Spot Markets Live lives!
Thanks to the good folks at Coodash (and a much deserved shout out to Graham Halliday for his work on this) The Blind Spot now has the tech functionality to run a live markets chat. For the next few weeks or so, however, we will be operating in Beta testing mode. In time, the Coodash […]
ALTIF transcripts: What to do about the energy crisis?
What to do about the energy crisis Prices are high; supply is insecure; basically it’s a nightmare. But which levers do you pull to make things better, and which do you leave well alone? We talk to former Number 10 adviser and consultant Josh Buckland about how to fix the UK’s energy woes. Presented by […]
The Celsius crypto meltdown is linked to the Terra debacle
If you’re not knee deep in crypto goings on, the news this Monday morning that the Celsius network is in trouble might not mean very much to you. But what’s going on may have serious repercussions for the entire crypto network. Bitcoin is down 10.46 per cent in the last 24 hours on the news. […]
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 […]
Introducing the Rationist Papers
This is the first in a series of essays by Tim Ferguson, founder of the Anacyclosis Institute, arguing in favour of Rationism, a middle class-oriented political theory that advocates benchmarking the national economy against the national median household net worth. Izabella Kaminska has also described Rationism as Vitruvian Capitalism, based on its promotion of the […]
How many Cbankers does it take to do meaningful CBDC research in the Bahamas?
Why the Bahamian sand dollar is particularly well studied by central bankers.