The City

The prize of Zaporizhzhia

Russia seized Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia during the first days of the Ukraine war. Energy infrastructure has played an important role throughout and, regardless of how the war plays out, energy, including nuclear, remains an absolute “must-invest” sector…

How far will the Overton Window go on net zero and renewables?

It has become downright fashionable to doubt net zero. But how far will this scepticism go? And what will this new reality mean for investors?

Hats off to renewable energy, it’s pulled our pants down

Renewable energy is providing 100% of our electricity needs in ever more places. Which begs the question, why do we need more? And will adding more help or hinder our energy transition?

Take your pick: Liz Truss, the Japanese yen or austerity?

It must be getting very awkward over at the Bank of England. Inflation is ticking back up again. But can the government afford a higher interest rate?

Born to run

Investing may not be a race per se but, if it were, it would most closely resemble a marathon rather than a sprint. As it happens, distance running was central to human evolution, including the development of our brains. Yet we retain certain primitive biases that can interfere with investing. Fortunately there are ways to compensate.

Another look behind the headlines

Inside this issue: The US economy appears strong on the surface Beneath, it appears weak The private sector may already be in recession Back in…

The bizarre blame game undermining our electricity grid

What would energy shortages do to cryptocurrency prices? The bitcoin supply shock is now just a week away Will the electricity grid undermine the energy…

Why the decentralisation of energy cannot occur with renewables

“Decentralised” has become enough of a buzzword to be rendered meaningless. Everyone has their own definition these days. And every tech company’s marketing department uses the word “decentralised” to describe their latest innovation.

Other people’s money

Open an introductory Economics textbook and one of the first things you’re likely to come across is a definition of what, exactly, Economics is. These tend to be short, for example, “The science of resource allocation” or “The study of production, exchange and consumption”.

What if our readers demand an end to climate policies?

My article about the equation that gives oil and gas a new lease on life created a flood of feedback. We dug into some of it yesterday. At the end I asked readers a question: given the shortfall of investment in green energy, “How will governments seek to solve the equation R + F = L?”

Reader mail: Does R + F = L?

My article about the equation that gives oil and gas a new lease on life has stirred up the reader mail inbox. Thanks for your feedback. Believe it or not, all of it was thoughtful and civil enough to publish…

Back to the future: of energy

Last week the UK government announced that it would authorise the construction of a handful of new, gas-fired power plants. While the government claims that it is still fully committed to its ambitious net-zero plans, it pointed out that, due to the unexpectedly poor performance of both wind and solar, in particular for base power production, more traditional, backup capacity was necessary.

The latest new low in the Bank of England’s inflation scam

Hjalmar Schacht believed one simple act is the key to putting inflation back into Pandora’s box. And he would know. The man credited with ending Germany’s hyperinflation saw his autobiography re-titled to Confessions of the Old Wizard by its French and American publishers. Not bad for a Nazi.

The EU’s deepening existential crisis

Last weekend, Portuguese voters went to the polls. The centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) party won the most seats but far short of a majority. The far-right Chega party quadrupled its seats and emerged as controversial coalition kingmaker.

Access Denied: sucking out the stock market’s soul

Do you remember the days when people would speak about the stock market instead of bitcoin? Water cooler conversations featured BP and BT instead of bitcoin and Ethereum. At family barbeques people would whisper to each other about small caps from the uncharted waters outside the FTSE 100 they’d “taken a punt” on.

How much longer can the housing crisis last?

Having a two-party system gives the political class a hidden power. They can collectively decide which political issues are genuinely up for debate… and which are not to be mentioned. The housing crisis is certainly not for discussion. Even if it is the giant woolly mammoth in the room.

Laffer’s paradox and the folly of high taxation, part 2

In part 1, I presented Arthur Laffer’s eponymous curve and the implications it has for British tax policies. In brief, there is really no way for tax rates to go anywhere but lower from here.

Laffer’s paradox and the folly of high taxation, part 1

Arthur Laffer, legendary US economist and adviser to two presidents, visited the UK last month. His message: taxes are way too high. If not lowered dramatically, high rates of tax threaten an economic “destitution”.

Cultural Marxism costs money too

There are two ways to look at the world The individual has good incentives, the group does not From victimisation to victimhood Over at Southbank…

It has all gone so dreadfully wrong for the Establishment

When it rains, it pours for those in power Have the people suddenly woken up? How will the Establishment respond? Our Betters have been very…