Why it’s time to start worrying about petchems
A spotlight on strange petchem effects That Russian sanctions on the back of the Ukraine war are disrupting commodity markets is old news. We all know energy and commodity prices are the key drivers of 40-year busting inflation prints and other supply-side disruptions. What is still to be appropriately acknowledged, however, is the degree to […]
Introducing the Blind Spot’s “Leaked Lunch” podcast
The cat’s out of the bag. I’ve been working on a new podcast format, and the FT’s Dan McCrum and Paul Murphy were kind enough to let me use them as guinea pigs for the pilot. The concept is pretty straightforward. It’s me plus one or two top-tier guests from the world of finance, business […]
In the Blind Spot (Offline crypto, inflation, models)
Economics, finance, markets etc… Palantir eyes the NHS. The new energy order. Hungary is applying fuel price controls to foreign registered vehicles. Electricty cuts hit Sri Lanka. The helium shortage is hitting the leisure industry. Senators are having secret meetings about semiconductors. The EU has banned the sale of new combustion engines from 2035 onwards. […]
Housekeeping note: It’s been a long two weeks!
Thanks to all my subscribers for putting up with sporadic content the past week and a half. Having recently argued that Substack’s model is incredibly similar to that of Uber’s, but for journalists, I immediately fell foul of my own advice. For those who didn’t read the piece, I had argued journalists who sign up […]
ALTIF transcripts: The Stuart Kirk affair
The Stuart Kirk affair Available on Spotify. It’s now the world’s most watched PowerPoint presentation: the pitch by HSBC’s head of responsible investing to a conference on green finance in which he suggested the climate crisis was overstated and we should get on building more sea walls instead. We talk to Roger Pielke Jr, the US […]
Spotlight on the emergence of noble gas spot markets
The second of our deep-dives into the noble gas market, this time focusing on market structure issues and the potential for the emergence of a viable spot market.
Is Substack exposed to gig economy headwinds?
A lot of people ask me why I never opted for Substack when choosing my independent path. I had my reasons. Now that it has emerged that Substack has ditched plans to raise a Series C round due to souring market conditions, I thought it might be a good time to explain my rationale. First […]
ALTIF transcripts: The Barber boom and bust
The Barber boom and bust Available on Spotify. Gripped by sluggish growth and low investment, the UK decides to solve its problems by embarking on a “dash for growth” – spending big and cutting taxes. We talk to economic historian Duncan Weldon about the Heath government’s disastrous 1972 “Barber Boom” (named for the chancellor Tony Barber) […]
The “Gos market” blind spot in the inventory story
The local pub owner was telling my husband the other that he felt secure in the face of the inflation because he had pre-bought three months worth of beer supply. He could now relax for a bit because he knew what his costs would be for at least a quarter. After that, he was hoping […]
What’s up with Fed daylight overdrafts data?
I’m working on a bigger story to do with US dollar intraday liquidity, but until that’s done I wanted to quickly flag something specific to paid subscribers as a small preview. It’s the Daylight Overdrafts and Fees page of the Federal Reserve website: And specifically this bit: What’s important about that? Well, as the Wayback […]