Saintly lies and the devil that lurks in double talk
Nothing so much undermines public regard for politics and business as the increasingly widespread practice of equivocation. In the light of the spectacle surrounding the Hutton report, this wisdom should be extended beyond the tale of St Athanasius.
Give state funding to students not their colleges
Europe once took 75 per cent of Nobel prizes; today the US does. It is less widely appreciated that this is the triumph of autonomous institutions over government-controlled ones.
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?
Why the world is not on Britain’s side
John explores one of the most enduring questions of all Englishmen abroad. Why do foreigners drive on the wrong side of the road?
Global warming? Leave it to human ingenuity
In this article John explains how human ingenuity is the most likely answer to environmental concerns in the future as it has been in the past.
There’s a lot of money in the chit-chat
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is being read because it is being read; and indeed this makes sense.
A little empathy would be good for economics
In this second part of the letter to his niece, Professor Kay discusses the gender bias that is prevalent in economics.
These are desolate times for the dismal science
In a letter to his niece John writes about the demise of economics
Bedpans should be heard no more in Whitehall
A discussion regarding foundation hospitals, in a pluralist versus centralist context, reveals some difficult choices.