The economic answer behind superstar salaries

Rugby Union’s Premiership season is underway again. This is yet another professional sport which operates on the principles of socialism: the money all ends up in the pockets of what we might call the “workers”. In a sport which was allegedly only played by amateurs until the mid-1990s, earnings have boomed. The average salary in […]

Unemployment down, GDP up – there’s no logic for a public spending boost now

Despite the warmth of the days, there is a distinct autumn feel to the mornings. And in the autumn, thoughts begin to turn to the Budget. Speculation has already begun about what the chancellor Philip Hammond might or might not do. For Labour, recent weeks have been dominated by Jeremy Corbyn’s alleged antisemitism and undoubted […]

From Venezuela to East Berlin, people will always choose capitalism over socialism

How many people across the world in the history of humanity have fled from a capitalist country to a socialist one? There was much amusement at the height of the long miners’ strike of 1984/85. A National Union of Mineworkers official from Yorkshire, a crony of Marxist trade unionist Arthur Scargill, sought sanctuary in the […]

The economics of tourist overload

I am in Edinburgh for a few days at the Festival, where even Jeremy Corbyn has appeared. Disappointingly, he was not playing the role of Carmela Soprano, the mafia don’s wife who is always present but never involved. Previously, I had been on Skye. Last month, I attended a conference in Venice. Edinburgh, Skye, Venice, […]

The intellectual imperialism of economics

At this time of year, most people are focused on leisure. The holiday you have just had, the one you are on now, or the one you are just about to go on. With exquisite timing, the 1 August issue of the top Journal of Economic Perspectives has a symposium of papers about work. The […]

From supply and demand to game theory, football is full of economics lessons

The football transfer window closes tomorrow, and the opening days of August have seen the usual flurry of activity at all levels. The window in the rest of Europe stays open until the end of the month. Do we detect here the hands of Monsieur Barnier, in another dastardly European Commission plot to do us […]