Forget the polls endorsing lockdowns and look at how people actually behave October 28, 2020 Economics is at long last storming the bastions of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE). This citadel of epidemiologists and health professionals has for many months resisted the lessons which the so-called gloomy science can bring. In the context of Covid-19, economics is in fact a beacon of hope. This week, news broke of [...]
For the millions in digital poverty, local lockdowns mean utter isolation October 28, 2020 The debate around levelling up and the UK’s North/South divide has been reignited with a vengeance. With Greater Manchester pushed into Tier 3 last week along with Lancashire, and Warrington following yesterday, by the end of this week eight million people will be living under the strictest set of lockdown rules, predominantly in the north [...]
Too harsh or too generous? Rishi Sunak walks the job support tightrope October 27, 2020 Last Thursday, the chancellor gave his third economic statement in a month — U-turning on plans to replace the furlough scheme with a far less generous new Job Support Scheme (JSS) at the end of October. Instead, the JSS will now offer a level of government support almost as generous as that provided by the [...]
Why I’m calling the US election for Biden and the Democrats October 27, 2020 Given the absolute lunacy of this past year, the American presidential campaign of 2020 has followed a strikingly consistent pattern. Since the coming of the virus in the spring, Democratic challenger Joe Biden has held a clear (if not quite overwhelming) lead over the incumbent Donald Trump. Last Thursday’s Real Clear Politics aggregator of polls [...]
US election: Nervous New Yorkers sleepwalking toward polling day October 27, 2020 Taking a bus from New York’s John F Kennedy airport and through Long Island provides an insightful snapshot into some of the realities of 21st century America. In the one hour it took yesterday to drive from one of America’s largest airports to my accommodation in Brooklyn, I saw poverty that was akin to that [...]
Doctor, Doctor: How can we cure our chronic NHS shortage? October 27, 2020 Shortages of PPE and ventilators have been at the top of the agenda during this pandemic, but such attention has masked a far more intractable problem: the global shortage of doctors. According to one forecast, in 10 years there will be a global deficit of 400,000 doctors, with that undersupply spread between 32 OECD countries. [...]
Why I’m calling for a £15bn National Renewal Fund to support growing businesses October 27, 2020 Some 90 years ago, a government committee set up to examine the health of the British economy identified a persistent shortfall in funding for small and medium-sized businesses. This shortfall was termed the Macmillan Gap — named not after the politician but after the Scottish lawyer, Hugh Macmillan, who chaired the committee. As the saying [...]
Modern Monetary Theory: A shared delusion that will destroy the economy October 27, 2020 As Rishi Sunak announced another multi-billion-pound support package last week, most numerate people would have been boggling at the numbers. How are we ever going to pay all that money back? Surely it means years of austerity, high taxes, or debt for our children and grandchildren to repay? But there is a growing and increasingly [...]
It’s 2020 — why are we still debating whether period products are essential? October 27, 2020 On Monday, while alcohol was vital enough to feature in a Tesco branch only providing essential items in Cardiff, period products were nowhere to be found. The supermarket giant explained to a confused customer on Twitter that period products simply weren’t considered essential enough to be stocked for the duration of the fire break lockdown [...]
The magic of mentoring can unleash an entrepreneurial revolution October 27, 2020 During times of uncertainty, great opportunity emerges from the darkness. That’s why new businesses are created in the midst of economic recessions. It might seem reckless to launch a company during this time of enormous disruption in society, but this is a chance to unleash our wildest dreams and experiment with new ideas. When big [...]