The Capitalist

We have been telling ourselves the wrong story about recessions for four centuries. And the consequences of that error are bigger than you might think. Dr. Tyler Goodspeed, former chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers and author of the new book Recession , joins CapX editor Marc Sidwell to dismantle one of the most seductive myths in economics: that booms cause busts. Drawing on 13...

Rachel Reeves delivers her Mais lecture. Zack Polanski addresses the New Economics Foundation. Both correctly identify the wounds – and then reach for policies that will make them worse. Britain's productivity slowdown is the worst in 250 years. GDP per head is nearly £11,000 lower than it would have been had pre-2008 trends continued. Youth unemployment is the highest in Europe. And yet we keep r...

The Conservative Party has a plan to rebuild. But is it radical enough — and does it have the courage to see it through? James Cowling, founder of Next Gen Tories, joins CapX editor Marc Sidwell to make the case that the Conservative Party's problems run deeper than a bad election result — and that the solutions require more than a new leader and a policy or two. Timid politics, he argues, has bee...

A Labour backbencher posts a forty-second video blaming Thatcher for Britain's economic woes — and the internet applauds. It's a familiar routine. But what if almost every claim in it is demonstrably, provably wrong? Maxwell Marlow of the Adam Smith Institute takes a scalpel to the mythology of economic nationalism — the idea that privatisation sold off Britain's birthright, that state ownership w...

When war in Iran doubled gas prices overnight, Britain's energy vulnerabilities were suddenly impossible to ignore. But what's the real fix — and who's actually right? Tim Leunig, former economic adviser to Rishi Sunak and chief economist at Nesta, joins CapX editor Marc Sidwell for a clear-eyed tour through Britain's energy predicament. Leunig makes the case for extracting more from the North Sea...

Under Zack Polanski, the Greens have quietly abandoned environmentalism in favour of something far more combustible: a coalition of economic grievance, communal tension, and calculated identity politics. And it's working. Young Britons — priced out of homes, squeezed by taxes, shut out of stable careers — are turning to a party whose solutions would make every one of their problems dramatically wo...

Why does it feel harder than ever for young people to buy a home? According to Pierre Poilievre, the answer lies not just in planning laws or slow construction — but in the silent erosion of money itself. In this special episode of The Capitalist, recorded at the Margaret Thatcher Lecture hosted by the Centre for Policy Studies, Canada's Opposition Leader argues that decades of money printing acro...

A Green by-election victory in Greater Manchester may once have seemed unthinkable. Now it looks like a warning shot. In this essay, William Atkinson, Assistant Content Editor at The Spectator, argues that the result signals something far deeper than a protest vote: the fragmentation of Britain’s traditional party system and the rise of sectarian, identity-driven politics. With Labour rattled, the...

Britain is in the grip of a housing crisis. And despite the promises of successive governments, we just can’t seem to build enough new homes. But this isn’t a uniquely British problem. In his book, “Build Baby Build”, Bryan Caplan examines the forces shaping housing markets in a way that applies almost everywhere. Bryan’s core argument is disarmingly simple: cut regulation and more homes will foll...

As unemployment climbs and youth joblessness surges past 16%, ministers insist the labour market is merely adjusting. But in this essay, Andrew Griffith, Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade, argues the truth is far starker: Labour’s higher payroll taxes, expanded union powers and sweeping employment regulations have made hiring more expensive, riskier and less attractive. The result,...

America has long liked to see itself as the world’s dream factory – from the birth of Hollywood to the moon landings, a belief in thinking bigger has been central to the national story. But attitudes towards artificial intelligence reveal a worrying shift. Surveys show that more people are anxious about AI than excited by its spread, with around six in ten saying the technology is moving too fast....

As younger voters grow disillusioned with a housing system that denies them real control over their homes, the battle over leasehold has become a test of whether capitalism still delivers on its promises. In this essay, Harry Scoffin, founder of Free Leaseholders, argues that reforming — and ultimately replacing — leasehold with commonhold is not a left-wing cause, but the logical continuation of...

When the Conservative Party last entered government, in coalition with the Liberal Democrats, the UK was still finding its feet after the global financial crisis. What followed was a succession of events that quickly came to dominate political life: Brexit, the pandemic, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Each of these moments demanded large, costly interventions from the state. But Britain now fac...

Can a Prime Minister really be on borrowed time less than two years after a landslide election victory? Benjamin Wilson speaks to ConservativeHome's Henry Hill about the mounting speculation around Sir Keir Starmer — and why Labour’s internal unrest may be less surprising than it looks. Henry argues that Starmer’s problems were baked in from the start: a low-turnout election, a deliberately cautio...

After decades of chronic undersupply, even modest housing reforms can feel like cause for celebration. But in this essay, John Penrose, Chair of the Conservative Policy Forum and founder and director of the Centre for Small-State Conservatives, argues that the Government’s latest plans don’t go nearly far enough. His solution is simple and radical in equal measure: give homeowners the right to bui...

In this special live discussion, Mervyn King, Lord King of Lothbury, and Terry Burns, Lord Burns, reflect on the economics and politics of the Lawson boom, chaired by Daniel Mahoney. Drawing on their first-hand experience working with Nigel Lawson, they revisit one of the most consequential periods in modern British economic history. Presented in front of a live audience, the discussion touches on...

As calls grow louder to cap personal fortunes, a new philosophy – “limitarianism” – argues that no one should be allowed to be rich beyond a fixed limit. In this essay, Tim Worstall, Senior Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute, takes aim at the idea, arguing that it rests on a fundamental misunderstanding of how wealth, value and incentives actually work. From Mark Zuckerberg to global inequality, h...

As Robert Jenrick defects to Reform UK, pressure is mounting on the Conservative Party to chart a new course. In this episode of The Capitalist, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg joins Marc Sidwell to dissect the fallout — and to make the case for a pre-election pact between Reform and the Tories. One of the party’s most recognisable figures, Rees-Mogg argues that Kemi Badenoch has emerged strengthened, but war...

Robert Jenrick’s dramatic defection to Reform UK has blown open long-simmering tensions on the British Right — and handed Kemi Badenoch a serious test as Conservative leader. In this essay, Joseph Dinnage, deputy editor of CapX, dissects the intrigue behind Jenrick’s dismissal, the risks Badenoch took in cutting him loose, and the uncertain gains for Nigel Farage’s insurgent party. It’s a story of...

What happens when a regime shuts off the internet — and then turns its guns on its own people? For the IEA's Mani Basharzad, the question is deeply personal: he hasn't heard from his mother or friends in Iran for days. As the country plunges into its most violent crackdown in decades, reports of mass killings, information blackouts and nationwide protests raise a stark question: is the Islamic Rep...

As ministers insist the labour market is merely “normalising”, the numbers tell a more troubling story — especially for the young. In this essay, Damian Pudner, an independent economist specialising in monetary policy, argues that Britain is sliding into a slow-burn recession under Rachel Reeves, with youth unemployment surging and entry-level jobs disappearing. Higher payroll taxes, tighter regul...

Are today’s culture wars, party fractures and populist backlashes really something new — or are we simply reliving an old British story? In this episode of The Capitalist, Marc Sidwell looks three centuries into the past to understand the political turmoil of the present. From riots over immigration to furious pamphlet wars, from elite anxiety about misinformation to bitter arguments over Britain’...

Margaret Thatcher remains one of the most consequential leaders in modern British history. Rising to power after the "Winter of Discontent," she steered the country through economic turmoil, high inflation, and widespread industrial unrest. Her bold embrace of free-market principles reshaped Britain — and left a legacy still fiercely debated today. Now, as political uncertainty returns to Westmins...

With local elections looming in May, Labour collapsing in the polls, and Westminster rumbling with leadership intrigue, Marc Sidwell asks whether Sir Keir Starmer is heading for a reckoning — and whether figures like Ed Miliband could seize the moment. Meanwhile, Reform UK continues to hover around the 30% mark, the Conservatives search for a bounce under Kemi Badenoch, and Britain’s politics look...

Is Britain entering an age of permanent political fragmentation? As Labour falters despite its landslide victory, Reform UK surges, the Greens flirt with wealth taxes, and the Conservatives search for renewed purpose under Kemi Badenoch, the old certainties of British politics are unravelling. Across the Atlantic, Donald Trump’s second term has proved no less turbulent — from the collapse of his D...