If ever you see a €100 banknote in the gutter, don’t bother to stop. If it were real, someone would … Continue reading “No ruse to save the euro”

Martin Wolf recently committed the Financial Times to a $71.88 lunch-time interview with Paul Krugman. Whatever the quality of the … Continue reading “The answer is ‘inflation’. What was the question?”

Mainstream macroeconomics presents monetary and fiscal interventions as independent policy options, and this spills over to institutional structures. In the … Continue reading “Economic fundamentals and the eurozone”

The European Central Bank (ECB) sits at the centre of a clearing system (‘TARGET2’) for national central banks (NCBs) within … Continue reading “The ECB cannot hold back the tide of euro credit and banknotes”

Lord Robert Skidelsky is unlikely to have understood the anecdote in his opening remarks in the LSE Hayek/Keynes debate. He … Continue reading “Hayek’s overcoat”

Keynes gave little thought to generalities. He acknowledged that his prescriptions were limited to the special circumstances of the 1930s. … Continue reading “Keynesian paradoxes”

The condemnation of benefit fraud and tax avoidance obscures a difference. Benefit cheats make fraudulent claims upon the earnings of … Continue reading “Democracy and taxation”

State infrastructure projects may be funded by private capital through PFI (private finance initiative) contracts.This week, BBC Radio’s File on … Continue reading “No situation is so bad that government intervention cannot make it worse”

The decision to abandon nuclear power will increase Germany’s short-term dependency upon fossil fuel as it engages with long-term aspirations … Continue reading “A Promethean tragedy: the ultimate green economy”