Don’t get too hung up on inflation measures
Index number experts are the economic analogue of trainspotters. John explains why the Chancellor should direct attention to a broader range of monetary measures instead of redefining the inflation index.
Economic forecasting will never be an exact science
John explains why reliable economic forecasting is, in principle, impossible
Galileo and the lure of amateur economics
A comparison of DIY economics - the things everyone knows but aren't so - with DIY physics.
A touch posting for any captain of industry
Sometimes there are stranded businesses - once successful companies whose competitive advantage has disappeared. Does Barclays new chief executive find himself in this position?
The public always comes last in trade talks
What went wrong at Cancun? The core problem is that industrial pressure groups have gained too much influence on economic policy.
Electricity failures should come as no shock
Are the increasingly frequent failures in electricity supply the result of privatisation and deregulation?
A message from Macbeth, and Adam Smith
The invisible hand is the most widely used metaphor in economics. What did Adam Smith (or William Shakespeare, who coined the phrase) really mean?
Imperial China fell prey to a lack of pluralism
Unravelling one of the great puzzles of economic history - why did economic development take off three centuries ago in North West Europe, not South East China?
Big media can never be truly creative media
Is it inevitable that media industries will be dominated by conglomerates? This is the industry where scale creates more problem than its advantages
When the heat is on the cool places still prosper
The connection between a country’s climate and its wealth can prove elusive.