As expected, the US government shutdown came to an end in the customary way: both parties agreed to keep spending other people’s money. But do our leaders know what they are doing? And how much of wha

With the election of a socialist to the position of mayor, New Yorkers are trying to escape one toxic fantasy by plunging headfirst into another. They jump from the caldarium – a muscled-up fantasy of

The Budget: the main points The Chancellor majored on ...

“Markets appear to have their mojo back,” says The New York Times Dealbook. Shares on Wall Street wobbled at the end of last week, with even strong results from AI chip champion Nvidia failing to calm

“All government leaders know what to do. They just don’t know how to get re-elected if they do it.” Jean-Claude Juncker, the former president of the European Commission, said little of note in his pol

The long run-up to the Budget gave rise to fevered and increasingly alarmist speculation about its contents. This descended into chaos as frantic lobbying by interested parties, dire warnings by exper