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 Juli 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 Juli 202139min
Is it time to take a 30 year fixed mortgage? Latest update on the economy. Covid corner: 1200 scientists say the UK is wrong.
Latest inflation news on both sides of the Atlantic has been grim. The debate goes on: is the surge in prices temporary?Lots of data on the Irish economy and a changed future fiscal stance: more spend...
17 Juli 202135min
Hitting the beach after July 19th? Be prepared for a shock if you are renting a car. Supply chain problems are worsening - not just for autos. Johnson's gamble looks like he's going 'all in'.
Anyone heading off after July 19th should steel themselves for sticker shock, not least for car rental prices. Inflation continues its global creep.Boris Johnson look a worried man - for very good rea...
13 Juli 202136min
