As a tired father of two I thought it might be fun to calculate a monetary value that could convince me to try to have a third child (or, more accurately, convince me to attempt to convince my wife to try). The figure: £15,669,144,525. 4 years of nursery: £105,600 (£2200 per month x 48) 18 years of clothes: £27,000 (£1500 per year x 18 – conservative: a pair of Nikes can cost £200!) Pram: £1,159 (Stokke Xplory X pushchair) Bigger

With eight months until election day, Donald Trump is favourite to be the next US president. A lot can change, but current polls suggest voters remain upset with Joe Biden’s handling of the economy and concerned by his age. What would a second Trump term bring? Fathom’s base case is that some of his more outlandish rhetoric won’t get turned into reality, consistent with a scenario we have previously termed ‘Trump Lite’. However, it would be irresponsible to ignore his

As a child, I remember flicking through the children’s encyclopӕdia my parents had bought for us. Although it was likely bought as an attempt to give them respite from the endless questions the three of us had, it encouraged us to find the answers for ourselves. Fast forward a couple of decades and I can answer virtually any question in seconds… through my phone, of course. This isn’t just my personal journey of swapping pages for screens, but reflective of

Lying on a lounger in the shade on a beach in Antigua, glass of piña colada in hand, a good book dog-eared on the table next to me, looking at the turquoise and ultramarine sea and the pale gold sand, the white nicks of sails on the horizon, watching a squadron of pelicans skimming the swell, and the bright yellow bananaquits or iridescent hummingbirds flitting around the dark green foliage: there’s not much better in life than that. At least,

At the tender age of 51 I have, for the first time in my life, found the need to employ a team of builders. This is turning out to be a stressful experience, not because I doubt their ability or indeed their honesty, but simply because of the sums of money involved. Over the next few months, I shall be spending something close to 20% of what my lender judges to be the current market value of my home on

Proposals for a European Super League were back in the news again last weekend after Barcelona’s club president suggested that it could start as soon as next season. For those that don’t know, the controversial proposals would see Europe’s leading football clubs enter a new midweek competition. For the league to become a reality, it will have to clear hurdles in both the European Court of Justice (which seems to be going in its favour) and the court of public

During a recent train journey I unexpectedly ran into an old friend. As we caught up, I mentioned that I was doing a marketing placement year at an economic consultancy as part of my degree. Describing my role drew an unexpected response. ‘No viral TikToks, then?’ my friend asked playfully. The remark made me think about the misconceptions surrounding marketing roles, and how my placement at Fathom has differed from the stereotypical ideas that people have of the marketing industry.

When we think of pirates many of us probably picture something out of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, or a figure like Captain Hook. Perhaps your imagination supplies you with a corsair who has a peg leg, an eyepatch and an annoyingly verbose parrot perched on his shoulder?[1] However, both pirates and piracy as a concept are far more diverse than Western popular culture would suggest. Their history stretches back to the Sea Peoples of the 14th century BC,

What should your dream job look like? Probably you will tell me that it should be very interesting, provide you with an excellent work-life balance and at the same time offer you a compensation package that positions you at the top of the income distribution. I am sorry to be the bearer of such sad news, but you can only pick two options out of the three: welcome to the impossible trinity of the labour market. In 1999, Canadian economist

This week I was on a mid-afternoon Tube ride on my way to a client meeting. The carriage was half empty and out of the corner of my eye I noticed a spontaneous scene: a couple, both in their early twenties, who were holding hands, smiles sculpted on their faces, their conversation free-flowing, their eyes locked on one another’s gaze, radiating an aura of carefree freedom. They were oozing energy and optimism, seemingly lost in one of those moments that