Clubcard Nation: how supermarket loyalty schemes make cash-strapped Brits an offer they can’t refuse (POLITICO)
By Ben Munster · Aug 8, 2023, MANCHESTER — Belvita fruit crunch, Crimble’s Big Choc Macaroons, Elvive Colour Protect shampoo — all among the many goods Brits purchase in vast quantities everyday, and all painfully expensive in U.K. supermarkets as the cost-of-living crisis continues to take its toll. At a growing number of supermarkets, relief […]
Russia shoots for the moon as space race against US heats up (POLITICO)
By Joshua Posaner, Matt Berg, Laura Hülsemann · Aug 10, 2023 Despite war and sanctions, Vladimir Putin is trying to haul Russia back into the space race. In the early hours of Friday morning, state space agency Roscosmos is poised to launch the country’s first lunar mission in nearly half a century as an ambitious […]
Austrian chancellor: Right to use of cash should be in constitution (POLITICO)
By Laura Hülsemann · Aug 4, 2023 Being able to continue using cash for payments rather than cards or digital currencies should be enshrined in the Austrian constitution, Chancellor Karl Nehammer said. “More and more people are worried that cash could be restricted as a means of payment in Austria,” he said, insisting that people […]
Inside a Ukrainian baby factory (POLITICO)
By Ilya Gridneff, Emily Schultheis, Dmytro Drabyk · Jul 24, 2023 KYIV, Ukraine — When Tanya, a 45-year-old woman living in Los Angeles, paid $10,000 and sent two embryos to a surrogacy firm in Ukraine hoping to build a family six years ago, she says she never expected the uncertainty and heartbreak the process would […]
Another sneak peek at POLITICO’s Morning Central Banker
As long-term readers will know, the Blind Spot operates in collaboration with Politico, where I am senior finance editor four days a week. In that guise, I’ve helped to launch an incredible new product, edited by Geoffrey Smith, focused on Central Banking (with a focus on the European Central Bank and the Bank of England […]
Lawmakers want reporters to know when they are being spied on (POLITICO)
By Mathieu Pollet · Jul 13, 2023 Lawmakers in the European Parliament’s civil liberties committee (LIBE) want to introduce an obligation for EU governments to inform journalists that are being spied on by security services and other people whose communications were accessed, according to new draft amendments to the EU’s media freedom law obtained by […]
It’s July 10, so here’s a story about the Tesla brand you’ve never heard of
To commemorate the birthday of electro wizard Nikola Tesla, here’s an extended preamble into the unlikely and little-known story about the “other” Tesla that became a household name.
Sneak peek at POLITICO’s Morning Central Banker
As long-term readers will know, the Blind Spot operates in collaboration with Politico, where I am senior finance editor four days a week. In that guise, I’ve helped to launch an incredible new product, edited by Geoffrey Smith, focused on Central Banking (with a focus on the European Central Bank and the Bank of England […]
Nigel Farage and the great anti-Brexit unbanking plot (POLITICO)
By Izabella Kaminska, Dan Bloom · Jul 5, 2023 LONDON — Like most banks these days, the Strand offices of Coutts, one of the U.K.’s most prestigious private banks known for banking British royalty, are open plan and mostly devoid of custom. Real-life engagement with its wealthy clientele, if it happens, is by appointment only. […]
Leaked Lunch with economist Guy Standing about the Blue Commons
Welcome to the third episode of Season Two of the Leaked Lunch podcast with economist and author Guy Standing. The recording, which you can listen to on RSS, Apple pods or Spotify, took place at the Italian restaurant Da Paolo just off Goodge Street in London over a spot of seafood spaghetti in March this […]