The Professor

A Drinking Man’s Guide to Monetary Policy

by Gary M Galles | May 18, 2022

There is an old expression – to drive someone to drink – which means to annoy them to distraction. My favourite version of it is George Thorogood and the Destroyers’, “Son,...

The Professor

Will housing offer a good hedge against inflation?

by Peter Warburton | May 5, 2022

If certain criteria are met, this writer thinks so. For those who are persuaded that we are still in the early stages of an inflationary resurgence, rather than the mature phase...

The Professor

The true cost of a hamburger

by David Gillette | May 3, 2022

The United States Federal Government spends $38bn every year subsidising the meat and dairy industries. Research from 2015 shows this subsidisation reduces the...

The Professor

Russia’s weaponisation of natural gas could backfire by destroying demand for it

by Michael E Webber | May 3, 2022

In December 2006, The Economist magazine published a cover drawing of Russian president Vladimir Putin, dressed like a 1930s gangster in a dark suit and fedora hat, under the...

The Professor

Is it all over for real estate?

by Andrew Baum | Apr 28, 2022

Welcome to the Zoomaverse (and you are welcome to it). Mark Twain is famously credited with saying: “Buy land, they’re not making it any more.” And then along came the metaverse....

The Professor

Learning street-corner economics in London

by Gary M Galles | Apr 27, 2022

As an economics professor, one concern I have long had is that I don’t want to limit how I train students to manipulate mathematical expressions which are typically unknowable to...

The Professor

Putin’s Russia: people increasingly identify with the Soviet Union – here’s what that means

by Stephen Whitefield and Paul Chaisty | Apr 19, 2022

The view that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, wants to restore territories of the Soviet Union has been a big part of the commentary on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. But...

The Professor

Ukraine war: inside the complex web of Russia’s warring intelligence agencies

by Stephen Hall | Apr 12, 2022

Russian intelligence chief Sergey Beseda and his deputy, Anatoly Bolyukh, were placed under house arrest on 9 March. Beseda and Bolyukh oversaw the foreign intelligence...

The Professor

The battle for 1.5° of warming is already lost, so what’s Plan B?

by James E Hanley | Apr 11, 2022

Climate activists’ current stated goal is to limit global warming to 1.5° Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels. To achieve this goal, according to the latest IPCC report,...