now has a clean slate and a chance to re-write policy and pursue a [...]
How inflation wrecked the middle class
Inequality is the defining political issue of our time. In fact, it has been at the core of policy making at most times for more than a century, but today, the policy [...]
Once a Marxist…
Jeremy Corbyn enjoyed a volatile beginning to his tenure as leader of the Labour party. After his victory in the 2015 Labour leadership election, he faced ridicule, criticism, [...]
The National Living Wage experiment
The National Living Wage (NLW) was introduced in April 2016, hiking the minimum wage for those aged 25 and over from £6.70 to £7.20 an hour. At the time, many warnings were [...]
Hollywood privilege and the cost of political correctness
Hollywood must feel a bit different these days. The name is synonymous with movies, but it is the exploits of Harvey Weinstein, one of the most powerful men in town, which has [...]
The minimum wage revisited: rise of the machines
It’s simple economics, really. In economic literature it is known as factor substitution: one input (factor) of production (like labour) can, given sufficient time for [...]
Check your privilege
I am part of the problem. I know I am. And I haven’t even taken the ‘How privileged are you’ test yet. I am part of the problem, not only because I am what these days is [...]
Capitalism’s rotten reputation
When Matthew Elliott and James Kanagasooriam from the Legatum institute set out to investigate Britain’s attitude to economics, it was against the background of a resurgent [...]
Some useful facts about guns and America
American gun culture has again come in for severe criticism after the latest mass shooting in Las Vegas. Over 50 people were killed when 64-year old Stephen Paddock opened [...]