15th of May 2025 As John Lanchester recently remarked (LRB 27 April 2025) ‘However little money there is for anything else, there’s always enough money for a war’. The failures of neoliberal economics threaten all kinds of political backlashes, some of which have already been seen in the nationalist turn of international relations. ‘Military Keynesianism’ … Continue reading Military Keynesianism?
Tag: finance
New Statesman: Could John Maynard Keynes fix Trump’s tariff crisis?
This trade war is really a fight for the future of the dollar. 16/04/2025 Trump’s tariff bombardment has torn up the rules by which Western elites have lived for the last 35 years: the rules of a globalising economy under the benign guardianship of a Pax Americana. He is openly challenging opinion makers to change … Continue reading New Statesman: Could John Maynard Keynes fix Trump’s tariff crisis?
Speech in the House of Lords – Autumn Budget 2024
11th of November 2024 My Lords, there are many things to welcome in this Budget, particularly on the spending side. I am less keen on some of the tax proposals, which seem to be mean-minded and counterproductive, such as the tax on knowledge. The spending commitments are important because they reverse the disastrous policy of … Continue reading Speech in the House of Lords – Autumn Budget 2024
Speech in the House of Lords on Watchdogs 9th of September
""My Lords, I was not on the committee and therefore would like to allow myself a few mild criticisms of a very thought-provoking report. I will touch on three aspects of its central problem: “Who watches the watchdogs?” First, a bit of history might be helpful. In its present form, this challenge was created by … Continue reading Speech in the House of Lords on Watchdogs 9th of September
Milton Friedman – economic visionary or scourge of the world?
The Spectator, 13 January 2024 Monetarism, with which his name is associated, has long defined economic policy. But what would Friedman have made of the banking collapse, so soon after his death in 2006? The Keynesian economist Nicholas Kaldor called Milton Friedman one of the two most evil men of the 20th century. (Friedman was … Continue reading Milton Friedman – economic visionary or scourge of the world?
Britain’s Illusory Fiscal Black Hole
Project Syndicate 18th of September, 2024 "Shortly after taking office, the United Kingdom’s new Labour government announced the discovery of a massive shortfall in public finances. While much of the political debate has centered on the size of this fiscal hole, the real culprit is the set of arbitrary rules that British governments have imposed on themselves … Continue reading Britain’s Illusory Fiscal Black Hole
Robert Skidelsky 