Sea Access or War? Ethiopia's Red Sea Ambition Reignites the Horn
Ethiopia's need for a better route to the sea is real, but a coast of its own could only be taken by force, at a cost far higher than Djibouti's fees.
7 min read
All articles
Everything we have published, newest first.
November 2026
Policy Policy The Mountain Problem
Whether or not Tucker Carlson is right about a nuclear strike this week, the target he names poses a problem that conventional weapons may not be able to solve. That problem will outlast his post.
12 min read
October 2026
Private Markets Did Pfizer Pay $43 Billion for a Promise It Couldn't Keep?
In pharmaceutical M&A, the most expensive mistake is paying a premium for a future that clinical trials may never deliver - and three years on, Seagen's pipeline is testing that thesis.
5 min read
Student Spotlight AI is everywhere but in the productivity figures
Steam, electricity and computers each took decades to show up in productivity statistics. History suggests AI could pay off faster, but history also tells us that gains depend on how quickly firms reorganise.
9 min read
Micro From BUCS to Bucks: The Economics of Newcastle's Wednesday Sports Night
Every Wednesday, Newcastle's sports societies turn a post-match tradition into one of the city's most predictable markets. A survey of 106 students shows where the money goes, why students keep spending it, and how venues price to take advantage.
13 min read
Markets Judgement Day for AI: Can Anthropic Survive the Public Markets?
Anthropic is preparing to go public, but is the market ready for its extraordinary cash flows, speculative financing and mountain of infrastructure commitments built in pursuit of ever more powerful AI? The US economy is now hoping Anthropic can eventually turn that promise into certainty, and the question is: how long will Wall Street wait?
6 min read
Politics Bosnia Votes for the Status Quo: Can the EU Still Pull the Balkans West?
Bosnia's voters have rewarded the very leaders who stand between them and Europe, and the EU has made that obstruction cheap. Brussels can still pull the country west, but only if it stops waiting for Bosnia's leaders to make the first move.
10 min read
Politics Three Promises, One Budget: The Trap Waiting for John Healey
On 28 October, John Healey delivers his first Budget as Chancellor. He has made three promises that pull in different directions, and the numbers have moved against him since he made them.
8 min read
Student Spotlight Germany's Return to Dominance?
Germany has a reputation as a global powerhouse but in recent times its economy has struggled. Long term factors, geopolitical shocks and government responses shaping the German economy, all beg the question: can Germany climb its way back?
10 min read
Student Spotlight Who Really Benefits from Britain's New First-Time Buyer Scheme?
The government's new first-time buyer scheme promises to make homeownership more accessible and boost housebuilding. But how much of the benefit will reach buyers, and how much could end up with developers?
7 min read
Policy Drones Over Dreadnoughts: Is Britain's Bet on Autonomy Modernisation or Austerity?
Britain’s turn to drones and a ‘hybrid’ navy is sound strategy but funded at the margins and arriving in years with no money allocated, it is modernisation bought on an austerity budget.
10 min read
Macro The Economics of Expectations: Why Hall and Woodford Won the 2026 Nobel Prize
Robert Hall and Michael Woodford won the 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics for rebuilding macroeconomic models around how households and firms form expectations. This piece provides an insight into their work and what it means for central banks today.
7 min read
Student Spotlight When Diversification Results in Concentration: The Fake Sense of Security from Passive ETFs
As global passive ETF assets under management approach $24 trillion, billions in savings are rushing into index-tracking fund for a sense of diversification, and the market structure is being changed dramatically. From the loss of active price discovery in market to creating the passive feedback loops for investor, the loss of active arbitrageurs in market is creating an enormous concentration risk for investors.
9 min read
Policy No Middle Ground: How US Sanctions Are Testing the UAE, Turkey and India
Washington’s new sanctions have left no middle ground between Washington and its adversaries. The UAE has given way, Turkey is hedging, and India is bending, but the evidence indicates that the middle ground is not disappearing but moving.
11 min read
Student Spotlight The AI Revolution: A Prisoner's Dilemma
Fears over AI’s potential existential threat have entered the economic mainstream. As the US competes with China to lead the technology’s development, the prospect of slowing its advance looks increasingly remote.
9 min read
Macro The Price of the Falling Yen
Japan's currency has continued to fall despite rising interest rates, exposing the limits of monetary policy when global markets move against domestic priorities.
5 min read
Student Spotlight The Valuation Epidemic: How the Unicorn went from "Rare" to Rampant
In 2013 there were 39 unicorns. Today there are over 1,300. But how many of them justify their immense valuations?
13 min read
Macro The French Bond Revolt: Why Investors are Running Back to Germany
France’s bond revolt is starting to look less like a market wobble and more like a eurozone-style warning, as political paralysis, rising borrowing costs and a government with little incentive to shrink the debt pile threaten to drain investor confidence and leave the French economy paying the bill.
6 min read
Markets The New Battle for Capital
As governments and technology companies compete for increasingly expensive capital, rising bond yields are reshaping the cost of borrowing. Does the growing demand for debt means for governments, financial markets and the future of the AI boom.
6 min read
Student Spotlight When the Triple Lock Meets the Big Freeze
From next April, the full state pension will be taxed for the first time. Two policies that were never meant to meet have collided, and the Chancellor has until the Autumn Budget to decide who pays.
9 min read