Archive for October, 2011

This is the first part of my inflation cover story for Fund Strategy. I will paste the second part tomorrow. The often acrimonious debate about the risks of runaway inflation is split into two hostile camps. On one side, the hawks argue that the huge monetary stimulus underway in western economies will sooner or later […]

Following yesterday’s post on the protests on Wall Street it seems that they have the support of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor. According to her spokesman the protestors’ actions reflect “deep concern and legitimate desire for human justice” and she has sympathy for their cause.

Those who support Occupy Wall Street (OWS) and similar protests should ask themselves why it has enjoyed a sympathetic hearing from many of the world’s leaders. Among those American politicians who have supported the sentiment, if not necessarily the tactics, of the protestors are President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi, the […]

Fund Strategy has published a cover story by me on the debate between inflation “hawks” and “doves”. It is a long piece so I will paste the text over the next few days. The article is available to read here.

This is my regular weekly Perspective column for Fund Strategy magazine. Given how hard Britain is finding it to escape from its economic morass, it is strange that the economic solutions sound so easy. GDP is still substantially below its peak in the spring of 2008, before the financial crisis really hit, despite two years […]

No doubt many eurosceptics feel smug about the eurozone crisis. If only they looked more closely they would see that British economic policymaking embodies most of the key flaws of the institution they despise. It is true that holding on to sterling has given Britain more flexibility than it would have had with the euro. […]

Novo, a German magazine, has published an article by me arguing that achieving a global population of seven billion is a reason to celebrate. Below is my original English text. It is a safe bet that there will be an outpouring of anxiety as the world approaches the date when its population is estimated to […]

I will be taking part in the great population debate in Berlin on Wednesday evening. Everyone is welcome to attend. The event will be in English.

This is my regular weekly Perspective column for Fund Strategy magazine. There is a huge and largely unnoticed hole at the centre of the discussion of the eurozone crisis. Hardly anyone seems aware of the possibility that greater democracy could help Europe to grapple with its economic problems. If anything, the trend is in the […]

This is my regular weekly Perspective column for Fund Strategy magazine. It is often forgotten that there are common elements to the euro­zone crisis and the economic plight of America. One of the most striking is the role of what could be called “vendor finance”. The term is more widely used in relation to consumer […]