The Economics of Covid-19

Economics is not good at forecasting but better at cures. We need to switch from the former, which dominates the news, and concentrate on solving our major problem. Before the pandemic this was stagnation, we now face the prospect of a long-term decline in our...

Investment, Productivity, and the Bonus Culture

American Affairs Journal, Summer 2020 / Volume IV, Number 2, 21st May 2020 Weak growth is far and away the most important economic problem facing the United States. This problem is not simply the result of the financial crisis or the severe recession that followed;...

Corporation Tax

Corporation tax is widely and mistakenly seen as a tax on shareholders, which it is not, rather than a tax on investment, which it is. Understanding this issue is vital if we are to have sensible economic policies in the UK and US. Because UK statistics are so poor,...

Japan does not have an investment problem

Andrew Smithers & Pelham Smithers Financial Times – Letters, 16th September 2019 Sir, In an article in Tuesday’s Financial Times Richard Koo claims that Japan’s economy suffers from inadequate demand because business investment is being depressed as a result...