It is nice to see professional economists revealed as charlatans, as has just happened in the Reinhart and Rogoff affair. The conclusion being drawn is that economics is not a science. We disagree. Economics is a science but, but one in a state of great confusion, as a Cambridge University professor, the late Wynne Godley, once said at the start of an article written about thirty years ago. What...

London’s West End is the world’s most expensive office market once again after regaining its crown from Hong Kong’s Central Business District (CBD), according to research published in Cushman & Wakefield’s Office Space Across the World 2013. The report from the international property consultants highlights the scarcity of quality space in London which has increased competition...

We have been warning about inflation since 2008. We argued then that the policies that were being put into place would not work. And they haven’t. Like a gambling addict on a fruit machine, those in charge of policy keep on feeding money in, hoping that the jackpot will arrive. Only there is no jackpot.

An article in the FT today reports that “The governor of Michigan declared a fiscal emergency in Detroit on Friday, clearing the way for the appointment of an outside manager with broad powers to oversee the finances of the debt-ridden city. The emergency manager could recommend a bankruptcy filing if he or she found the city’s fiscal problems were insurmountable. If Detroit took such...

The camera retailing chain Jessops is one of a list of big name retailers which has closed in recent months. 187 stores have shut, with over 1300 people losing their jobs. What is left of the company will now become a mail order firm operating from a warehouse in Leicester, which takes the company back to its starting point. Jessops big expansion took place in the 1970s and it is, like many other...

Several times a week I receive emails with scare stories about the imminent collapse of the UK economy. Most of them come from outfits trying to sell subscriptions to expensive investment advice magazines so they need to be taken with a pinch of salt. But some regular journalists are asking the same question, as here. All of these gloom-and-doom forecasts draw attention to the same fundamental...

I came across this the other day.“It is really very simple. Capital can be allocated by markets or by central planning committees. Despite the booms and busts, markets do it better. It may be that that the booms and busts are just inevitable.”  Why is there a refusal to recognise that there is more to it than this?

Despite predictions of its imminent demise several months ago, the Euro struggles on. Some people are surprised, but those with an interest in its survival have successfully managed to keep kicking the can down the road. How much longer can it go on? Last week, statistics from Eurostat confirmed that the Eurozone remains in recession. The day before that, millions of people across Europe, but predominantly...

This article here discusses the US housing market and suggests that the upswing is just beginning there. Meanwhile, in the UK, housebuilding firm Bovis has doubled its interim dividend as profits jump and reports that it has taken advantage of the depressed land prices since 2008 to embark on an agressive round of land purchase. This seems to be all in accordance with the theory from which land...

Britain’s property market has boosted the nation’s wealth to £6.8 trillion, despite a global financial crisis which has weighed heavily on the UK economy. Net worth rose 3.3pc in 2011 according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, with property now worth more than £4 trillion. Read the article in the Daily Telegraph. It is complete nonsense of course but illustrates the...