Adam Smith’s An Inquiry into the Nature and Cause of the Wealth of Nations (The Wealth of Nations, TWoN) is one of those books that many people refer to, but few have actually read. Possibly not surprising, since the Penguin version consists of 522 packed pages. But, crucially, in contrast…
The current Iranian president [Ahmadinejad] gives all the impression of being a madman. Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons threatens to inject a dangerous degree of instability in the Middle East (with potentially inestimable disaster as a result). However, taking a somewhat longer view, the question should possibly be asked whether…
Whether you supported the invasion of Iraq or not – and I did and still think it was the right thing to do – it now seems clear that the aftermath was handled abysmally badly by the US and UK governments. Now (winter 2006) they are desperate to get out…
The last time the US current account was in surplus for any sustained period of time was up to 1982. An America in hock to the rest of the world and dependent on daily inflows of – at the latest count – $2.4 billion per day is such an accepted…
Another G8 meeting has come and gone. There was a massive build-up, occasioned by events – Iraq War, renewed warfare between Israel and its neighbours, high oil prices – as well as, in this case, by the host. For the first time Russia was hosting a G8 meeting, raising the…
The German economy is finally picking up. Part of this strength comes from exports. Despite all the hype about China, Germany is still the world’s largest expoerter in absolute terms. But there is also a clear recovery in domestic demand. You would have thought that this should be greeted with…
I have formulated three laws of economics. Like many such laws, they may appear obvious. But I don’t think this detracts from their truth. Stein’s first law of economics: When someone tells you, this time it’s different, sell. If they advance esoteric theories to back up their statement, sell at…
Last Saturday (3rd June, 2006) was Tax Freedom Day (TFD) for the UK. I take a certain interest in this, as I actually calculate TFD for the United Kingdom. For those of you who don’t know what TFD is, here is a brief explanation. Assume that from 1st January every…
