ALTIF transcripts: Covid’s long tail
Covid’s long tail Most people think it’s all over. But with new variants raging, are we too sanguine about dismissing the risks from Covid. Neil and Jonathan talk to Deborah Birx, who ran the Coronavirus Taskforce in Donald Trump’s White House, about dealing with “the Donald”, where we are with the virus, and how we […]
The Kylie Jenner PJ indicator
They say if it floats, flies or [EXPLETIVE], don’t buy it: the expense of maintaining yachts and private jets can be far more expensive than buying the assets. Hence, ownership of such assets ends up a domain of not just the wealthy, but the ridiculously wealthy. And yet, the funny thing about yachts and private […]
The Blind Spot podcast: Episode 3 with Frances Coppola
We would have had another episode of the podcast out sooner, but Junseth got taken out for a few weeks with Covid. But finally, we’re back! In the latest edition of the Blind Spot podcast we are joined by Frances Coppola, nocoiner extraordinaire and occasional director of epic films about the mafia. (Not really on […]
Spotlight on the ‘Uber Files’
The “Uber Files” are not the Uber exposé you are looking for By Hubert Horan and Izabella Kaminska What the gilet jaunes protests in France could not achieve, a recently published exposé about ride-hailing unicorn Uber is apparently on the verge of doing: getting French President Emmanuel Macron to resign. According to French media opposition […]
Kremlinology and Aesopian language, Western edition
What the hell is going on with the Western “free press” system? Matt Taibbi thinks he knows and as usual, doesn’t pull any punches. In his latest Substack piece:The New Kremlinology: Reading the New York Times, the independent journalist makes the following observation (our emphasis): Whether through Emily Bazelon’s Times Magazine piece “The Battle Over Gender […]
Spotlight on the bureaucratic state’s productivity problem
Productivity has been faltering in the UK since at least 2008. We know this because the UK’s Productivity Commission says so. That’s not to say the UK is alone here. Productivity rates have been falling all over the western world. It’s just the situation in the UK is particularly bad, for reasons not properly understood […]
Online grocery consolidation is coming
Online grocery shopping feels more efficient. It also looks easier to do. But is it? Is it really? True efficiency adds to productivity. In the classic textbook sense of productivity, that means for every x input you get ever more y output. For supermarket businesses, productivity translates into being able to achieve the exact same […]
A London credit whale update
*Update to the update at 1920 UK Time* Last week we brought you news of the possible return of a London whale in the European credit markets. As highlighted at the time this was based on unverified market talk. You could call it double-sourced gossip. Since then talk has widened. It’s hard to know at […]
Spot Markets Live gets it right on EDF nationalisation
Okay, okay, it’s not nice to brag or say “I told you so”. But we’re a young service, which means we are burdened with self-promotion until we become the established and well-funded force we hope to be. Reuters is reporting on Wednesday that the French government is planning to take full control of EDF, France’s […]
ALITF transcripts: Quantitative easing, the shocking truth
Quantitative easing: The shocking truth. Don’t know your standard monetary policy from the unconventional kind? Relax! We ask economist and former Bank of England adviser Tony Yates all those questions about QE (and its seldom-seen friend QT) that you always wanted the answer to but never dared put. Presented by Jonathan Ford and Neil Collins. […]