Strip out London, and Britain’s GDP per capita is just 3% larger than Poland’s 🤯

🇵🇱 My @thetimes column: Poland’s economic miracle 12 out of 17 Polish regions are now richer than West Wales. It has faster internet, cheaper electricity and more high speed rail than Britain When it comes to regional development it’s the UK, not Poland, that needs to catch up 1/3

Great chart from @tomcalver.bsky.social showing how a third of Britain’s economic output in the mid-1990s comprised fossil fuel extraction, electricity generation and mining. And financial services then stepped in before the financial crisis www.thetimes.com/article/a394...

NEW: Since the start of the Ukraine invasion, 17 out of 27 EU nations have spent more on Russian oil and gas than they’ve sent to Ukraine in aid! Despite an oil embargo, Europe is still sending £1bn a month on Russian energy. This week’s column: www.thetimes.com/article/dd9d...

Which country works the hardest? 🇺🇸 = long hours, minimal holidays 🇬🇧 = long hours, modest holidays 🇩🇪 = modest hours, lots of holidays This week’s @thetimes.com column 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/5463...

"The real mystery is why, during a period of mass migration, the number of foreign prisoners hasn't risen by more." Good piece by @tomcalver.bsky.social (IMO bottom line is that migration/nationality status has little correlation, +be or -ve, with criminality). www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

NEW: Are migrants more likely to commit crimes than non-migrants? Here’s what the data does and doesn’t show. 1/8 @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/72b6...

Data finally proves it: online dating leads to worse relationships This week’s column is about choice overload, the importance of shared context, and how too much data - when it comes to dating - is a bad thing @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/82b7...

This is what $10,000 invested in Palantir on election day would be worth now. But can you do any better? Introducing @thetimes.com trading game. How much money can you make in 9 months? Free link 👇 www.thetimes.com/article/086b...

This is what $10,000 invested in Palantir on election day would be worth now. But can you do any better? Introducing @thetimes.com trading game. How much money can you make in 9 months? Free link 👇 www.thetimes.com/article/086b...

Imagine you could go back to election day in November 2024, with $10k and everything you know now. Could you successfully dodge Trump’s tariffs and outperform the market? Play our stock trading game ⬇️

If you could go back in time, to the day of the 2024 US election, with $10,000 US dollars and everything you know now, how much money do you think you could make? Try for yourself and watch how Trump's first six months in office have affected the markets. www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...

This week’s @thetimes.com column is about how we’re bad at investing Decades of data shows that rather than investing for profit, UK savers are motivated by pessimism This “when shit hits the fan, save all you can” approach is bad for our finances, and bad for the economy 1/5

This week’s @thetimes.com column: what is a comfortable salary in Britain? Money does buy you happiness - but there’s a definite hump between £50k and £80k 👇 www.thetimes.com/article/f4dd...

Britain’s grocery prices used to be the envy of Europe; not anymore. This week’s column on food inflation 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/5c2c...

A third of people in Britain now think the Covid pandemic was exaggerated to control people 🤯🤯 And 22% think the moon landings were staged! One of many striking findings from new @moreincommonuk.bsky.social report on shattered Britain. My write up here: 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/bb0f...

🧵 This week's column is all about council tax! It's England's most hated tax, and hasn't been touched since 1993. The withdrawal of subsidies has made it even more regressive over time Yet don't expect it to be reformed anytime soon: nobody can agree what to change it to 1/3

Scientists spent much of the 20th century worrying about overpopulation. Their fears went unfounded: humans became richer as our numbers grew. Now, demographers are starting to worry about the opposite problem Review in @thetimes.com www.thetimes.co.uk/article/afte...

One down, four to go!

Rising wages, falling waiting lists: an unpopular take, but in a few ways, life in Britain has been (slowly) improving over the past year. But it doesn’t feel that way — and that’s a problem for Labour Free to read: 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/33c0...

Why it's hard to get that excited about Britain's modest rise in defence spending This week's @thetimes.com column, free to read 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/476e...

As the always worth listening to @resi-analyst.bsky.social puts it, as mortgage rates have fallen, that saving has gone into boosting house prices rather than reducing the overall cost of debt. That we should be making it even easier to borrow larger amounts feels questionable.

A pretty scary chart in this piece by George. Interest rates may be creeping downwards, but first time buyers are spending more of their money on repayments than at any point since 2008

Exclusive in The Sunday Times up early: Interest-only mortgages are set to become more easily available for first-time buyers for the first time really since the 2008 financial crisis. It's the latest example of lenders making it easier to borrow this year www.thetimes.com/business-mon...

Unbelievably proud of top data journo and football shirt supremo @joeydurso.bsky.social, who launches his book tonight!! 🔗 amzn.eu/d/bvUYlQv

⛽️ Petrol is the cheapest it’s been in real terms since 2001, but no govt has gotten credit for freezing fuel duties. 1. It’s an implicit carbon subsidy - so much for Net Zero - and 2. it penalises city-dwellers. Excellent piece from @tomcalver.bsky.social here: www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Petrol prices are the lowest they’ve been since *2001*, after adjusting for inflation. Excess supply and a strong pound have helped. But so too have 14 years of cuts to fuel duty. There’s just one problem: voters don’t seem to have noticed… @thetimes.com 1/3

In Britain, child poverty is only rising among large families. The problem is, large families are actually becoming more common in Britain, not less. This week’s @thetimes.com column 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/58a2...

Handy canter through different child poverty measures by @tomcalver.bsky.social - 1 in 3 children in relative poverty in the UK www.thetimes.com/article/58a2...

Have the police effectively decriminalised cannabis already? This week’s column, free to read 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/9efb...

More investigations & more arrests, but more than 1/3 are closed bcs victim does not support any further action. In other words, officers spending time investigating these crimes when in many cases victim does not want to press charges (£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu... By @tomcalver.bsky.social

This week I looked at whether social media posts are investigated more thoroughly than real-world crimes Arrests for “malicious communications” offences have soared in recent years. Yet the number of people actually sentenced — or imprisoned — has fallen… 1/2

🧵 NEW: Is living in London really worth it? When looking at regional disparities, we often focus on income. Maybe we should look at spending instead. Do that - and adjust for high prices - and Londoners have some of the worst qualities of life of any region! 1/3

I have a wife now!! 🤍 @maritamoloney.bsky.social

🧵 The origin of the Birmingham bin strike is the idea that the work of bin men is of equal value to that done by mostly-female carers & cleaners So this week’s column is about men’s & women’s jobs. Curiously, in many sectors, the gender ratio has barely changed in 30 years 1/3

🧵 The origin of the Birmingham bin strike is the idea that the work of bin men is of equal value to that done by mostly-female carers & cleaners So this week’s column is about men’s & women’s jobs. Curiously, in many sectors, the gender ratio has barely changed in 30 years 1/3

Why even Donald Trump bows to the power of the iPhone www.thetimes.com/article/4f9c...

This is great by @tomcalver.bsky.social on globalised tech manufacture

If you want proof that globalisation is alive and well, look inside your iPhone. Even Donald Trump bows to its power My read in today's @thetimes.com www.thetimes.com/article/4f9c...

NEW: Is Reform UK still a male-dominated party? In 2024 it had 1.4 males for every 1 female voter. No recent party has done better with such a skewed gender balance. But something may have shifted since… My @thetimes.com column, free link below 1/5 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/12d3...

NEW: Is Reform UK still a male-dominated party? In 2024 it had 1.4 males for every 1 female voter. No recent party has done better with such a skewed gender balance. But something may have shifted since… My @thetimes.com column, free link below 1/5 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/12d3...

The top quarter of non-graduates now earn more than the average graduate! Read my column for free here 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/0842...

Bonus chart: here’s what this looks like after tax, national insurance and student loan deductions…

🧵 NEW: The erosion of the graduate premium The minimum wage is now £25k on a 40-hour week. From next year, £25k is also the threshold for repaying new student loans There are many good reasons to go to uni - but does it still pay in the financial sense? 1/7 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/0842...

9/9 And another angle on the same dynamic: Trump’s approval is holding up very well with Maga, but he’s rapidly losing support among the rest of the coalition who voted for him in November. Or to put it another way, the view from inside the Maga echo chamber remains rosy. Outside, not so much...

Look at the cabinet, says @tomcalver.bsky.social - so many ministers did humanities degree. "It’s making the argument: you won’t be unemployed in five years, you could end up running the country."

World inequality database suggests that over the same period, the share of UK pre-tax income captured by the top 1% increased from 7% to about 14% So share of taxes paid by the 1% has increased, but a rise of 1.5 x their share of total incomes to just over 2x isn't that dramatic

Fantastic article by @tomcalver.bsky.social: not only is the UK not a high-tax country, taxes on *middle-income* earners are low by international standards. If taxes are to rise - and they should - it can't/won't be just on "the rich". www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

The average UK worker is paying a lower effective tax rate than their US equivalent (19%). Great stat via @tomcalver.bsky.social.

🧵 NEW: Is Britain really a high tax country? Our collective tax bill is at its highest share of GDP since the 1940s But actually, the tax and NI paid by the average worker are at their lowest in decades. What’s going on? 1/7 @thetimes.com Free link 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/25aa...