Subscribe

economics

Low skill economy? More like wrong skill economy

Low skill economy? More like wrong skill economy

I was chatting to a Dutchman the other day who said if he was choosing anywhere to live in Europe, it would be Britain. Why, I asked? Because, he said rather unexpectedly, of Britain’s education system. In the Netherlands and much of mainland Europe, he said, university students tended

We need more maps

We need more maps

Were it not for a mapping error, or rather a series of them, Christopher Columbus might never have sailed for America. When he set out across the Atlantic in 1492, the Italian explorer did so confident in the understanding that provided he headed in a roughly straight line westwards from

Energy and Inflation: A Series of Unfortunate Events

Energy and Inflation: A Series of Unfortunate Events

Sellindge is a village in Kent just off the A20 between Ashford and Folkestone. It is so small - just over 1,000 inhabitants - that most people barely notice it as they speed down towards the English Channel in their cars or on the Eurostar. But if you were

Why Joe Biden’s tax proposals are a big deal

Why Joe Biden’s tax proposals are a big deal

I’ve just written a column [https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/joe-biden-is-taking-on-the-tax-havens-and-china-nkwjg0w3m] about something which is, or has the potential to be, enormously important: the US Treasury’s plans to reform business taxes. But as is often the case, I’ve had to compress large parts of the stuff

Mind the (housing) gap

Mind the (housing) gap

Britain’s housing market has long been more complicated than anyone would like to admit. There is, we are told, a terrible housing shortage. Yet large parts of the country have so many vacant houses that they are being dismantled. We are told there is a disastrous gap between London

Notes, railways and bitcoins

Notes, railways and bitcoins

Is it only a matter of time before central banks nationalise cryptocurrency? I ask the question because if you look back through history it feels like one plausible chain of events. And for a long time when people asked me about the long term fate of things like Bitcoin I’

Bitcoin, money and the planet

Bitcoin, money and the planet

I want to start with a story about a new, exciting form of money. It is a financial technology which promised to change the world, making it easier for people to transact with each other. Unlike other forms of money, which could be easily debased, driving up inflation and potentially