Rishi Sunak and the legacy of Nigel Lawson
Rishi Sunak has a photo of Nigel Lawson on his wall. But is he the heir to Lawson?
Devex on Precision Development
Good article on Devex Pro about Precision Development based on an interview with our excellent India Country Director, Niriksha Shetty.
Labour’s Three Foreign Policy Mistakes
My local Labour Party called me the other day to ask if I would vote for them. I won’t, despite the forceful recent reminder from Rishi Sunak of why I could never vote Conservative. Here’s why. I’ve resigned from the Labour Party not once but twice over foreign policy; and Read more…
Rising prices are not what is making us poor
Framing this as a “cost of living crisis” creates the misleading impression that inflation is the problem. Our standard of living is lower for a combination of reasons: the war in Ukraine, the covid pandemic, Brexit, and structural problems in the British economy. These hits mean that real incomes will Read more…
Still not shopping
My mood has brightened since my last post, which was gloomy about the recent data on the spread of coronavirus in Britain. Nonetheless, I think the easing of the lockdown is premature, for reasons set out below. Let me reiterate: I’m an economist, not an epidemiologist. Furthermore, you should never Read more…
In praise of David Mepham, arguably the inventor of DFID
David Mepham, who died this week, has a strong claim to be the person who did most to bring about the establishment of the UK’s Department for International Development.
The International Finance Facility for Education: The Wrong Answer to the Right Question?
Donors are considering a proposal for a new “innovative finance mechanism” to increase funding for education, based on recommendations from Gordon Brown’s Education Commission. We agree that we need to finance an expansion of education in the developing world. But sadly, the International Finance Facility for Education (IFFEd) proposal is too good to be true.
The eternal opportunity
A list of announcements that for the first time in history we can eradicate poverty.
Theresa May’s letter to EU citizens does not guarantee key rights
Theresa May says that citizens’ rights are her first priority. She means that her first priority is to curtail them.
What rights will EU citizens in the UK lose?
This is a good round-up of the rights that EU citizens living in the UK seem likely to lose, notwithstanding the government’s protestations that their rights will be largely unchanged. I list them here, but they are better explained in the article. The right to go abroad The right to Read more…