Reality begins to dawn   Shortly before the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, BBC2’s “Newsnight” featured Kirsty Wark interviewing two economic experts, one Conservative, one Labour. She asked each of them to describe the measures they would recommend to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak. I found it difficult to follow their arguments because any semblance of clear thought […]

Economic Perspectives – 112 (Part 2)   [EMILE WOOLF, FEBRUARY 2022]   In Lewis Carroll’s “Through the Looking-Glass” Humpty Dumpty tells Alice: “When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less.”   Humpty’s subjective approach to verbal meanings is of little relevance to economic writing – although […]

ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES – 105 Conventional wisdom maybe – but it’s never the truth Whether it’s the belief that commitment to more infrastructure spending by the state will create more jobs; or that import tariffs are needed to protect domestic industries; or that currency manipulation can boost exports; or that a statistical figment called GDP can […]

ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES – 103 The great debate now obsessing Treasury bosses and central bankers is whether all those trillions they continue to print so obsessively are at last producing a perceptible bout of hyperinflation. Before trying to make sense of that question let’s revisit some basics.    1 – What is inflation? Although “inflation” usually […]

Economic Perspectives 101 [Emile Woolf – June 2021] It is beyond dispute that Covid’s ravages are on the wane, yet resistance to freedom appears to be far more resilient than any virus. Over two short years a so-called Conservative government, egged on by persistently dismal statistical interpretations of data compiled by its medical henchmen, has […]

ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES – 97 WHEN GOVERNMENT STOPS INTERVENING My recent essays have focused on the boost to economic growth that occurs quite naturally when obstacles are removed. I cited the positive economic consequences of Margaret Thatcher’s decision to allow markets, including the labour market, to operate freely by curbing the vice-like grip of the unions; […]

Economic Perspectives – 96           [EMILE WOOLF -7th March 2021]   GROWTH? NOT IN THIS BUDGET   We have just endured yet another March Budget in which the Chancellor sets out his strategy for balancing the nation’s expenditure plans with its available resources, principally from taxation. They are, of course, his spending priorities, and his tax-raising […]

Economic Perspectives – 94 POST-COVID CONJECTURES – FEBRUARY 2021 EMILE WOOLF While speculation is rife about what the post-Covid economy will look like, we must remember that economic fundamentals are not susceptible to alteration. They may adapt to changed circumstances, but no external modifications in society can affect the laws and principles themselves – for […]

THE ECONOMIC CHASM CONFRONTING US – A LAYMAN’S ASSESSMENT The huge economic harm caused by Covid-19 is seen and experienced clearly and directly on a daily basis. Less obvious is the damage wrought in every welfare-driven democracy whose government finds itself in the dual-role of protector and saviour. Today expectation and dependency are the norm, […]

ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES 92 – DECEMBER 2020 SOME UNSEASONAL REFLECTIONS ON MONEY Several comments and questions on my last essay deserve a thoughtful response, which is the theme of today’s essay. You may recall its references to today’s dependency culture – the “expectation syndrome” that fuels the size and cost of welfare programmes as the state’s […]