What is a nation?
In the modern political tradition, patriotism has always been revered. Not only is pride in and devotion to country seen as a positive, but its absence is also often taken as a sign of moral deficiency. Nationalism, on the other hand, is more suspect. The nationalist identifies with the nation and nationalism can manifest as a political ideology, as it did [...]
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 [...]
A lost generation: demography underpins the resurgence of socialism
Calvin Robinson is head of computer science at St Mary’s and St John’s Church of England School in Hendon, north west London, and this year he featured in the Department [...]
The Fed fesses up: QE didn’t work
In November 2008, the US Federal Reserve, while cutting the benchmark Fed Funds Rate aggressively, embarked on a large-scale programme of purchasing mortgage-backed securities [...]
Why we support Catalan independence
Brexit may be taking the headlines when it comes to European independence movements, but further south a different secession movement is stirring again: the Catalan regional [...]
Should children be allowed to work?
In England, a child below the age of 13 is prohibited from working and young persons must be in part-time education or training until they’re 18. Most developing countries [...]
The world is lucky to have billionaires
A surge in the Amazon share price briefly made Jeff Bezos the world’s richest man in July 2017, when his fortune surpassed USD 90 billion. As the share sold off from the [...]