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Missing election issues 3. That stupid magic money tree

Missing election issues 3. That stupid magic money tree

What is wrong with the Tory Central Office inspired act-of -desperation, the 'magic money tree' meme? The first is the patronising tone: as if they were talking to idiots, as if there was nothing they could possibly understand about our economy. It is never difficult...

Missing election issues #2. The rise of the giants

Missing election issues #2. The rise of the giants

This is the first of a series of contributions which New Weather is setting out before the last week of the general election, about what has been glaringly missing from the campaign.  There is clearly something about airlines which, beyond the other business sectors,...

Climate change? Hmm… that rings a bell

Climate change? Hmm… that rings a bell

Bill McGuire is a leading global authority on climate and geophysical hazards and a Professor Emeritus at UCL. Today, in the wake of President Donald Trump taking the United States out of the Paris climate agreement, he begins regular contributions to the New Weather...

What we don’t talk about when we talk politics

What we don’t talk about when we talk politics

The first thing we're not talking about is 'we'. Who are we, when it comes to this General Election in particular? And, to sign in for that master class in linguistics, what do we mean when we say 'talking'? I'm not about to attack politicians on the ground by saying...

The rise of authenticity, and what it means

The rise of authenticity, and what it means

Some years ago, fourteen to be precise, I wrote a book called Authenticity. The subtitle was 'Brands, fakes, spin and the lust for real life', which had a kind of ring to it. I've since written more in a collection of essays called The Age to Come. I was predicting...

Neoliberalism – The Break-up Tour

Neoliberalism – The Break-up Tour

Premiere: 7.30pm, Friday, 9 June 2017 The unwinding of Neoliberalism comes under the microscope in this new interactive performance by playwright Sarah Woods and the New Weather Institute’s Andrew Simms, staged for the first time at the opening of the 2 Degrees...

When they conspire against the public

When they conspire against the public

A conspiracy against the public – that’s what the pioneer economist Adam Smith called the process whereby suppliers get together and collude. I thought of that last week when I set off from Shoreham-by-Sea, my local station, to find that Southern Rail had been rushing...

Money Money Money

Money Money Money

In our pamphlet, Absent Corporations - out now - my colleague David Boyle describes the conclusions of an entrancing document which looked at the world’s mega rich corporate giants. The document was published in 2005 by Citibank and it examined the phenomenon which it...