We must not attempt to bring the failed Iran Deal back to life May 9, 2019 The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), signed in a fanfare of publicity in 2015 between Iran and six countries, was hailed at the time as the way to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions. In exchange for suspending its nuclear programme, Iran would secure massive sanctions relief. The world would be free from the menace of [...]
Biden his time: Obama’s vice president Joe Biden launches White House run April 25, 2019 Former Democratic US vice president Joe Biden will seek his party’s nomination for President, he confirmed this morning after months of speculation. Biden, who was number two to Barack Obama from 2009 to 2017, embarks on his third run for the White House with a centrist campaign. Read more: Bernie ‘socialist’ Sanders is the Democrats’ [...]
Oil prices reach fresh 2019 high as US tightens sanctions on Iran April 22, 2019 The price of crude oil climbed over three per cent today following the announcement by the US government that it will end exemptions from Iranian oil sanctions that it granted to countries such as China, India and Japan. Read more: Oil prices reach new 2019 high as tensions rise in Libya Secretary of state Mike Pompeo [...]
Michelle Obama’s Becoming memoir sells 10m copies March 26, 2019 Former first lady Michelle Obama's memoir has sold 10m copies after just five months on shop shelves, helping push revenues at her publisher to its highest in more than a decade. Read more: Uber cars stock children's books in drive to boost bedtime reading German media giant Bertelsmann has a 75 per cent stake in Penguin Random [...]
Raising corporation tax may seem like a vote winner, but it makes all of us poorer March 14, 2019 Last year, parliament passed a law requiring the UK’s overseas territories (OTs) – including Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the Virgin Islands – to publish lists of the “beneficial owners” of the companies registered in them. The sponsors of the law claimed it was a crime-fighting measure. Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell justified the law by [...]
Trump was brave to leave North Korea empty-handed March 7, 2019 He came he saw, he left empty-handed. For the self-proclaimed consummate deal-maker that is President Donald Trump, it would not be an understatement to say that last week’s second summit with Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un on North Korea’s prospective denuclearisation did not go quite according to plan. Trump’s gamble had been that his personal rapport with [...]
On climate change, good economics sadly does not make good politics January 30, 2019 Economists, of all people, should understand the power of specialisation. They are taught early that prosperity is founded on the division of labour: individuals becoming more productive in specific tasks. Yet when dispensing policy advice, they seem to ignore that lesson, presuming that they know better than politicians about good politics. Economists frequently claim that [...]
We have paved the way for the next financial crisis December 6, 2018 Optimists believe that the last decade of roiling financial crisis and austerity is behind us, and that current fears of trade war, Brexit, populism, and market crashes are overblown. They hope for a global economy poised for many years of growth, increasing personal wealth and prosperity, and political stability. Sadly, hope is never a strategy. Realists, [...]
Which way for markets? It’s all about the midterms November 6, 2018 Americans will cast their vote in the US midterm elections today, and the results will set the tone for stock markets around the world. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs, while 35 of the 100 Senate seats will be on offer too. The big picture result will centre around [...]
Governmental failure has left millions of Nigerians in the dark November 5, 2018 Government is, as former President Barack Obama pointed out, just that name for what we do together. Unfortunately, in some of the poorer parts of the world, it’s really the name for what does not get done at all. Nigeria is a prime example. It is a large oil producer with plentiful resources. It is [...]