When natural resources are a curse
It is in human, rather than natural resources, that the origins of material prosperity are to be found. John describes why natural resources may be a burden rather than a blessing for some developing countries.
The real culprits in Europe’s pensions crisis
The problem of the European pension gap cannot be tackled by the kind of financial engineering proposed by the European Financial Services Round Table. This is not the moment in history to argue that private pension funding is necessarily superior to state provision.
The high cost of ICI’s fall from grace
The fate of ICI demonstrates how the market disciplines unsuccessful choices of strategy; in the case of ICI it is almost unfortunate that it does so.
Copyright law has a duty to creativity
We are often told that the best way to protect artistic innovation and creativity is to extend copyright. But it is not usually the budding novelist or musician that pushes the argument.
Twenty Years of Privatisation
Twenty years after it all began, the meaning of privatisation is now clearer. Privatised businesses have fared better than nationalised ones but most have not thrived in the private sector. And the plc model does not work for monopoly services.
Rivalry keeps an industry vibrant
The proposed merger between Go and Easyjet has provoked minimal controversy. This belies the important questions it poses for the future of competition policy.
Stakeholding misconceived
Encouraging employee share ownership doesn't create a "stakeholder society". Instead, it can lead to disasters like Enron, where workers have too much riding on the success of one firm.
On John Kay’s Bookshelf – Archive page
Books that John has reviewed in the past...
A valuable lesson from fish and forests
Some economists argue that establishing clear property rights to resources is a key to economic success. But the Indonesian state’s attempt to reform ownership of the country’s forests has led to environmental catastrophe.
A New Public Sector
Since the early days of privatisation, there has been an evident need for a framework which gave operational autonomy and managerial responsibility in public services but which was not the framework of the plc. But there is merit in pluralism here too.