John Phelan is a Contributing Editor for The Commentator and a Fellow at the Cobden Centre. He has also written for City AM and Conservative Home and he blogs at The Boy Phelan.
The truth about Thatcher and the steel industry
They say "a lie told often enough becomes the truth". Sadly for those telling the porkies, facts sometimes get in the way
- 13 May 2013
Britain's productivity paradox
By deskilling and capital consumption we have become a lower productivity, lower wage economy
- 7 May 2013
Three questions about North Korea
The subject of North Korea invites so many question. But these three are the most important
- 29 April 2013
In defence of Reinhart and Rogoff
The public criticism Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff have received is harsh. Even their detractors' figures show that higher debt is correlated with lower GDP growth
- 23 April 2013
Party over? It never got started
It would be wrong to say that there aren't people out there who deeply loathe Thatcher and all she stood for. But her grave will never be a dancefloor
- 16 April 2013
The left hated Thatcher because she thrashed them
Margaret Thatcher is one of only two British prime ministers to coin an ‘ism’ and unlike the other, Blairism, Thatcherism actually meant something
- 8 April 2013
Heavens on Earth: Exploiting human ingenuity
Thanks to free market capitalism more people are living better than ever before. Sadly, this lesson still needs reaffirming
- 2 April 2013
Why is David Blanchflower so scared of the truth?
With his affected rudeness and terror of reasonable discussion with anyone who might disagree with him, Blanchflower is a sort of pound store Paul Krugman
- 26 March 2013
Cyprus: The ghost of the West yet to come
Cyprus offers a grim glimpse of a possible future for the wider western world
- 19 March 2013
The relationship between welfare and immigration
There is a choice between immigration and welfare. The irony is that by choosing immigration a government of the left did more to undermine the welfare state than ‘the right’ ever did
- 12 March 2013
The humility of David Blanchflower
Faced with the comical failure of a 2009 prediction, David Blanchflower set out to fashion a new statistic which would prove that he had, in fact, been correct. It didn’t
- 5 March 2013
UK's downgrade: Only spending cuts left to try
There are gaping holes in the coalition's economic strategy, as demonstrated by the loss of its AAA rating. The only option left is spending cuts
- 26 February 2013
Ground control to Major Krugman
Paul Krugman was all too happy to roast Paul Ryan for his love of Ayn Rand. But what of his own love for Isaac Asimov?
- 19 February 2013
Is the Conservatives' economic trump card warranted?
The Conservatives’ playing of their economic competence trump card always required a fair bit of bluff
- 12 February 2013
When stimulus fails to stimulate
What’s the point in stimulus if it doesn’t stimulate?
- 5 February 2013
Latest on the blog
- NY Democrat pleads with Republican not to share document proposing confiscation of guns
- Sunday Times blood libel cartoon, on Holocaust Memorial Day no less
- Palestinian jailed for Facebook like
- 'Muslim Patrol' vigilantes attempt to control London streets
- Saudi cleric who raped and killed daughter receives small fine
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