

Originally published June 2023. Whenever you ask a golfer what caused the great boom in golf in the 19th century, the most common response by far is “the railways.” But the actual answer is not so straightforward. The boom in golf in Scotland in the mid-19th century...
The railway age and the golf boom

Ukraine war: drones are changing the conflict – both on the frontline and beyond
As Kyiv’s counteroffensive to liberate Russian-occupied territories slowly advances in Ukraine’s east, the drone war continues to escalate. Beyond the symbolic value of high-profile strikes against targets in Moscow, deep in the Russian heartland,...
Ukraine war: drones are changing the conflict – both on the frontline and beyond

Offices: how bad will the property crunch be?
There has been much talk about offices heading for the buffers. The nightmare scenario is many thousands of office buildings being deemed virtually worthless as leases come up for renewal, leaving owners and even lenders run...
Offices: how bad will the property crunch be?

Interest rates: the case for cutting them permanently to zero
In 1937 the English economist Joan Robinson proposed that “when capitalism is rightly understood, the rate of interest will be set at zero and the major evils of capitalism will disappear”. John Maynard Keynes, who had taught Robinson, suggested...
Interest rates: the case for cutting them permanently to zero

Has the Bank of England overdone it?
On 11 May, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee raised Bank Rate to 4.5%, a level last observed in October 2008. Since November last year, the Bank has also been reversing its asset purchase programme, reducing the size of the portfolio by about £33bn over the past 6...
Has the Bank of England overdone it?