Archive for February, 2015

I feature on a discussion in Worldbytes’ TV “Don’t shout at the telly” slot. Topics discussed include inequality and quantitative easing (QE).

Those who see themselves as practical students of the real world are condemned to never understand it. To grasp how society works demands an entirely different approach. Simply responding to what happens to be in the news is doomed to yield superficial and one-sided results. The recent calls by economics students for their tutors to […]

This is my latest article for spiked. The sanctimonious war of words against tax dodging embodies a fundamental attack on individual freedom. Although the offensive appears to be aimed mainly at wealthy individuals and multinational corporations, it threatens to undermine liberty for everyone. Economics is not the real focus of the frenzied discussion of tax […]

The pious war against tax dodging is much more dangerous than any schemes for evading or avoiding tax. When individuals or corporations act to minimise their tax payments the worst that can happen is that the authorities lose billions in tax revenue. In contrast, the stakes in the sanctimonious offensive against tax dodging are much […]

It is one of the most bewildering discussions in a confusing area. Deflation is welcomed by some economists but condemned by others as a grave threat. Some basic distinctions are necessary to understand the debate. Let’s start by outlining recent developments. The eurozone’s inflation rate fell by 0.2 per cent in the year to December […]