The king of Bhutan wants to make us all happier. Governments, he says, should aim to maximize their people’s Gross National Happiness rather than their Gross National Product. Does this new emphasis on happiness represent a shift or just a passing fad? It is easy to see why governments should de-emphasize economic growth when it … Continue reading Happiness Is Equality
Author: Robert Skidelsky
Economist and member of the House of Lords
Keynes, Hobson, Marx
I. President Lyndon Johnson asked John Kenneth Galbraith to write him a speech on economic policy. After glancing at it LBJ said 'You know Ken, the trouble with economics is it's like peeing in your pants. It feels hot to you, but leaves everyone else cold'. I felt a lot of sympathy with LBJ this … Continue reading Keynes, Hobson, Marx
Does economic growth make you happy?
Adair Turner is the jewel in the crown of British public servants. He is one of a tiny minority in public life today capable of thinking and acting at the highest level. Economics after the Crisis, based on three lectures he delivered at the London School of Economics in 2010, is a thinking person’s delight, … Continue reading Does economic growth make you happy?
Go left, go right… go downhill
Refreshed by his summer holiday, David Cameron vowed to “get Britain moving again”. A slew of kick-starting initiatives has followed, most of them the brainchild of his government’s one-man think tank, Vince Cable. The figures are dire. After a tepid recovery from the collapse of 2008, the British economy has started shrinking again. Most forecasters … Continue reading Go left, go right… go downhill
Hayek, the market and the good life: an exchange
Robert Skidelsky and Karen Horn This exchange is in response to "Self-appointed messiahs of the nanny state", a review of How Much is Enough? by Karen Horn in the July/August issue of Standpoint. Robert Skidelsky: Everyone is aware of the political collapse of socialism, victim of an overambitious attempt to plan the future. Less clearly … Continue reading Hayek, the market and the good life: an exchange
Big Countries, Small Wars
US President Barack Obama has vowed to avenge the murder of J. Christopher Stevens, America’s former ambassador to Libya. How he proposes to do this is unclear – historical precedent is of little use. In 1864, the Emperor of Abyssinia took hostage the British consul, together with some missionaries, in the country's then-capital, Magdala. Three … Continue reading Big Countries, Small Wars
Why we need weekends
By Robert Skidelsky and Edward Skidelsky Did you think that it was only in Victorian England that debtors were forced into the workhouse? Think again. This week a leaked letter revealed that Greece's eurozone creditors are demanding a six-day week as a condition of the latest bailout. Of all the far-out ideas for solving the … Continue reading Why we need weekends
Leisure Time
To the Editor: Richard A. Posner’s critical review of our book, “How Much Is Enough?: Money and the Good Life” (Aug. 19), hinges on one argument. He says that if, as we suggest, people in rich societies (and we are talking about rich societies) worked 20 hours a week on average rather than 40, they … Continue reading Leisure Time
The Olympics should have taught us the benefits of picking winners
Despite the Olympic euphoria, there is growing pessimism about the short-term prospects of the British economy. The new orthodoxy is that Britain is too sickly to be cured by a short-term fix; policy should concentrate on bringing about sustainable long-term growth. This rules out an immediate boost to public spending and swings the debate to … Continue reading The Olympics should have taught us the benefits of picking winners
Dear George… Advice to George Osborne
Dear George, Cutting public spending when there is no other source of growth in the economy is a sure-fire strategy for recession. As if the lack of recovery wasn't bad enough, the lack of growth also scuppers your deficit-reduction goals – the very reason for austerity in the first place. Like throwing away the engine … Continue reading Dear George… Advice to George Osborne
Robert Skidelsky 