Economics & Marginalia

Economics and Marginalia is an attempt to keep ahead of the avalanche of content published every week – the writing on economics, politics, development and pop culture that keeps my brain occupied. In it, I pick between 5 and 10 of my favourite pieces of -mainly- popular economics and political commentary every week and briefly summarise what I liked about it, or what it taught me, in an accessible way.

The guiding spirit behind this blog is that the world is complicated but comprehensible, and I look to showcase writing that doesn’t dumb down the complexity, but puts a premium on clarity.

More from the Series

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Economics & Marginalia: February 9, 2024

February 09, 2024
An update to last week’s intro: after a solid week of negotiation with my 3-year-old (whom the FBI should hire to conduct hostage negotiations, so good is he at getting his way and wearing down his opponent), we have agreed that the new bed I ill-advisedly constructed for him just before bedtime doe...
Blog Post

Economics & Marginalia: February 2, 2024

February 02, 2024
Tim Harford considers ‘addition by subtraction’—the idea that removing items is a neglected way of improving things. Anyone who has sent a paper for comments with the note that ‘it’s already too long, so suggestions on what to excise are very welcome’ will know that the vast majority of replies neve...
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Economics & Marginalia: January 26, 2024

January 26, 2024
There have been a few important milestones in my parenting journey so far: first words, first steps, first meals cooked together. But few have been more rewarding than first time singing along to Victory Test Match by Lord Beginner, or first youtube video of cricketing highlights watched together (i...
Blog Post

Economics & Marginalia: January 19, 2024

January 19, 2024
I’ve got to write these links quickly, before my fingers freeze altogether and I’m left tapping icicles on the keyboard in an attempt to make my points here.  It’s about -3 degrees centigrade outside (about 26 Fahrenheit), and before the Americans and Canadians burst out laughing, our houses are not...