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The Bogey of Inflation
Robert Skidelsky
Project Syndicate
| Thursday, January 21, 2010
LONDON – How real is the danger of inflation for the world economy? Opinion on this matter is divided between conservative economists and official bodies like the IMF and OECD.
The IMF and OECD project very low inflation rates over the next few years. But former US Federal Reserv e Chairman Alan Greenspan warns of inflationary dangers. Some bond markets, too, seem to expect sharply higher inflation.
Which view is right has big implications for policy. If inflation has succeeded recession as today’s main problem, governments should withdraw their stimulus policies (money out of the economy) as soon as possible. If recession remains the ...
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In Regulation We Trust?
Robert Skidelsky
Project Syndicate
| Monday, December 21, 2009
LONDON – From next year, on swearing allegiance to the Queen, all members of Britain’s House of Lords – and I am one of them – will be required to sign a written commitment to honesty and integrity. Unexceptionable principles, one might say. But, until recently, it was assumed that persons appointed to advise the sovereign were already of sufficient honesty and integrity to do so. They were assumed to be recruited from groups with internalized codes of honor.
No more. All peers must now publicly promise to be honest. Only one had the guts to stand up and say that he found the new procedure degrading.
The trigger for imposing this code ...
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Book Review: The big squeeze
Robert Skidelsky
New Statesman
| Thursday, December 03, 2009
The Trouble With Markets: Saving Capitalism From Itself
by Roger Bootle
Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 282pp, £18
The Trouble With Markets, by the economist and financial analyst Roger Bootle, is the latest in a spate of books unleashed by the Great Contraction of 2007-2009. It offers a short, reliable analysis of the crisis in language that the intelligent general reader can understand. Bootle has skilfully assembled all the elements of the crisis: its causes in financial deregulation and global imbalances, the pros and cons of a monetary versus fiscal stimulus, and how to design a system that can avoid repeating such disasters.
The ...
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What Would Keynes Say? A Dialogue with Tim Congdon
Robert Skidelsky
Standpoint
| Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Daniel Johnson: We should begin with Keynes. Robert, you've just published an important new book, The Return of the Master, which has already had a great impact here and abroad. Why is this great economist, who died more than half a century ago, still in your view the key thinker for those who want to understand the present situation, and what part of his legacy do you think is the most important?
Robert Skidelsky: He still provides the best explanation of how economies can crash, and also of how they can then stay in a depressed state for a long time. He overturned the classical view of his time — which actually was then revived — that ...
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House of Lords Debate: Queen’s Speech (5th Day)
Robert Skidelsky
Hansard column: 389-391
| Wednesday, November 25, 2009
My Lords, it is a strange convention that the topic of most interest to the British people should be relegated to the fourth day of the debate on the Address. I know that it has always been the convention but I hope that it might be amended at some point.
I enjoyed the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Hunt; it was very gung ho. I kept waiting for the economic analysis-it never came. As your Lordships know, we have been living through the worst economic downturn since the great depression. The most important thing the great depression taught us is that if economies suffer a great dislocation or shock they do not automatically recover; they ...
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