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 [...]
We can’t allow a real-life Ministry of Truth
In George Orwell’s seminal novel 1984 the Ministry of Truth is the government ‘s propaganda ministry, responsible for disseminating information to the public and used to [...]
UK tax evasion legislation: how to abolish the rule of law
Ever since the financial crisis, people and corporations who try to minimise their tax have been in the public eye, and the scrutiny only intensified with the publication of [...]
The Fed: Re-loading the gun for a lost fight
Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen has a plan: she wants to follow up on the December rate hike with three more quarter-point increases in 2017. The reasons, she claims, are an [...]
Why we doubt the climate change consensus
The planet is warming. The average global temperature has risen by 0.8 degrees Celsius since 1880. The 10 warmest years since then have all occurred since the 1998. So the [...]
Calling out the media coverage of Syria
Sometimes it takes a brief and concise summary of a complicated matter to get people’s attention and potentially change perceptions which have come to be regarded at true [...]
The Fed hikes but bubbles are not going away
The Federal reserve met market expectations yesterday and raised the target for the benchmark Fed Funds rate by 0.25% to 0.5-0.75%, and market consensus is for the path to [...]
Markets, manure and the future of mankind: the case against environmental regulation
“In 50 years, every street in London will be buried under nine feet of manure.” So predicted the London Times newspaper in 1894. An army of more than 50,000 horses pulled [...]
A free-market approach to immigration
The Brexit and Trump votes have changed politics as we knew it on both sides of the Atlantic, with populist movements setting an agenda which is in opposition to much of what [...]
In transport, safety is profit
This week saw a relatively benign announcement from Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, who is intending to hand over responsibility for track maintenance to the private [...]
Multiculturalism and the problem with public property
The left on both sides of the Atlantic has much to lament: Brexit, Trump and the last week the victory of Francois Fillon in the French Republican primary, presumably clearing [...]