I’m not a practising economist, but I did read an economics course at university, along with psychology. Because of it, I’m probably slightly better equipped to understand what’s going on now than the average Jo(e). The word “slightly” is important here because it means...

Here at Syntagma Towers we groaned at the news that Edward Kennedy is to get an honorary Knighthood at the request of Gordon Brown, a long term friend of the Massachusetts Senator. The fate of Mary Jo Kopechne, left to drown at Chappaquiddick Island by the younger brother of JFK, destroyed Ted Kenne...

Hold the front page! The printing presses are rolling and will not stop any time soon. The Age of Quantitative Easing has begun in Britain, and true to our swashbuckling past, it’s the real thing. Fiddlesticks to purchasing assets by issuing gilt-edged bonds that add to the National Debt. That...

Imagine visiting the newly elected President of a major friendly country in a time of economic stress, and arguing that the very people who elected him to office should not be given preference in his decisionmaking. Instead, they should be delivered up to the abstract opinions of unaccountable inter...

What is Emily Maitlis on? Emily Maitlis and Nick Owen on the BBC News Channel The Newsnight presenter is usually somber and on the ball during her late night appearances in Jeremy Paxman’s chair. But catch her after lunch on the BBC’s News Channel and she giggles like a schoolgirl, often...

Gordon Brown’s new back-to-the-future idea is to introduce “old fashioned banking” again to the High Street. After all, banks lend out other people’s money, so should be careful where they put it. He will “ban” 100 percent mortgages, make borrowers save up their d...

As a person without any debts, and four bank accounts coloured black, I awoke yesterday morning to find the country’s National Debt at £2 trillion ($3tr) and more. That represents more than £60,000 ($86,000) and rising per household. It dwarfs Britain’s annual national income of £1.4 ...

Tax evasion is in the news again and, yes, little Liechtenstein is in the thick of it. Glen Moreno, who is said to have advised some of our top banks on “tax evasion” and was appointed to head up the committee overseeing the partly-nationalized British banks, has been named and shamed an...

Protectionism is not for us, says Gordon Brown in exclusive Davos yesterday. So too does Peter (Lord) Mandelson, who has his own vested interest. Brown should realize that if a leader refuses to protect his own nation, he is by default giving comfort to the rest of the world. The Prime Minister can ...

David Cameron’s long-hinted-at Shadow Cabinet reshuffle is taking its time. We have to wait, it seems, for Caroline Spellman’s naughty girl investigation by a Parliamentary watchdog. On any scale of comparison with Labour’s and some individual MP’s indiscretions, SpellmanR...