Lemon economics
Tobacco companies are allowed to make no claims for their product at all, except that it is bad for you. An economist’s perspective on advertising may explain why.
Test of possession
“Ownership” is not a simple concept. I own my umbrella, and companies are owned by their shareholders. The word means different things in different situations.
Don’t just do it
When should a government intervene in the market? It is not clear what New Labour thinks is the answer.
Redistibutive market liberalism (New Statesman)
For most of the last century, political debate on economic issues has been dominated by socialism. The agenda and the language of soci...
Private finance initiative
Public investment is now prioritised according to whether it can be disguised by the private finance initiative: Goodhart’s Law has come into play once again.
Passes and returns
Dalglish arrives at Newcastle and Horlick moves to ABN Amro. The common theme: do teams, or individuals, capture the returns to outstanding performance?
A German lesson
The great German experiment teaches us a great deal. One of the lessons is that microeconomic policy is of critical important.
Investment quality
Does it matter if all of Britain's electricity generating companies are owned by Americans? Neither laissez-faire nor chauvinism is the appropriate response to foreign ownership.
A Theory of the Social Market
The communitarian view of politics and society - whereby our actions and views are inseperable from the communities in which we live - is not incompatible with mainstream economic thinking. Rather, it heightens our understanding of how markets work.
What’s in a name?
What is a brand? Sometimes it is a quality certificate and sometimes, simply part of the product itself. It matters which.