Season 1

Cheap news is bad news
May 01, 202447:51

Cheap news is bad news

The new industry is struggling to survive, with far reaching consequences on public accountability and democracy. Steve says part of the problem could have been fixed with a suitable micropayments system, so readers could consume articles without subscribing to papers in full. Phil’s not so sure, pointing ...

Fool’s Gold
April 24, 202438:34

Fool’s Gold

There are two types of people who buy gold. Speculators who see it as a risk-adverse asset class to buy when other investments look a little shaky. There are also those who hold onto gold because they believe paper money has no intrinsic value and is therefore susceptible to collapse. Zimbabwe, who’s paper curr...

Will America ever be great again?
April 17, 202445:50

Will America ever be great again?

Sadly for Donald Trump, America seems to have been doing quite well in his absence. It has weathered the pandemic and inflation better than most. GDP pr capita is rising faster than most places and consumer spending is on the up. In fact, the main reason the Federal Reserve isn’t cutting rates is because the ec...

Feige’s automated transaction tax – the simple answer?
April 10, 202441:38

Feige’s automated transaction tax – the simple answer?

For a while now Dr Edgar Feige has been a proponent of an automated transactional tax. The idea is that we get rid of all taxes – income tax, sales tax, corporate tax, excise, capital gains, import and export duties, inheritance – and replace it all with a tax on all transactions Every transaction, which can be...