"I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that an emerging markets fund co-founded by Jacob Rees-Mogg is taking advantage of lower equity prices to buy shares in, er, Brazilian healthcare companies and South African chemist chains. This SICKENING behaviour, er, (cont. p94)..." (with apologies to the Private Eye’s Dave Spart) I’ve written before about the lazy narrative of ‘disaster … Continue reading ‘Disaster capitalism’ revisited – the case of Somerset Capital
Author: julianhjessop
Is it worth it? a brief PS…
Since responding to Toby Young's article here I've come across a few interesting US papers on the economics of pandemics. These studies (which have also been picked up elsewhere) support the view that the coronavirus lockdown is indeed 'worth it'... First, a cost-benefit analysis of social distancing for the US, which suggests that the benefits … Continue reading Is it worth it? a brief PS…
Is it worth it?
Toby Young has been given plenty of stick for an article which asked whether the UK government has overreacted to the coronavirus crisis by locking down the economy, and which concluded that it had. In my view, he was right to pose the question, but gave the wrong answer. The thrust of his argument is … Continue reading Is it worth it?
Don’t shoot the rating agencies!
On Friday (27th March), the credit rating agency Fitch downgraded the UK’s sovereign credit rating by one notch, from AA to AA-, citing worries about the economy and a jump in government debt. Bond investors at least are shrugging this off. But the announcement has revived long-standing concerns about the role of rating agencies during … Continue reading Don’t shoot the rating agencies!
Plain-speaking Economics 