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Has Britain become a nation ashamed of its own history? And what happens when a country loses faith in its past? Historian Robert Tombs joins Marc Sidwell on The Capitalist to challenge the increasingly negative account of British history being taught in schools, universities and museums. In his new book, Our Islands’ Story, co-authored with […]
Andrew Griffith says Britain has already gone over the fiscal cliff. The question now is whether it can pull itself back. In a conversation with Centre for Policy Studies director Liam Halligan, the Shadow Chancellor delivers a clear diagnosis of Britain’s economy: a state consuming 45% of national income, punitive energy costs, rising taxes, excessive […]
Can the Tories’ tough-love welfare plans get more people back into work? Helen Whately, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, joins Marc Sidwell to set out the Conservatives’ plans for reforming Britain’s welfare system – including tougher rules for young people and the long-term unemployed. Whately explains the party’s new ‘Get to Work’ plan, which would […]
Was life really better before industrialisation? Strip away the nostalgia and the past begins to look considerably less idyllic: famine, child mortality, casual violence, environmental destruction and entertainments of almost unimaginable cruelty. In The Grim Old Days, author Chelsea Follett challenges our romantic vision of the pre-industrial world. Here, she tells Marc Sidwell how the […]
Is Britain one geopolitical shock away from a financial crisis? Liam Halligan thinks the warning lights are flashing. The economist, journalist and new Director of the Centre for Policy Studies joins Marc Sidwell to argue that Britain’s growing debt burden, stubbornly weak growth and soaring interest bill have left the country dangerously exposed. So what […]
Britain owes £3 trillion. Daniel Hannan says its rivals have noticed. For centuries, Britain’s military strength rested not only on its armed forces but on its ability to mobilise capital, develop technology and outspend its adversaries. Now, Hannan argues, that advantage is slipping away. With government debt mounting and growth faltering, he warns that Britain’s […]
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Has Britain become a nation ashamed of its own history? And what happens when a country loses faith in its past? Historian Robert Tombs joins Marc Sidwell on The Capitalist to challenge the increasingly negative account of British history being taught in schools, universities and museums. In his new book, Our Islands’ Story, co-authored with […]
Andrew Griffith says Britain has already gone over the fiscal cliff. The question now is whether it can pull itself back. In a conversation with Centre for Policy Studies director Liam Halligan, the Shadow Chancellor delivers a clear diagnosis of Britain’s economy: a state consuming 45% of national income, punitive energy costs, rising taxes, excessive […]
Can the Tories’ tough-love welfare plans get more people back into work? Helen Whately, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, joins Marc Sidwell to set out the Conservatives’ plans for reforming Britain’s welfare system – including tougher rules for young people and the long-term unemployed. Whately explains the party’s new ‘Get to Work’ plan, which would […]
Was life really better before industrialisation? Strip away the nostalgia and the past begins to look considerably less idyllic: famine, child mortality, casual violence, environmental destruction and entertainments of almost unimaginable cruelty. In The Grim Old Days, author Chelsea Follett challenges our romantic vision of the pre-industrial world. Here, she tells Marc Sidwell how the […]
Is Britain one geopolitical shock away from a financial crisis? Liam Halligan thinks the warning lights are flashing. The economist, journalist and new Director of the Centre for Policy Studies joins Marc Sidwell to argue that Britain’s growing debt burden, stubbornly weak growth and soaring interest bill have left the country dangerously exposed. So what […]
Britain owes £3 trillion. Daniel Hannan says its rivals have noticed. For centuries, Britain’s military strength rested not only on its armed forces but on its ability to mobilise capital, develop technology and outspend its adversaries. Now, Hannan argues, that advantage is slipping away. With government debt mounting and growth faltering, he warns that Britain’s […]
Will the man who paints himself as the antidote to Thatcherism lead us back to the worst of the 1970s? As Britain’s borrowing costs spiked and Andy Burnham faced MPs as Prime Minister, Marc Sidwell spoke to the economist Julian Jessop about Burnham’s plans – and whether they can really get Britain back to growth. […]
Modern life rests on inventions so ordinary that we barely notice them… until they start to fail. This week on The Capitalist, Marc Sidwell speaks to the writer and CapX columnist Jonn Elledge. His new book ‘31 Inventions That Built Our World’, surveys the technologies – from sewers to lifts – that make urban life […]
Are Nimbys a threat to national security? Britain’s inability to build houses and infrastructure is rightly at the heart of our domestic political debate. Dalibor Rohac thinks it needs to be seen as a geopolitical failing as well. This week on The Capitalist, Rohac, incoming director of research at Globsec, discusses his new book ‘Unshackled: […]
What happens when a revolt against the elite puts the worst people in charge? Richard Hanania had a ringside seat for the rise of MAGA, as his Substack essays on anti-woke issues gained traction at the highest level of the new American Right. He had high hopes for Donald Trump’s second term, and coined the […]
Britain’s ‘equal value’ pay rules go well beyond upholding equal pay for the same work, and mean that tribunals have the power to ignore the market and decide that bin men and teaching assistants should, in fact, be paid the same. These rules bankrupted Birmingham City Council, and the big supermarkets are already facing claims […]
In June, SpaceX went public in the largest IPO in history. Three days earlier, a German historian published a book explaining why that moment had been 60 years in the making. CapX editor Marc Sidwell sits down with Rainer Zitelmann to discuss ‘New Space Capitalism’, Zitelmann’s account of how private enterprise took over the final […]
Britain has a new prime minister. But can a new chancellor and a new economic direction reverse years of stagnation? CapX editor Marc Sidwell sits down with Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith to ask whether Andy Burnham’s government is about to double down on a bigger state or finally embrace growth. They discuss expected changes […]
Andy Burnham is days away from becoming prime minister. According to economist Andrew Lilico, he’s inheriting an economy with almost no room left to manoeuvre – and a sense of personal virtue is no substitute for a plan, as the fate of his predecessor shows. In this week’s episode of The Capitalist, Lilico joins Marc […]
Nigel Farage has just resigned his seat to force a by-election in Clacton. The establishment, his allies say, is trying to destroy him. Perhaps – but have they misjudged their target? Gawain Towler, Reform UK’s director of communications from 2019 to 2024 and now a member of the party’s governing board, joined CapX editor Marc […]
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