Eugene Fama and Robert Shiller, who together with Lars Peter Hansen received economics Nobels last week, had differing views about bubbles. Fama thought they were rare and impossible to spot, whereas Shiller made his name spotting them. The difference in their approach may however simply reflect a difference in the monetary policies pursued during their […]

As tech becomes an ever more pervasive presence in our lives, old patterns of work, communication and human interaction are being profoundly altered. While the new technology has brought enormous freedoms in some areas, it has also devastated the ability of human beings to live their lives in an autonomous manner, free from interference by […]

The last week in Washington has been consumed by negotiations about avoiding a debt default as no doubt will be the week to come. On all sides we are told how irresponsible and disastrous it would be to allow the United States to default on its debt obligations. That’s quite correct: it would be irresponsible […]

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released its new report on global warming on September 30, which was duly played up by the world’s media. Actually, if you read it carefully, it represented a considerable backing off from the previous report, released in 2007. It has now become clear that, not only has global warming […]