The truth about trade
The one subject, which became a headline issue last year, and even divides experts is trade. It will become increasingly important in 2018 as…
Inflation v Deflation – State Finances
There is a general belief, and that is all it is, that state finances fare better in an inflationary environment than a deflationary one….
Deflation must be embraced
There are two problems with understanding deflation: it is ill defined, and it has a bad name. This article puts deflation into its proper…
Will macro-economists ever learn?
As we lurch through successive credit crises, central bankers and economists believe they learn valuable lessons every time, and that the ultimate prize, the…
Cryptos may destabilise fiat
The assumption in some quarters is that crypto-currencies will replace gold as money, or at least challenge it. This is an error borne out…
The productivity myth
Every now and then, there’s a rash of commentary on national productivity. And for the British, productivity is all part of the Brexit angst,…
The upcoming increase in interest rates
Last week, both Janet Yellen of the Fed and Mark Carney of the Bank of England prepared financial markets for interest rate increases. The…
Social destruction by the abuse of money
In Britain, the top 1% of earners pay over a quarter of all income tax collected, and while super-rich British residents perhaps don’t have…
The forthcoming global crisis
The global economy is now in an expansionary phase, with bank credit being increasingly available for non-financial borrowers. This is always the prelude to…
Further thoughts on Gibson’s paradox
“The paradox is one of the most completely established empirical facts in the whole field of quantitative economics.” – John Maynard Keynes “The Gibson…