Showing 1 - 10 of 149
Brexit's parallels with Trump's tariffs tell a tale
News, Published on 06/08/2025
» In figuring out why the US tariff shock hasn't sent the economy or financial world into a tailspin, Britain's exit from the European Union trade bloc provides something of a playbook -- and without a particularly happy ending.
Forget American exceptionalism, it's a tri polar world
News, Published on 11/01/2025
» In 2024, the watchword in financial markets was "American exceptionalism", as the US economy and markets left the rest of the world in the dust. But as the calendar turns, it may now be time to remove these geographic blinders to consider the larger regional competition likely to reshape the global economy in the coming years. We may be in the midst of a long-term global growth cycle driven by intensifying competition in the critical areas of artificial intelligence, green technology, and security between the world's three dominant regions: the Americas, Asia and Europe. (It's what I refer to as the Tri Polar World.)
Yes, let's reverse Brexit (just a bit) for Gen Z
News, Published on 07/09/2024
» What's the point of Keir Starmer's massive electoral majority if he remains hesitant to do something for young people on Brexit that's not just compassionate and sensible, but also very popular?
I'm with the band -- how music made me British
News, Published on 31/08/2024
» 'Wonderwall' is all I remember. The rest of Oasis is a blur to me. I was still living in New York City when the band had their global breakthrough -- and that song was everywhere. From the album (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, it's one of the few mid-1990s songs whose lyrics this Boomer can remember. I admired its Beatles-like off-kilter poetics, its love-will-save-the-day (if not, maybe it'll just save me) sentimentality. And Liam Gallagher's voice, while not beautiful, was pure plaintive Britpop, a plangent inflexion echoing from as far back as 1962's Love Me Do by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
Paris Olympics can help unify a fractured city
News, Published on 26/07/2024
» Paris faces the test this week of launching the Olympic Games safely and affordably at a time of war, political polarisation and social unrest. It's not a done deal. Heavy-handed security barriers and Covid-style QR codes are already infuriating residents and tourists trying to navigate a River Seine that's been cleaned at great expense.
Labour's win gives Britain a chance
News, Published on 06/07/2024
» Ever since Rishi Sunak's rain-sodden announcement to call a general election on July 4, one question has hung over British politics: Will Labour win by a landslide or just a regular majority?
Time to put brakes on immigration
News, Published on 04/01/2024
» No politician can be expected to tell us all of the truth. If they did so, they would lose an election even for town dogcatcher. Nonetheless it doesn't seem too much to suggest, in this season of hope, that 2024 might go significantly better than 2023 if more of our leaders around the world acknowledged realities about some of the troubles that beset us.
Time to close the clean-tech gap
News, Published on 04/09/2023
» In the debate about how to curb global warming, climate action is often confused for climate justice. Many European countries (including the United Kingdom) have taken to self-flagellation, atoning for their long history of burning fossil fuels by attempting to decarbonise their domestic economies as quickly as possible, no matter the cost.
Rishi Sunak is a new and old-fashioned Tory
News, Published on 27/10/2022
» It is a nice coincidence that Rishi Sunak has won the leadership of the Conservative Party, and hence the prime ministership, on the most important day of Diwali, the "festival of light" celebrated by Hindus, along with Sikhs, Jains, and some Buddhists. Diwali supposedly marks the triumph of "light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance". It is also associated with wealth and prosperity. In February 2020, Mr Sunak took his oath of office as chancellor of the exchequer holding a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and celebrated Diwali by putting lights outside his official residence at Number 11 Downing Street. He will now be the first Hindu to become UK prime minister. His time in office will hinge on his ability to deliver a reasonable measure of prosperity to a country that is in dire economic straits.
