Why a tolerant society is not a free society
Individual freedom is the libertarian ideal, the abstract value which guides moral action. As a political idea, libertarianism emerged in the latter part of the 19th century from liberalism, the overarching political paradigm to come from the Enlightenment. Liberalism centred the individual, both as the architect of his own destiny through his faculty for [...]
Total catastrophe: the Chinese bad debt time bomb
When China reported 3rd quarter DGP figures last week, it was no surprise to see a 3rd straight quarter of 6.7% annual growth, placing them comfortably in the government’s [...]
Why the press should be free to slander
Back in 2011 the phone hacking scandal which led to the demise of the News of the World newspaper had politicians take aim at the free press. The subsequent Leveson Inquiry [...]
Keynesian coin toss: heads I win, tails you lose
The aftermath of the financial crisis has been the era of the central banks. Never before have our supposedly infallible monetary overlords been charged with so much [...]
What Pompeii can teach us about inequality
When Mount Vesuvius erupted in A.D. 79 the ancient Roman city of Pompeii was buried in volcanic ash. The disaster killed every citizen, but the thick ash also prevented air [...]
Scotland: Spoiled, broke and angry
The Scottish National Party is staging its annual conference this week amidst renewed calls for a 2nd Scottish independence referendum. Nicola Sturgeon is of the opinion that [...]
Why does our PM think it is important who makes your chocolate bar?
It seems the UK’s new government has little faith in markets. Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech to the Conservative Conference last week marked the move of the party to [...]
Endangered, Vulnerable and Threatened: rare species need saving from government too
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), nearly a quarter of all mammals and a third of amphibians face extinction unless action is taken. For action, most look to [...]
Déjà vu: May shadows the Shadow Chancellor
’Fair’ is a word often misused in political discourse, but it is fair to say that the UK's new Prime Minister delivered a fairly economically illiterate, but populist and [...]
What you, and the regulators, should know about bank capital and market discipline
Deutsche Bank has hit the headlines recently, as the US Department of Justice slapped an incredulous fine of USD 14bn on them for mis-selling of mortgage backed securities [...]
It is governments who make and break the banks
There is trouble in Germany’s largest bank. Deutsche Bank’s shares are taking a hiding, down 17% in the last week and a colossal 60% and counting in the last 12 months. [...]