Climber Alex Honnold’s recent ascent of Taipei 101  raises a few questions regarding the modern monetised spectacle. On the 25 th  of January 2026, Netflix livestreamed Honnold’s climb with a ten second delay. Without any safety gear, just one error would have resulted in thousands of spectators lining the tower’s base being witness to a catastrophic death. Questions would have been raised over Netflix’s ethical rights to stage and film such an event. Resignations would be in

Across Europe, a striking consensus has taken hold. Quiz a passerby on the streets of Paris, Berlin or London on the state of society and you are likely to hear all too familiar lamentations concerning the declining state of both government performance and social cohesion. The cost of living continues to rise whilst wages stagnate and public services buckle, politics is brittle and the future looks more precarious than the past. This transnational belief , one which has been

If we were to ask whether the UK Wealth Tax Movement was successful last year, an instructive litmus test might be the frequency with which the topic appeared in BBC headlines. This is undoubtedly a major feat, but only half the battle.  Commentators everywhere, like coiled springs , raised their concerns about how effective and feasible the tax would be, rattling off the list of unintended consequences. The media asserted – the Wealth Tax cannot be introduced until all conce

Donald Trump’s unprecedented attack on the chair of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, has been met with an equally unprecedented defence composed of Ex-Fed chairs, central bank governors, and titans  of global finance. Central to this alliance’s criticism of Trump is an ominous warning of disaster to come should the Fed’s independence be violated. For example, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde emphasised the role central bank independence played as a “corner

On December 9 th  an inconspicuous press release  by Huntington Ingalls Industries   (HII) and Babcock International quietly announced a huge shift in US defence procurement. For the first time the US nuclear submarine program will manufacture significant components outside the states. The announcement confirmed that complex hull assemblies for the new US navy’s (USN) Virginia block VI nuclear submarines  will be produced in Babcock’s Rosyth dock in Scotland.  For defence obs

From a distance it is hard to see why Vladimir Putin did not accept December’s peace plan for the Ukraine war, to prevent it entering its fourth year. The deal would have forced Ukraine to secede far more territory to Russia than the actual inroads made. Ukraine would have to hold elections, be forbidden from joining NATO, and reduce the size of its army. These were all crucial war aims for Russia before the beginning of the ‘special military operation,’ so it is mystifying

A few weeks before Christmas, I quietly wrote a piece  for a student publication exploring Trump’s continuation of the 1823 Monroe Doctrine  through his rampant interventions in America’s so-called backyard. In light of recent kidnappings , I suppose I should have bought a lottery ticket too.  Trump had been pushing the limits in Venezuela for a while. On December 10 th , the US seized a crude oil tanker , which Trump claimed was being used to transport oil between Iran and V

Economic woes, largely originating in our productivity problem , underscore much British political discourse today. The productivity problem  boils down to the notion that the amount of additional value generated per average UK work hour underwhelms compared to our economic peers  and superiors, like France, Germany, the USA , and perhaps soon Poland .  The UK has recently seen record work absence  due to sickness , is consistently low on comparative worker engagement  scores

In his Debt: The First 5000 Years , anthropologist David Graeber provides a series of insights that, when properly understood, challenge the central tenets of conventional economic thought. Most significantly, Graeber’s claim that all money is debt, and by extension a social relation, fundamentally undermines decades of economic orthodoxy which claims that the government must balance its books and, more generally, that ‘one must pay one’s debts’ . Indeed, if all money is debt

To Have or To Be?  turns fifty in a few days. Written by Erich Fromm, a German social psychologist, it analysed the corrosivity of ‘late capitalism’, an epoch most obviously characterised by consumerism. Consumerism comes with constituent attitudes. It encourages us, for instance, to value assets based on their saleability. Entrenched in our consciousness, via the unconscious, Fromm argued that many of these attitudes altered our understanding of ourselves, our contemporaries

The Republic of Moldova, a small country situated between the EU and Russia, has long been vulnerable because of its heavy reliance on Russian-controlled energy infrastructure. The war in Ukraine and the 2025 Russian gas cutoff exposed this serious vulnerability. Responding to these challenges, the pro-EU Moldovan government has taken strong measures towards energy diversification and integration into the EU energy system. This article examines how Moldova is reducing its rel

As the Prime Minister looks to inaugurate a “new era” in his country’s relationship with Europe , his task is not only to repair pre-existing bonds, but also to open new avenues that support his ambitions for greater British influence abroad and economic growth at home. In this context, the South Caucasus – comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – deserves far more attention than it has traditionally received in Westminster.   While famously chequered, the UK’s relationsh

Season's greetings, Karl (and to you, my esteemed reader). There’s just something about self-verifying utopianism that doesn’t quite hit the spot the rest of the year , but it’s Christmas, so let’s cut Marx some seasonal slack. This isn’t solely an assault on the long-since-dead ideologue, but rather a repository of festive feedback, reflecting not only on Marx’s conceptualisation of surplus value and capitalism, but our conceptualisation of Christmas, too. Though undoubtedly

Ah, the annual budget - that glorious spectacle of political theatre through which pompous chancellors attempt to justify their political survival. Tax cuts, spending commitments for public services, and the odd solemn promise to lift the burden off working people have all been used to extend the life of a chancellor's political career, or if a budget goes well enough, propel them next door into Number 10. Yet, this time seems to be different. Instead of championing taxpayers

They called it a contract with the people to signify that promises made before the 2024 general election would be kept to their voters. Last Monday they finally put what was left of it in the shredder. With budget speculation having been at fever pitch in Westminster for well over a month, and expected to boil on at such heat for at least another three weeks (opting for a far later date than usual will do just that), Reform’s silence on economics had become one of the larger

Europe is sabotaging its own climate goals by prioritising the protection of its car industry over allowing affordable Chinese electric vehicles in. This turns the green transition into a trade dispute with China, whilst risking the green transformation both sides urgently need. Europe doesn’t need a trade war, it needs a strategy. Instead of raising tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles , the EU should establish a Green Trade Truce based on transparency, cooperation and fair

On the 19th of October this year the first round of the local elections in North Macedonia were held. This country is home to one of the fastest growing left-wing parties in Europe: Levica (the Left). Since its founding ten years ago it has experienced a gradual rise in its number of elected officials. In the 2020 parliamentary elections two MPs from its ranks, including the party leader Dimitar Apasiev, took office, and in the 2024 parliamentary elections they expanded the p

It’s very easy to get attention in business news by printing a headline with words to the effect of “Leading Investor X Warns of Impending Recession”, “InvestWithUs CEO Thinks Current Market is A Bubble”, or my personal favorite: “Michael Burry Just Sold All His Stocks.” The fact you’re reading this is somewhat proof of this.  In a shockingly high number of cases, these events never materialise, at least not in the way they were predicted to, and we’re rarely called out on ou

The public murder of Charlie Kirk rattled the American political establishment , and was met with a variety of responses from its pundits, journalists, and elected officials. For many in the Republican Party and on the right of American politics more broadly, Kirk’s death was the pretence required to pursue an official clampdown  on freedom of speech, as opposed to the less systematic, yet no less brazen , attacks the White House had been carrying out up to that point. Citize

A few months ago, I published part one of this article , when Spain’s housing reforms were still nascent. I am glad now to see that, fulfilling previous promises, the Spanish PM has honoured his word and taken substantial steps towards implementing public housing policies. From making the purchase of houses for non-residents more difficult, to facilitating young people’s renting and buying of residences, and unifying countrywide and regional initiatives, much has been done re