Like most people interested in politics I have been following the financial crisis and the manner in which politicians have … Continue reading “Public spending: the difficulty of being rational”

George Akerlof and Robert Shiller, in their recent book Animal Spirits, argued that economists tend to focus on what is … Continue reading “We’re now as unpopular as you”

Most of us are interested in politics because we believe in something, whether this is liberty, free markets or personal responsibility. … Continue reading “A time to be negative”

Classical liberals, and many Conservatives, will tend to take a dim view of government intervention, but should they be equally … Continue reading “The right and wrong form of government intervention”

I recently had a discussion with a commissioning editor of an academic publishing house who informed me that any new … Continue reading “Profiting from capitalism”

The left, we might think, has had a bad time of it intellectually over the last 15 years: socialism has … Continue reading “A guide to modern lefties”

It is now almost exactly 30 years since one of Mrs Thatcher’s iconic social policies was launched. On 20 December … Continue reading “The Right to Buy: thirty years on”

Working in a university social science environment I find myself surrounded by those who take a leftist view of the … Continue reading “The budget deficit: close your eyes and it goes away”

The debate on the future of public spending is a developing one, with Gordon Brown finally being forced to use … Continue reading “Public spending: does it matter what politicians say?”