Peak oil is less than a decade away
18 Nov 2010 [3 Comments | 1,721 views]
Peak oil is meant to describe that future time when the supply of oil goes into permanent decline. It’s the date some fear; others dismiss it, saying it’s a very long way off indeed. But both sides of the peak oil debate agree on one thing. The day it arrives will be a bleak day. [...]
Did the recession really cause permanent damage?
17 Nov 2010 [1 Comment | 465 views]
Martin Weale, a member of the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee, made a speech earlier this week outlining what he thought the permanent costs were from the recession. He reckons the UK will always be 2½ to 5 per cent poorer as a result. We disagree. In fairness to Doctor Weale, he did put [...]
What is internet really worth to UK economy?
28 Oct 2010 [0 Comments | 488 views]
According to a study revealed by Google, the Internet now accounts for 7.2 per cent of the UK’s GDP. Actually, it is not that simple. Sixty per cent of this £100bn is in the form of online shopping. And yet, if there was no Net, surely consumers would still make their purchases, they would just [...]
Fractals, chaos and the legacy of Mandelbrot
19 Oct 2010 [1 Comment | 924 views]
Last week, Benoit B Mandelbrot died. Never heard of him? Well, let’s face it, not many people have. But his theories were important, very important indeed. Perhaps he was far more deserving of a Nobel prize than all those economists who so spectacularly failed to call the economic crisis. So what was his big idea, [...]
University fees – will we see the end of three-year degrees?
13 Oct 2010 [1 Comment | 625 views]
So, students will run up umpteen thousand pounds’ worth of debts by the time they have graduated. This may or may not mean only rich kids will go to university. It probably means parents on average earnings will have to fork out a massive percentage of their salaries to get their kids through higher education. [...]
And the winner is, the new Nobel prize for economics is handed out to but does it mean anything?
12 Oct 2010 [0 Comments | 641 views]
It’s that time of the year. October is the month when the Nobel prize is handed out to economists. And today saw the announcement of the latest winner, or winners to be more precise. Meanwhile, the critics line up. Listen to what some are saying, and you could be forgiven for concluding that the certificates [...]
New technological leaps could solve fuel crisis
8 Oct 2010 [0 Comments | 495 views]
If you are a regular reader here, you will know this column is a fan of technology and believes that we can innovate our way into solving the impending energy and food crises. Some paint a very bleak view of the world, suggesting that just about all economic growth is down to carbon fuels. We [...]
Capitalism sees new birth in Cuba
27 Sep 2010 [0 Comments | 569 views]
The dominos stopped falling at Cuba. When the Soviet Union collapsed, capitalism was in the ascendance, but it didn’t reach as far as Cuba. And that brings us to an irony. On the eve of the credit crunch, when some argued capitalism was dying, it seems Cuba is at last embracing the profit motive as [...]
UK sees world’s biggest offshore wind farm
23 Sep 2010 [0 Comments | 752 views]
The world’s biggest offshore wind farm, off the coast of Kent, is being opened today. Maybe now is a good time to explain why we believe the critics of wind energy are wrong. There will be 100 turbines in all, and they will be able to generate enough electricity for almost a quarter of a [...]
The three schools of economic thought
26 Aug 2010 [0 Comments | 408 views]
As you probably know there are three schools of economic thought, which relate to all this ‘recovery versus crisis’ stuff that is floating around at the moment. There is the Keynesian view – which sees aggregate demand as the key to recovery from recession. In the 1930s, and today, consumers around the world are saving [...]
