Bringing Back Manufacturing: Guns, Drugs, Whisky and Fast Cars

It’s the 40th anniversary of the end of the miners strike and I went back to Redhills to watch a documentary about the. strike. People who grew up in former mining owns bemoaned the decline of manufacturing and similar industries, and the disappearance of the tight knit communities that grew up around them Thatcher’s period … Read more

Trump’s Tariffs Were Illegal. American Consumers Still Paid the Price.

The US government is refunding $81bn in tariff payments to importers, following the Supreme Court’s February 2026 ruling that Trump did not have authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to impose many of his tariffs. Not every business has been repaid: In June alone, about $49.2bn was refunded; May and June together accounted … Read more

Trump. A Poundshop Pinochet

Donald Trump’s second term is going no better than his first. He has failed to end the war in Ukraine, failed to produce a credible healthcare plan, and failed to rein in government spending. Inflation remains elevated, unemployment is rising, and growth is slowing. Strip out AI investment and deficit spending, and the underlying economy … Read more

Trump, Tariffs, and Tantrums

Trump tariff tantrum

Trump, Tariffs, and Tantrums The United States is facing a balance of payments problem, similar to the one Britain encountered post-World War II. Simply put, the U.S. imports more than it exports, leading to a consistent outflow of money from the country. Historical Parallel: Britain’s Post-War Struggles Before WW2, Britain’s empire functioned as a massive … Read more