Innovation levels and the Research and Development (R&D) efforts which underpin them in UK firms are integral to economic growth … Continue reading “How bank shocks affect the innovation activity of UK firms”

The Vatican recently issued a letter on economic and financial matters. Quite unlike many recent communications on those issues, it … Continue reading “The best Vatican document on economics for some time”

It is important for any expert to know their limits. It could be argued that economists ‘oversell’ themselves and pretend … Continue reading “Economists – know your limits!”

Do you ever wonder why banking, more than any other industry, is so prone to instability? Why, nearly ten years … Continue reading “Review: ‘The End of Alchemy’ by Mervyn King”

  Many commentators try to fill us with a sense of economic foreboding, basing their reasoning on the amount of … Continue reading “Debt alarmism”

Karl Marx may have been wrong about most things, but he certainly had a knack of creating telling phrases. “The … Continue reading “Corruption makes economies less crisis-resilient”

Conventional economics has it that businesses adjust their investment spending decisions according to changes in the cost of capital.  At … Continue reading “Monetary policy: overrated”

Scott Sumner produced an excellent blog post on Piketty recently. It begins by quoting Piketty: ‘In my view, there is … Continue reading “Why is Piketty so certain about things which are probably completely wrong?”

Do you ever feel government isn’t fit for purpose? The evidence suggests you’re not alone. The EU elections saw anti-establishment … Continue reading “The state is in crisis – but free marketeers are losing the battle for reform”