Recent Posts

Flight shame is real but it’s not always effective

The Swedish word flygskam or its German version, Flugscham, meaning “flight shame,” is one of the words of 2019. While it’s not easy to separate its effect on airlines’ business from other factors, the countries where people are most worried about climate change do appear to be seeing drops in avoidable air traffic. In November, the number of people taking ...

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Central banks want new powers, but at what cost?

Central bankers deserve credit for saving the economy from the financial crisis. They won the battle, but not the war. So now they are asking for new powers to fix the side effects of a decade of ultra-low low and even negative interest rates. The price may be a Faustian bargain with governments. The Federal Reserve had room in 2007 ...

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Can I interest you in a 100-year Boris bond?

A new government with an ambitious fiscal plan should be bold in how it finances such a rapid increase in state spending — especially with money so cheap. Boris Johnson has won an impressive electoral mandate for his Brexit deal, regardless of the slightly overdone jitters around sterling related to his 2020 deadline for a European Union trade deal. So ...

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