Robo-Taxes, Expensive Tweets And Equations For Art-Lovers Top of the Charts 13 September 2019 Afternoon all, So Parliament’s off. The Speaker is too (rather more permanently). This is clearly a crisis. With millions of Brits addicted to the nightly Commons meltdowns, dark times are ahead. Where we once had soaps, all that’s left these days is psephology. Now the addicts out there may get some relief from prorogation cold-turkey … Continued READ MORE
Macroeconomic policy Is the UK recession ready? 9 September 2019 by Torsten Bell The good news is we’ve now managed a recession free decade since the financial crisis. The bad news is that history teaches us this is quite unusual – booms and bust haven’t been abolished. This matters – downturns have very high costs, even when they’re not of the global financial crisis earth-shattering sort. On average … Continued READ MORE
Battling inequality, one tattoo and traffic jam at a time Top of the Charts 6 September 2019 Afternoon all, I’m slightly lost for words after the vote-losing, whip-stripping, police-fainting, brother-resigning week we’ve had. But beneath all the madness has anyone else noticed a strange pattern emerging from British politics? In the olden days one lot wanted X (eg tax cuts) and the other lot wanted Y (eg tax rises). They had a … Continued READ MORE
Flush Geordies and flustered bankers Top of the Charts 27 August 2019 Afternoon all, All quiet on the Westminster front. Or at least it will go quiet in the very near future – hence the current outrage being very loud as the week comes to a close. Which is a shame because the week started so well with (part of) the country pulling off a million to … Continued READ MORE
Tackling discrimination, crisis explanation – and bringing Britain together (with euthanasia) Top of the Charts 23 August 2019 Afternoon all, Having been a little snarky last week about the progress on Brexit answers, we thought it was only right that TOTCs goes all solution-focused this week. We can’t stretch to a clever wheeze about how to leave the customs union yet keep an open border on the island of Ireland I’m afraid, but read … Continued READ MORE
Loaded Americans, smart Russians and dying Brits Top of the Charts 16 August 2019 Afternoon all, We’re back. I know this will be a big relief to you all – it’s equally good news for my bank balance. Turns out it’s not a good idea to combine the family preference for too many croissants with our national preference for devaluing the pound. Obviously the real lesson here is to … Continued READ MORE
Economic growth Is there any economics behind Johnson’s ‘perk up and carry on’ strategy? 15 August 2019 by Torsten Bell It’s time to get with the perk… I mean programme. Boris Johnson’s government might not even have a Budget under its belt, but its economic strategy is taking shape. It’s time to abolish the gloomsters. And the doomsters. As he said on entering Downing Street, “after three years of unfounded self-doubt it is time to … Continued READ MORE
Weekend reading for the new Cabinet Top of the Charts 26 July 2019 Sign up for our weekly Top of the Charts email here Afternoon all, It’s been a brutal week in Britain – whether you’re trying to commute in near 40 degree heat, or trying to keep your job at the Cabinet table. But I’ve got zero sympathy for the whinging – you want to try spending … Continued READ MORE
Leading Britain through Brexit: Five lessons for Boris Johnson 24 July 2019 by Torsten Bell When the history books of our era are written they will say that Britain had a huge financial crisis, then it left the EU. In those books Boris Johnson’s legacy as Prime Minister will be Brexit – and the politics and economics of Brexit are hard. Hard substantively, because they involve unravelling 40 years of … Continued READ MORE
Blowing the Budget and how to train your Dictator Top of the Charts 19 July 2019 Sign up for our weekly Top of the Charts email here Afternoon all, I’m afraid a rather serious mood is dominating at RF towers today. It’s Theresa May’s last weekend as Prime Minister. It’s (probably) Boris Johnson’s last weekend for a while without that responsibility sitting on his shoulders. She should, and I’m sure will be, sad … Continued READ MORE
Navigating the messy world of modern politics Top of the Charts 12 July 2019 Afternoon all, This week the plucky Kiwis beat a nation, India, with a population 280 TIMES AS LARGE in a classic David overcomes Goliath match to reach Sunday’s Cricket World Cup final. But obviously we’ve had quite enough of the little guy standing up to the real power – partly because England are clear favourites … Continued READ MORE
Rock star Eurocrats, takeover attacks and tax spats Top of the Charts 5 July 2019 Afternoon all, Christine Lagarde is a very talented woman, but she’s also a very lucky one. Her current role running the IMF came up rather err…unexpectedly and she now gets to head to Frankfurt to take over as the new head of the European Central Bank, despite saying many times that she had no interest in … Continued READ MORE
Roasting, rocking and roaring across Britain Top of the Charts 28 June 2019 Afternoon all, The country’s roasting, Glastonbury’s rocking, and the Lionesses are roaring into the World Cup semi-final. The only people letting the side down are our cricket team. Now I’m no expert on bat/ball games, but I fear they’ve been paying just a bit too much attention to Boris. Surely the point of being the … Continued READ MORE
Saving the world, one research paper at time 21 June 2019 Afternoon all, Yesterday we learnt that it’s Johnson vs Hunt. Gung ho vs reluctant no dealing. Everyone’s understandably focused on the odds of no deal rising. But they are missing the real risk to our international reputation – an outside chance that PMQs descends into a weekly row between two blokes called Jeremy. Some things … Continued READ MORE
Rising floors and tumbling walls Top of the Charts 14 June 2019 Afternoon all, It’s time for a break from the rain and the ludicrous tax cut promises the Tory leadership election has given us (on which more below). So not only does this week’s Top of the Charts come to you from (ludicrously hot) Vienna but we’ve gone all international in our reads. From big moves … Continued READ MORE
Incomes· Tax· Political parties and elections Tax cuts for the rich is not the answer to the questions 21st century Britain is asking 10 June 2019 by Torsten Bell Politics is about answering the question the country is asking at that time, and in that place. Context matters. This fact seems to have escaped the notice of a number of candidates in the rather crowded field to be the next Conservative leader, judging by the single focus of many of their big ideas: massive … Continued READ MORE
Making our children and grandchildren proud Top of the Charts 7 June 2019 Afternoon all, There’s been a lot to think about this week – how politics can really matter, and about how the big decisions we take can shape the future for generations to come. Theresa May might be standing down as Tory leader today, but she had a good week representing the country in D-Day commemorations on … Continued READ MORE
Labour market· Housing· Intergenerational Centre Britain has become a less mobile nation – why? 6 June 2019 by Torsten Bell Donald Trump tells us there are no protesters. He says it so often, he probably believes it. Which is worrying, but also fairly normal. There are stories we hear so often that we simply assume they are true. Here’s one. Our communities are changing ever faster as more and more people move around for work, … Continued READ MORE
No, you can’t always get what you want Top of the Charts 31 May 2019 Afternoon all, Donald Trump is coming. Obviously this isn’t about us getting what we want, but maybe it’s exactly what our divided country needs. For the same reason he’s such a deeply divisive figure in the US (due to the whole misogyny/stoking racial divides schtick) maybe he’ll provide us with some much-needed unity via an … Continued READ MORE
The Ides of May Top of the Charts 24 May 2019 Afternoon all, It’s all a bit last days of Caesar in Westminster – we’re definitely in the Ides of May. There was no going back once the PM crossed the Rubicon broke bread with Corbyn. Andrea Leadsom struck the first blow, and it finally ended today with the immortal words ‘et tu Brute Brady?’ The bad omen news for … Continued READ MORE
Respite From A Week Of Shocking Shocks Top of the Charts 17 May 2019 Afternoon all, It’s been a week of BIG shocks. Theresa’s off. Who knew. Boris is running. Gosh. Labour’s said it won’t do a deal on Brexit. Well knock me down with a WAB. We’re too unequal a country. Quelle surprise. And the climax to Game of Thrones involves a lot of people dying. Who saw that coming. Then again maybe … Continued READ MORE
Let’s Get Digging… Top of the Charts 10 May 2019 Afternoon all, I know it’s tough. Not only is a global trade war heating up, but it’s been pissing down all week. But it’s definitely time to perk up. We’re winning in Europe, football-wise at least. To an almost socially awkward degree. We’ve got a ROYAL baby of mixed race, and (apart from a few losers) we … Continued READ MORE
Cheaper cars, clothes, cabs and catheters Top of the Charts 3 May 2019 Afternoon all, Hope all your houses are enjoying their (electoral) plague today. It probably shouldn’t be much of a surprise. The public’s opinion of our politics is at its lowest ebb on record, while just this week one MP managed to get himself sacked for (allegedly) telling the truth when the rules are he shouldn’t … Continued READ MORE
Top tips to be the next Guvnor Top of the Charts 26 April 2019 Afternoon all, Refreshed from your Easter break? Want a new challenge? How about stewarding the UK economy as the Bank of England’s next Governor. You’ll probably get to steer us through Brexit, and more definitely through the next recession (see this week’s Chart of the Week). All yours for £480k. If you’re up for it, … Continued READ MORE
Bridging Divides Top of the Charts 12 April 2019 Afternoon all, Nothing Lasts Forever these days. In the end the whale spits you out, or the Ecuadorians kick you out. That might be good news for Brexit-fatigued Brits. But then again Assange was stashed in the embassy for seven years, so maybe we’re not even half way there…. Because holidays are calling, and it’s important for art … Continued READ MORE
