Markets
Michael Sandel interview: the marketization of everything is undermining democracy
Michael Sandel is a political philosopher and a professor at Harvard University. He is best known for his ‘Justice’ course, which he has taught for over two decades. Sandel first… Continue reading
1 Comment
Italian elections: ‘The worst possible outcome’
Forget Moody’s. If you want to see market panic, just look at Italy. As Isabel reported this morning, the unexpectedly strong performance of Beppe Grillo’s anti-establishment party, the Five Star… Continue reading
74 Comments
Markets shrug off Britain’s downgrade
It seems that Moody’s downgrade of UK government bonds on Friday night has — so far — had more effect on the headlines than the markets. After the news on… Continue reading
12 Comments
Who cares about HMV? Shopping has never been better. - Spectator Blogs
How many people presently lamenting the demise of HMV (at least in its current incarnation) actually spent any money there these past, say, five years? Not too many, I suspect.… Continue reading
17 Comments
The energy sector’s Libor-style scandal
As David reported earlier, today’s Guardian carries allegations of price-fixing in the energy markets. The paper has an account by Seth Freedman, who worked as a price reporter at ICIS… Continue reading
26 CommentsGeorge Osborne, Poker Player
May God protect me from my friends. That, I suggest, should be George Osborne’s reaction to Ben Brogan’s Telegraph column this morning. As best I can tell, it’s supposed to… Continue reading
2 CommentsA welcome attempt to fix the broken energy market
Back in October, Ofgem produced a report exposing the failure of the UK’s energy market. It showed that the supplier’s profit margin on the average fuel bill had shot up… Continue reading
20 CommentsThe Italian domino effect
For all the debate about Theresa May and border security, the big news has not been at Westminster today. Instead, people have been watching what is happening in Italy. For… Continue reading
29 CommentsThoughts for the day
Charles Moore and Matthew Parris, Spectator columnists both, represent two of the distinct philosophical and intellectual tradition that make up the Conservative party these days. Their columns today should give… Continue reading
17 CommentsThe existential threat to the EU
Away from the Liverpool, the Eurozone crisis continues. Market confidence appeared to be growing after European leaders sketched a debt recapitalisation deal for Greece over the weekend. Shares in deeply… Continue reading
28 CommentsEuro-zonked
Well, so much for that. The FTSE 100 fell as much as 1.7 per cent this morning, while overnight the euro and Asian stock markets tumbled, after Europe’s leaders announced… Continue reading
14 CommentsLeadership at last?
Most of today’s papers carry reports of a deal to relieve the European sovereign debt crisis. The details are varied, but it seems that 50 per cent of Greek debt… Continue reading
27 CommentsFurther tension in the Eurozone
The Eurozone’s political crisis is deepening. Further to the news that individual member states were seeking their own bilateral deals with Greece to insure their taxpayers’ money from default, the… Continue reading
20 CommentsArresting the West’s crisis of confidence
What’s the most important geo-political event of this century? Most people would say 9/11. The Foreign Secretary believes that it is the Arab Spring. But in The Times today (£),… Continue reading
19 CommentsThe markets rout
The recent rally on the markets is now the most distant memory. Stocks continued to fall today amid concerns about the European sovereign debt crisis, negligible growth figures in the… Continue reading
26 CommentsCommon Franco-German position on Greek debt
As I wrote earlier this morning, rumours of a ‘common Franco-German position’ on Greek debt were circulating in the early hours. Details are now emerging. Nicolas Sarkozy has dropped plans… Continue reading
18 CommentsGetting a grip of the crisis
“I’m very worried, this building [the Treasury] is very worried and this government is very worried,” said George Osborne of the unfolding crisis in the Eurozone. In an interview with… Continue reading
5 CommentsEuro crisis enters a new phase
It was a problem that would be fixed with a snap of the Commissioners’ manicured fingers, but now fresh euro-storms are louring in the near distance. As predicted over the… Continue reading
21 CommentsYes, There Is A War on Drugs. Part XIV.
On the one hand, it’s good that Ed Vulliamy is in the Guardian today highlighting the appalling miseries of the Mexican Drug War; on the other it’s unfortunate that his… Continue reading
6 CommentsLords: government not championing European single market "strongly"
Tucked away in an old building, where few people knows of its existence, lives one of the most important parliamentary creatures – the House of Lords European Union Committee. Often… Continue reading
10 Comments