When considering US elections it pays to “follow the money” – and not just the campaign donations. Head to the bookies, not the polls, to see who’s really in with a shout.
The stricken bank offered a chance to remodel how we think about banking in Britain. Instead it should now provide a focus for anti-austerity protests.
A call to break with the leadership of Greece’s ruling party has highlighted the futility of debt-led austerity and the burden it places on people on the wrong side of a banker’s bad bet.
A digger maker and a banking giant have livened up the EU referendum debate this week. And they have marked out for David Cameron some tricky politics as Britain’s future in Europe comes to a head.
Whether you cheered the election result or were cast into a depression, it doesn’t really matter. The real power lies outside of Westminster, and outside of our control.
Joe Hockey’s first budget was a declaration of ideological belief. The second is about political survival and depends on breathing life back into the economy – the ideological urgency can wait.
The British Conservative government’s re-election is the latest and perhaps most startling electoral triumph for Australian political strategist Lynton Crosby. So how did he do it?
Markets were always likely to prefer a Conservative majority to any other result, but they might need some policies diluted for the gains to be sustained.
While pre-election polls got their sums wrong, and seemed to ignore biases in the rush to publish, a far more accurate call was being made in the betting shops of Britain.
Corporate interests and wealthy individuals reckon they can turn a profit by cajoling politicians round to their way of thinking. So how can the humble electorate hope to respond?
Once we’ve voted them in, politicians might just have the guts to make a decision on new flights capacity. But it is likely they will still dodge the decision we really need.
George Ward, London School of Economics and Political Science
While Conservative pundits wonder why high scores for economic competence aren’t boosting poll numbers, some clues might lie away from financial measures.
The dawn of online government is supposed to help transfer power to the masses. But measures introduced last month look more like a state embellishing its power.