A labour shortage will reduce income inequality. But inflation will trend higher
Written by economists Charles Goodhart and Manoj Pradhan, The Great Demographic Reversal is a provocative read. And with 81 diagrams and 23 tables, it’s chockful of data in support of its thesis. That thesis is simple: “Of one thing we are sure, the future will be nothing like the past.” Or at least nothing like…
From the UK to Sweden to Italy, progressive parties are losing ground
Queen Elizabeth II’s death may have consumed most of the oxygen over the past couple of weeks, but other interesting things are happening. Across the Atlantic, three (non-Ukraine) developments stand out. United Kingdom U.K. political governance has four great offices of state – prime minister, chancellor of the exchequer, foreign secretary and home secretary. And…
Rocky Marciano retired undefeated while Sugar Ray went into a long decline
When professional boxing was still a mainstream sport, it often caught the fancy of young boys who’d immerse themselves in the newspaper build-up to championship fights and root passionately for their favourites. And because it’s natural to identify with a winner, you often adopted whoever was the heavyweight champion at the time your interest was…
Now that Queen Elizabeth II is gone
Realistically, Queen Elizabeth II’s death at age 96 wasn’t a surprise. But it still came as a jolt, the impact being accentuated by the apparent suddenness of her final decline. For many, such as my Toronto-born wife, Elizabeth’s 70-year reign as Queen of Canada rendered her a benign presence who symbolized continuity in a changing…
Doesn't matter. He was a very useful guy to have around when the chips were down
When Winston Churchill died in 1965, it marked the end of an era. Already a shade past his 90th birthday, he was the last survivor of the Second World War’s top political leadership. And given his youthful participation in a cavalry charge at the 1898 Battle of Omdurman, it was as if a relic from…
The situation got away from him. He was overwhelmed
Mikhail Gorbachev died in Moscow last week at the age of 91. Once the world’s most celebrated politician, he had quite the rollercoaster ride. First, what was dubbed Gorbymania swept the western world and the 1990 Nobel Peace Prize credited him with ending the Cold War. Then he was rudely relegated to political obscurity. What…
She was a young woman of scant personal resources who believed she was basking with dolphins when she was foundering among sharks
It’s hard to believe that Aug. 31 marks the 25th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death. The passage of time has a way of creeping up on you. In the days and weeks immediately following the tragic accident, the story consumed the headlines and the airwaves. You couldn’t escape from it, even if you wanted to.…
Independence was declared on Aug. 15, 1947
Aug. 15, 1947, represented the formal end of the British Raj. India became independent, and what had once been the crown jewel of the British Empire was gone. The rest of the empire soon followed suit. Indian nationalism had been growing since the early decades of the 20th century, becoming increasingly focused on complete independence.…
Regardless of the British reaction to Wilson’s death, the Irish civil war was likely to happen
Michael Collins was the most dynamic figure in the events leading to the establishment of the Irish Free State. And he was killed in an ensuing civil war ambush on August 22, 1922. Just two months earlier, Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson had been assassinated in London. Allegedly, Collins ordered the hit. Irish journalist Ronan…
How did a man with one of the highest profiles in American politics flop so badly in 1962?
Including his two campaigns for vice-president, Richard Nixon ran for office nine times and lost twice. One of these losses was the razor-thin defeat to John F. Kennedy in 1960’s presidential contest. The other was his ill-advised California gubernatorial effort two years later. California was Nixon’s home state and he’d always done well there, even…