Recently, at a literary festival in Britain, I found myself on a panel discussing free speech. For liberals, free speech is a key index of freedom. Democracies stand for free speech; dictatorships suppress it. When we in the West look outward, this remains our view. We condemn governments that silence, imprison, and even kill writers … Continue reading Free Speech under Siege
Category: Journalism
Lumpy Labour
As the world recovers from the Great Recession, it has become increasingly difficult to discern the true trend of events. On the one hand, we measure recovery by our success in regaining pre-recession levels of growth, output, and employment. On the other hand, there is a disquieting sense that today’s “new normal” may be slower … Continue reading Lumpy Labour
Democracy or Finance?
“Shorting” is a tactic well known among the financial cognoscenti. It means betting against an asset with borrowed money in the expectation of making a profit when its value goes down. A speculator can “short” a government by borrowing its debt at its current price, in the hope of selling it later at a lower … Continue reading Democracy or Finance?
For a National Investment Bank
By Robert Skidelsky and Felix Martin President Obama is in a bind. He knows that the economic recovery is fragile and dependent on continued fiscal stimulus—hence the bipartisan deal on further tax breaks he brokered in December. But he also knows that the tolerance in Washington for deficits of close to 10 percent of Gross … Continue reading For a National Investment Bank
The Osborne Ultimatum
The ideas of two dead economists, David Ricardo and J M Keynes, are shaping the cuts debate. The coalition is in thrall to the former’s small-government agenda and says there is no alternative – but its plans aren’t working. The course of deficit cutting has been set in stone and few expected that the Budget, … Continue reading The Osborne Ultimatum
Imperialism Reclaimed
History has no final verdicts. Major shifts in events and power bring about new subjects for discussion and new interpretations. Fifty years ago, as de-colonization accelerated, no one had a good word to say for imperialism. It was regarded as unambiguously bad, both by ex-imperialists and by their liberated subjects. Schoolchildren were taught about the … Continue reading Imperialism Reclaimed
A Way out of Britain’s Growth Dilemma
Co-authored with Felix Martin As he prepares for Wednesday’s Budget, George Osborne, chancellor, faces a dilemma. On the one hand the recovery has stalled even before his cuts have started. On the other the simple solution of relaxing austerity plans to stave off a double-dip recession is financially and politically unrealistic. Fortunately, there is a … Continue reading A Way out of Britain’s Growth Dilemma
Unsettling America
Is there more to be said about Egypt? Hosni Mubarak has been sacrificed to save the military regime. A “strongman” who cannot keep order in the streets is of no use to anyone. Whether “democracy” will ensue is much more dubious. Judging on the basis of Pakistan, and much of the rest of the Muslim … Continue reading Unsettling America
Vince Cable is working. The Coalition isn’t.
Vince Cable’s essay in the 17 January issue of the New Statesman (“Keynes would be on our side”) is the first, and very welcome, sign of a senior coalition politician being willing to engage in a serious public debate on economic policy. It is in a different intellectual league from the jejune meditations of the … Continue reading Vince Cable is working. The Coalition isn’t.
Life after Capitalism
In 1995, I published a book called The World After Communism. Today, I wonder whether there will be a world after capitalism. That question is not prompted by the worst economic slump since the 1930’s. Capitalism has always had crises, and will go on having them. Rather, it comes from the feeling that Western civilization … Continue reading Life after Capitalism
Robert Skidelsky 