Tag: Theory

The story of the everlasting light bulb is one of the hoariest myths in business economics. But the myth is indeed a myth.

As All England Club strives once more to foil ticket touts, the professional economist views the idea of the “just price” with patronising and detached amusement. But is he right?

In this talk, John describes some of the differences between an economic approach to regulation - concerned with indentifying market failures - and how markets mechanisms can be best adapted to deal with them. He contrasts this with the legal style of regulation which has been the historic basis of monitoring financial services. The conclusion is that we might manage our financial services better if, in inventing the regulation, the role of economists were greater.

Who really benefits from copyright laws? “Artists for strong copyright” seem not to understand for whose interests they are campaigning.

In which Rebel Without A Cause illuminates the risks and the rewards of making credible commitments.

The reason competitive markets work is because, over time, we have stumbled on processes which force people to reveal what they really want and how much they want it.

Why not diversify by buying a tracker fund? Because what is representative of the stock market is not at all representative of the British economy.

The equity risk premium seems very high; but perhaps it has just been an unusually good century for equity investors.

Our social attitudes, and our economic institutions – from the welfare state to the commercial legal system – depend on the increasingly tenuous distinction between nature, nurture and personal responsibility.

Wednesday 28th October 1998 In the last of these seminars, John Gray described the social liberal position in equality, which he contrasted with what he...