Democracy is an imperfect form of government – no question. As the 1784-1830 Tories successfully demonstrated, a property franchise with a low qualification is a much better way of selecting representatives, but since that is not one-man-one-vote, it is not technically a democracy. Yet genuine democracy, while it often leads to sub-optimal economic policy, nevertheless […]

The Tokugawa shogunate which ruled Japan from 1603 to 1868 is popularly thought of as a period of extreme national introversion, during which Japan closed itself off from the outside world in a feudal state for 250 years and stagnated economically. This is inaccurate. The period of shogun rule was one of sustained economic advance […]

Government debts have spiraled in the Covid-19 period and in many cases are the highest since World War II, while annual budget deficits show no sign of reducing. Meanwhile, the movement of the ultra-rich to tax havens and corporate juggling are sucking out tax capacity from the world’s fiscal systems. Global protectionism is increasing, reducing […]

The last week’s market turbulence may or may not persist and should not directly be blamed on Kamala Harris’ selection as Democrat candidate for the Presidency and her modest bounce in the polls. Instead, the focus should be on the last two decades’ economic policies, for which Harris, while not responsible, is generally an enthusiast. […]

Francis Fukuyama’s 1992 book “The End of History” propounded a Utopian vision in which the fall of Communism had left liberal democracy as the universal global ideology, ending conflict and producing an era of universal prosperity. Thirty years later, we can see the reality more clearly: the intellectual mainsprings of Communism never fell, “liberal democracy” […]

The selection of J.D. Vance as Republican Vice-Presidential candidate to Donald Trump raises the question of what economic agenda a successful Trump/Vance ticket might implement. The two have different backgrounds and intellectual histories, yet there are themes common to both men that suggest an economically sound agenda as set out below might play to both […]

The new Keir Starmer Labour government’s energy secretary Ed Miliband, former leader of the party (2010-15) has overruled his officials to ban offshore North Sea energy drilling, sued to stop a coal mine project to which the Tories had given the go-ahead, announced the resumption of new onshore solar and wind projects and promised greater […]

France’s cuisine is probably civilization’s finest creation, and its art, music and fashion aren’t bad, either. Yet the French people fall for every leftist scam that is pulled on them, notably in the second round of elections last week, and are far too prone to revere intellectuals who would best be placed in solitary confinement. […]

For 200 years, leftist political economists and low-wage sweatshops have lobbied governments to put in taxes and regulations that lower wage rates, supposedly to “create jobs.” Such interference with the market, by making labor artificially cheap prevents the “creative destruction” that alone produces productivity gains and better living standards. The policy mix that produces high […]

If polls are correct, the British “Conservative” party will suffer a huge defeat on July 4, with Labour winning a large majority and Nigel Farage’s Reform party eating a big share of the previous Tory vote, albeit winning few seats in Parliament. Given the “Conservative” party’s abominable performance in the previous 14 years of government […]