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.
The electoral phenomenon that left David Cameron smiling will have huge implications for future battles.
Ki Price/EPA
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.
In his first budget and in opposition, Joe Hockey’s single-minded focus was on cutting the budget debt and deficits. For his second budget he’s telling a different story.
AAP/Paul Miller
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.
This Conservative Party leaflet kills three birds with one stone and is a classic example of Lynton Crosby’s campaign strategy.
UK Conservative Party/Buzzfeed
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?
Calling the shots? Markets take stock.
Andy Rain/EPA
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?
Different flight paths, same goals. Heathrow and Gatwick.
NATS Press Office
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.
Tax switch puts the boot on the other foot.
Images Money
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.