Christopher Fildes
Offshore Stiffed
‘Tax havens are distant and mysterious, and presumably up to no good. What better scapegoats could there be?’
Good As Gold
‘In the 1970s, with inflation at 25 per cent, anyone who bought gold could be sent to prison’
If Only
The Bank of England has for a long time been hanging policy on one economic indicator and hoping for the best
Thomas and the Fat Controllers
Many in the 1970s predicted the demise of the railway. A new book by Richard Faulkner and Chris Austin tells how the foresight of a select few saved the trains
Default Lines
An arcane deal for the UK to write off a chunk of Argentina’s debt in exchange for an end to squabbling over the Falklands was turned down by the British government. It would have saved a lot of trouble
The Tiger Under the Table
Founder of Singapore, emancipator of slaves, discoverer of the world’s smelliest flower: Stamford Raffles comes alive in Victoria Glendinning’s biography
Mind the Gap
The gap between big business and small businesses is growing. Unfortunately Vince Cable and Mervyn King are no bridge builders
Bank Reform Won’t Work
‘The subtitle of the Financial Services Bill should be “We think Gordon Brown got it wrong”‘
No More Free Banking
‘Nothing in life is free, banking included… Free banking makes for a false market — it misleads both the banks and their customers and opens the door to mis-selling’
Money Talks
Occupy protestors rightly identify the City’s failings, but, as Terry Smith points out, the market itself is not the enemy.
Why Remoaners should back Boris
“Boris, ironically, now offers Remoaners the best chance of a soft Brexit, or at least a sensible one. And to those who want a second referendum—’the people’s vote’—there may even be a chance of that too.”
On the road
“In the summer of 1980, in the grip of some Kerouac-ish fantasy, I opted to hitch-hike from Laredo to New York”
Discovering the Great War of China
A third of a million Chinese labourers helped the Allies defeat the Kaiser, but their huge unsung contribution ended in betrayal