'The rise of the illiberal left'. The uselessness of economic forecasts. Your winter heating bills are going up - a lot.
The Economist has a big piece this week on ‘the rise of the illiberal left’. That newspaper is as worried about the extreme left as it is about the totalitarian right. So are we.One aspect of politica...
8 Sep 202137min
The economy rebounds. Housing plans: how flimsy are the foundations? A surprising linkage: inequality causes low interest rates and high house prices. Monetary policy dominance over?
Lots of economic data over past few days, all pointing to very robust growth as the economy reopens. Plenty of questions remain over the sustainability of that growth. Almost all countries are in the ...
3 Sep 202135min
Housing: a deep crisis met only by shallow thinking. Restaurants are closing because of labour shortages. The UK is short 100,000 lorry drivers. Higher pay means we have to pay more.
So much shallow thinking is applied to so many of our problems. Not least housing. But also low pay and inequality.The Fed gets all this, even if many do notWhy does Dublin stink? This is a public epi...
30 Aug 202137min
Stockmarket jitters: the start of the big one? Chinese attacks on corporate titans. Questioning 'conspicuous environmentalism'.
The Hong Kong stock market is off 20% from its high earlier this year. That’s the conventional definition of a bear market. Is this the start of something big - the long-awaited global market correcti...
21 Aug 202136min
Anger and fact-free belief about house prices. Is this the age of anti-austerity? Brexit: still happening as predicted. Afghanistan: if the exit was inevitable surely the method wasn't?
Anger is not a strategy. You won’t get lower house prices or lower rents by shouting at the people who bring you the facts. You certainly won’t get more houses if you vote for politicians who magnify ...
16 Aug 202141min
Berliners are revolting (over rents). Latest economic news. The politicisation of the environment. Where are Ireland's looney toons?
Jim takes us through the latest economic newsWhy has the environment become so political? Surely it’s just a big problem that needs a solution without left and right taking swings at each other?Irelan...
12 Aug 202135min
Post-pandemic economies: what will they look like? More on house prices and interest rates: normality means higher rates. So things won't be normal? Australia quietly abandons zero covid?
What does economic normality look like?We suggest that nothing will be normal until interest rates rise. Zero interest rates are connected to lots of things: income and wealth inequality, ever higher ...
31 Jul 202131min
Resuming International travel. What's China up to? Latest IMF views on the world economy. Young people and their pitchforks.
Jim has been travelling but thinks he might need to keep it quiet.China has taken a sledge hammer to its education and tech sectors. Why?Latest IMF economic forecasts on a watershed day for the Irish...
27 Jul 202139min
