Is America spending too much money?
17 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to the Spectator’s Economics Editor Kate Andrews about President Biden’s Infrastructure Bill and the US debt ceiling.
Kate Andrews
Kate Andrews is deputy editor of The Spectator’s World edition.
Friday
Why fear nuclear energy?
30 min listen
As the UK faces a rising energy crisis with gas supplies in short supply, questions are arising of not just how we mitigate the problem in the short term but how we hedge against it in the long term? What role might nuclear energy play? What’s slowing down its development? Is it the technology? The
Thursday
Running on empty: the government is out of fuel – and ideas
39 min listen
In this week’s episode: is Boris Johnson running on empty or is a weak opposition giving him the momentum he needs? Kate Andrews asks in her cover story this week if Boris Johnson’s government has run out of ideas – as well as petrol. Katy Balls also writes in the magazine that the opposition seems
Running on empty: the government is out of fuel – and ideas
The Prime Minister is thought to thrive on chaos. If so, then he should be in his element. Wholesale gas prices have risen sixfold, winter heating bills are set to be the highest on record. Millions of people across the country are wondering what they might have to forgo to pay for heat. Supermarkets are
Monday
The flaw in Labour’s economic attacks
Labour avidly disagrees with the Tories’ plan to fill budget gaps by hiking National Insurance. So what would they do differently? This was one of the many tasks Rachel Reeves had today as the shadow chancellor delivered her speech at Labour party conference. Reeves not only had to set out an alternative tax-and-spend policy but also
Thursday
China and the WHO are given an easy ride in the Covid blame game
Are you ready to relive 2020? That’s what Adam Tooze is offering as he tells the story of Covid-19 through the spectacular and terrifying economic consequences created by the global health crisis. For many, the answer will be a simple no. But for others looking to make sense of an utterly surreal year, Shutdown might
Tuesday
What will inflation mean for Biden and America?
17 min listen
Freddy Gray sits down with The Spectator‘s economics editor Kate Andrews to discuss the American economy. During the pandemic, inflation grew rapidly – but the latest reports show that it is on its way down again. Is this just a dip before another spike? And is the Met Gala the right venue for championing the
The pandemic’s employment paradox
The pandemic continues to cause surprising events in the labour market — and challenges too, many of which were wholly unanticipated when the Covid crisis began. Today’s update from the Office for National Statistics on labour market numbers is case-in-point: the unemployment rate again, down to 4.6 per cent from May to July. Forecasts of
Sunday
Government scraps mandatory vaccine passports
On BBC One’s Andrew Marr show Sajid Javid confirmed that plans for domestic vaccine passports in England were on the way out, even before they were formally brought in: ‘We should keep it in reserve,’ he said of the government’s plans to link vaccine status to entry into nightclubs, but ‘I’m pleased to say we
Friday
Covid pingdemic takes its toll on Britain’s economic bounce-back
The arrival of ‘freedom day’ on 19 July enabled people to return to concerts, festivals, and ditch social distancing, but these rediscovered freedoms did not revive the economy. The ONS said this morning that growth was just 0.1 per cent in July, far lower than the consensus forecast. It was particularly disappointing given the growth
Thursday
Assetocracy: the inversion of the welfare state
33 min listen
On this week’s episode: why is the Prime Minister so desperate to support the assetocracy? In The Spectator’s cover story this week, after Boris Johnson revealed his plan to pay for social care with a National Insurance increase, Fraser Nelson says there has been an inversion of the welfare state. Is it right to ask
Tuesday
Johnson’s tax hike won’t fix social care
Another day, another tax hike. This is presumably not how Boris Johnson saw his first term in office going; he’s reneged on manifesto promises left and right, including one that defines modern Conservatism: a healthy scepticism of tax rises. The new health and social care levy of 1.25 per cent for employers and employees (so,
Saturday
Kate Andrews, Mary Wakefield and Caroline Crampton
19 min listen
On this week’s episode, Kate Andrews argues that the government’s social care reform plans simply don’t add up (00:55). Mary Wakefield makes the case for church doors to reopen (06:55) and Caroline Crampton reviews Tom Chivers’s new book, London Clay (13:25).
Friday
Boris could pay a big price for his flawed social care shake-up
Boris Johnson pledged to ‘fix the crisis in social care’ over two years ago. Next week, the Prime Minister is set to announce his plan to do just that. In doing so, he is also expected to opt for a major break from his manifesto pledge not to raise key taxes. So what is Boris’s solution,
Thursday
Top dog: how have animals captured politics?
34 min listen
On this week’s episode: should animal lives be considered as valuable as human lives? It’s often said that Britain is a country of animal lovers, but have we taken it too far? Pen Farthing’s evacuation has shown how some people value animal lives more than human lives. William Moore writes our cover piece this week,
The government’s social care reform plans don’t add up
As Covid-19 swept through care homes in the spring of last year, the public watched on with horror and helplessness. About a third of all Covid deaths in England took place among residents of these homes. It was worse overseas. In Spain, care home residents accounted for 40 per cent of Covid deaths last year.
Wednesday
The Bank of England’s new monetary hawk
Andy Haldane’s departure from the Bank of England opened up one of the most influential roles in guiding UK monetary policy — and that role has now been filled. Huw Pill has been announced as the BoE’s new chief economist, taking up the post from next Monday. Some of the snap reaction is focusing on
Saturday
What if vaccines can’t end the pandemic?
14 min listen
New data from Israel shows that the Delta variant is getting through the protection offered by double jabs, even though the vaccines do lessen symptoms. But the study, of more than 800,000 cases, suggests those who have recovered from Covid have stronger protection than those who have not: jabbed or unjabbed. Will this make it
Friday
What does the Kabul attack mean for Biden?
11 min listen
After the attack on Kabul’s airport by Isis-K, President Biden addressed the world last night and mourned for the 13 US marines who were killed. But with this grim event already being politicised by the Republicans, what will the lasting damage to the president legacy be? Isobel Hardman in conversation with Kate Andrews and Fraser
Wednesday
Vaccine efficacy and the case for living with the virus
How fast does Covid vaccine protection wear off? New data from the Zoe Covid Study, published today, tries to quantify the extent to which the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines wane over time. It’s a comprehensive study that accounts for PCR test data from over a million double-jabbed people. The results? After roughly six months, Pfizer
