It is understandable that some people are on the lookout for villains to blame in this time of national crisis – and who better than City ‘fat cats’ who are ‘profiting from the misery of others’? But it usually only takes a moment of serious thought to realise that these attacks are well wide of … Continue reading Why bans on ‘short selling’ are a bad idea
Category: coronavirus
‘Disaster capitalism’ revisited – the case of Somerset Capital
"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
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?
Plain-speaking Economics 