When contemporary economists, politicians and journalists proclaimed the imminent arrival of “peak oil demand,” they were hardly espousing a new idea.  In fact, they were merely repeating an idea that was doing the rounds in the 1850s – an idea that was thoroughly debunked. In those days, it was coal …

It surely cannot be long before the UK government’s hated Universal Credit reforms are put on hold.  The reform, which attempts to roll six existing benefits into one, has been blamed for increases in suicide, homelessness and use of foodbanks.  To add to the government’s problems a new report from …

Public relations firm WPP is in the news today because of a shareholder revolt over the resignation of former CEO Martin Sorrell: “Almost a third of shareholders did not back the company’s pay and bonus scheme and almost 17% did not support the re-election of chairman Roberto Quarta. “Shareholders have …

Unemployment is at its lowest since the early 1970s.  And yet, the economy is performing no better than it did in the early 1980s when the unemployment rate was 12 percent.  Crucially, despite the number of jobs created and the number of unfilled vacancies increasing, wages have actually fallen slightly …

The arguments for and against fracking have been so rehearsed as to be clichéd.  For its proponents, fracking is an energy miracle that will simultaneously cut energy prices and save us all from climate change.  To its opponents it is an environmentally dangerous practice that will result in pollution, earthquakes …

As an exercise in creating unnecessary constitutional crises, Brexit is turning out to be a humdinger.  The underlying reason for this is that at no stage in the process has any decision in the chain been about Britain’s relationship with the European Union: The decision to include the promise of …

The problem with the fast-crumbling ideology introduced by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher is that, like ideologies in general, it is very all-or-nothing.  Just as communists see absolutely no place for private ownership in their version of utopia, so the neoliberal dream was of a society consisting solely of marketplaces.  …

It is often said of the internet that: “If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer; you’re the product being sold.”  What many don’t realise is that the same goes when you pay a lot less than something costs.  Newspapers are a case in point.  Back in …

Tidal power is one of the great untapped sources of renewable energy.  This is why a proposal to construct a tidal lagoon in Swansea Bay has attracted so much positive publicity.  If successful, the project would merely be the first part of a much larger system of tidal power at …

Both sides of the Brexit have economic forecasts that show just how good/bad things are going to be when somebody finally figures out what leaving the European Union actually means.  But that’s the trouble with forecasts – you only get to find out how good/bad it actually is when it …