No. One of the more eye-catching claims doing the rounds this week comes from a Fortune article arguing that the U.S. government is “insolvent”. The evidence? The Treasury’s own financial statements for 2025 show roughly $6 trillion in assets against nearly $48 trillion in liabilities. Add in long-term “unfunded” obligations for Social Security and Medicare … Read more
Predictions This year has been dominated by a convergence of authoritarian and illiberal governments, antisystem parties — typically on the far right — and sympathetic private actors coordinating their messaging and lending each other material support. Many people who would historically have recoiled from far-right politics have instead been drawn in through a constant churn … Read more
A year after Donald Trump clawed his way back into the White House, America looks less like a republic and more like a family business — and not a very well-run one. The wealth and security of the United States no longer matter. What matters is the wealth and power of Donald Trump and the … Read more
One of the defining principles of old-school Conservatives in the UK and the US was “sound money”: maintaining the value of the currency, keeping inflation in check, and controlling the money supply. Under Thatcher, this was elevated into the main tool of economic policy—with disastrous consequences. Modern right-wingers on both sides of the Atlantic have … Read more
America is in the middle of its third great era of political violence. The first came after the Civil War, when thousands of Black Americans were lynched and murdered. The second was the 1960s, marked by political assassinations and the murders of civil rights activists. Both of these eras had racial animosity at their heart. … Read more
The interest rate on UK government debt remains stubbornly high—and it’s eating into the public purse. Around 8% of total government spending now goes purely to pay interest on past borrowing. That’s money not spent on the NHS, schools, or infrastructure. The current Labour government inherited a toxic mix: huge debts and higher-than-normal interest rates, … Read more
The Next 9/11 | Trump’s 100 Days One hundred days into Trump’s second presidency, America is more vulnerable to terrorism—foreign and domestic—than it has been in decades. The country’s security apparatus hasn’t just been neglected; it’s been gutted, politicised, and repurposed for spectacle and vengeance. While Trump marked his 100-day milestone with self-congratulation, his National … Read more
Trump, Books, and the Power of Reading in Chaotic Times Donald Trump’s first months in office have been a whirlwind of policies, controversies, and media spectacle. But this wasn’t random—it was a deliberate strategy to blur the lines between truth and lies, reality and fiction. When truth becomes indistinguishable from falsehood, the concepts of right … Read more
The Scramble for Europe Last week, JD Vance delivered a speech outlining America’s vision for Europe. Typically, Vance holds little sway in the White House, ranking lower than the person responsible for changing Trump’s nappies. However, this speech marked a significant statement on American foreign policy. We have all grown up under the post-war world … Read more
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