The day before my holiday to Greece this summer, I rolled out of bed at 11am to horrific news. My dad had just got a haircut. A haircut!? The day before we fly to Greece!? Outrageous. I disgruntledly explained the Balassa-Samuelson effect, i.e. lower productivity means that services in less developed countries tend to be cheaper than in more developed countries. (I’d like to point out that my dad actually almost always gets a haircut when we go on holiday,
In a week, I will head back to university to complete a masters degree in economics at LSE. As anyone who has considered a post-graduate degree will know…it’s expensive. Which raises the question, is it worth it? The obvious justification for paying such extortionate fees is labour market signalling and increasing human capital. But will my masters give me improvements in these over and above my undergraduate degree from the University of Surrey? And will it make a difference that
I’m an expat, or European immigrant, living here in London. Don’t worry, this post isn’t about Brexit. For my frequent visits home, though not as frequent as my Mum would like, I use an Irish low-cost airline (which is the only one which flies direct from London to my hometown). I have paid as little as £30 for a return flight to Germany. While this is good for my wallet, it’s really not great for my carbon footprint. £30 —
“Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance Everybody thinks it’s true” Paul Simon I write this sitting on my bed in my berth on the Caledonian Sleeper train, running overnight from Edinburgh Waverley to London Euston. As many (better) writers before me have noted, there is something peculiar about train travel, particularly long journeys, particularly at night, that turns the mind towards contemplation. In my case, that is now amplified by a couple of glasses of scotch
This August I turned 40 and while I’ve cherished the abnormal levels of attention and celebrations, I’ve so far remained immune to most symptoms of a mid-life crisis. I have no urge to purchase a sports car or motorbike or a trophy wife. I see sport as a necessary evil enabling and counterbalancing a relatively carefree lifestyle on my terms, not on those fuelled by bucket lists, age-related insecurities or peer pressure. As a result, I feel no desire to
At the age of 32, my other half is retiring, and he thinks I should too. At least, that’s what this morning’s drive to the station implied. Sure, we’ve discussed the joys of being footloose and fancy free, exploring the world and wearing our hair in dreadlocks, but I didn’t really mean it! My response to this morning’s ambush was silence, which I suspect spoke volumes, or, at the very least, made my true feelings a little clearer. I’m not
Investing by theme is in vogue these days and personally I think it’s great. Worried about climate change? Invest in a green fund. Think technology is the future? Go tech. There are a whole host of themes that investors can gain access to these days, via ETFs or fund managers. You can even get exposure to the marijuana industry if you think the prospects for the budding industry are good (or if you just like smoking pot). But despite the
Last Thursday, a group of Fathom staff got together after work to conduct an auction of Premier League footballers. While business here is going well, none of us are owners of top-tier English football clubs (yet). Rather, the money was play and the auction was for this year’s work fantasy league – an increasingly popular pastime where real-life players earn pretend managers points based on how well they play in actual games. A couple of sceptical colleagues saw the event
At 18:30 on Saturday 18 May 2019 the last scheduled High-Speed Train (HST) — familiar to those who remember the early marketing material as the InterCity 125 — left London Paddington for Exeter. It was the end of an era. This diesel locomotive, designed and built on a meagre budget by British Rail through the early 1970s, was never meant to last. It was intended as a stopgap measure before electrification could be rolled out across the UK’s long-distance rail
One thing that many Remainers and Leavers have in common is that they want Britain to be more ‘global’, whatever that means. Naturally, they disagree about the path needed to get to this hallowed ground and indeed what a global Britain would look like, but both groups are sure they want it. But what does global Britain mean in an economic sense, how do we measure the UK’s openness, and how does it compare to its peers? The answer to