The first two singles I bought were Buffalo Gals by Malcom Mclaren and the Supreme Team (pictured), and Phil Collins’ cover of The Supremes classic, You Can’t Hurry Love. The year was 1982 and the...

Last week a number of newspapers reported that steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal was considering leaving the UK following the Chancellor’s crackdown on so-called non-doms. This followed a report in...

While I was away last week I finished reading Ed Conway’s fabulous book, Material World. I have read few books that have so significantly increased my understanding of how we function as a species...

Trying to understand the policies of the current US administration can leave one falling into a trap. It runs the risk of attempting to apply logical and rational thinking where perhaps there is...

Five years on from the Covid crisis you may be relieved to know this is not a piece about Personal Protective Equipment. PPE is also the abbreviation for Politics, Philosophy and Economics, arguably...

The latest subject of fevered speculation in the personal finance press has been the Cash ISA. This has included rumours that, in an attempt to encourage an equity savings culture in the UK, the...

Readers who know me even only quite well will not be surprised to learn that I have spent no time on dating apps… This is an alien world to me, but it looks like others too are turning their backs...

I think I have a problem with “truth”: I take it too seriously…honestly! This week I spent time discussing the importance I attach to being truthful and not cheating with my business coach. We were...

The recent appointment of Torsten Bell, erstwhile CEO of The Resolution Foundation, as Pensions Minister has caused a flurry of concerned speculation about the future of the tax benefits associated...

The day after President Trump’s inauguration Sky News ran an article online titled, Net worth of Trump inauguration attendees tops $1 trillion with world's richest in the crowd. Trump was no doubt...

The Monet and London exhibition at The Courtauld Institute in London brings together an extraordinary collection of paintings by Impressionism’s most celebrated exponent. Beyond the sense of wonder...

The headlines emanating from the UK government bond (aka Gilt) market this week are not pretty. Yields on longer-dated Gilts such as the 10-year and 30-year have reached levels that put those seen...

For those of you who, like me, are still wondering what to give your “true love” this Christmas, the Garrulous Jay has a suggestion… How about all the gifts in the eighteenth-century Yuletide song,...

Last week an old school friend dropped me a line alerting me to an upcoming auction at Stride & Son in Chichester. He thought I might be interested in lots 495 to 503 which featured collections...

I cannot believe anyone was surprised by Donald Trump’s resounding victory in the US Presidential Election… It has been crystal clear for months that he was going to win… The moment Biden brought...

After 117 days of alarmist speculation and hyperbole the waiting ended at lunchtime on Wednesday when the first female Chancellor in British history delivered her inaugural Budget. In the two days...

With only five days to go until we are all put out of our pre-Budget misery there has been recourse, amidst all the will-she-won’t-she speculation, to a debate about the work of US economist, Arthur...

This time 16 years ago the state of world stock markets was elegantly summarised by the Evening Standard’s headline for its 6th October edition (see photo below). The global financial crisis was...

There is a near universal consensus that Rachel Reeves will do something with Capital Gains Tax (CGT) in her Budget on the 30th October. With this in mind, Chapter 7 of the IFS Green Budget: October...

As I travelled between meetings this week I listened to a recent episode of The Rest Is Money podcast in which Robert Peston and Steph McGovern interviewed Lord Richard Layard. There was much to...

This week Michael Stanley went down for six years. The 68 year-old convicted fraudster will actually spend at least half this time behind bars. Whilst the specifics of his crime might have been...

Earlier this week I did something slightly strange: I went to the branch of a High Street Bank and interacted with…a human! I can scarcely remember the last time I did this and it wasn’t easy to...

As the days begin to cool, the nights start to draw in and many of us return to work, September can often be a time of reflection. In my case it calls to mind many happy occasions when I’ve enjoyed...

Last week’s King’s Speech included a proposal for a Pension Schemes Bill intended to deliver “better outcomes” for private sector pensions savers and “support the Government’s mission to deliver...

Making any investment involves taking risk. Deciding on the level of risk one is prepared to take should therefore be the foundation of every investor’s decision-making process. Business success is...

When asked what the greatest challenge was for any statesman, Harold Macmillan purportedly replied, “Events, dear boy, events”. Last night we witnessed a seismic if widely anticipated political...

For those of you who fancy a flutter on political developments I have good news… The Garrulous Jay has, through a secret contact known only as ‘JA’ (perhaps recently repatriated to Australia),...

This week I celebrated my birthday so I hope you will forgive me the self-indulgence of writing about the wonderful gift I received from my colleagues, Fiona and James. As you can see from the...

Readers of a certain age will recall the bonkers TV game show It’s A Knockout. The programme aired on the BBC from 1966 to 1982. It involved teams from different towns competing to win a series of...

The opening lyrics of The Smiths song, “What Difference Does It Make?” are as follows: All men have secrets and here is mine So let it be known For we have been through hell and high tide I think I...

Just when we thought the summer had nothing much to offer other than wet weather, sport and Glastonbury, Rishi Sunak delighted us all with a surprise General Election. We can now look forward to...

This week’s back-and-forth in Prime Minister’s Questions made me think it’s time to consider giving up the universal State Pension for a means-tested replacement. The current system has the kind of...

Yesterday the FTSE 100 index of the UK’s largest stocks closed at an all-time high of 8,078.86. This continues a remarkable four year run since the Covid trough of the 23rd March 2020, which has...

When Larry Fink, Chairman of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, leads his annual letter to shareholders with the heading "Time to rethink retirement", it’s probably worth reading… Given...

If you want to know what failure looks like you need search no further than Thames Water. There are many ways to define failure. One would be a situation in which there are only losers. The eventual...

On Tuesday this week Forbes released its 38th Annual World’s Billionaires List. It provides a fascinating insight into the planet’s mega-rich whilst also giving pause for thought. The media made...

The last week has seen three high profile individuals from very different walks of life announce their ‘retirements’. All had the opportunity to carry on in their roles but took the difficult...

Thames Water is the UK’s largest water utility. As their website proudly boasts, they “take care of water for 16 million people”. That’s around 24% of the UK population. This concerns me, but not...

Last Saturday singer-songwriter RAYE took the Brit Awards by storm, winning a record six gongs over the course of the evening, including Album of the Year. Not wanting to be upstaged, three days...

Last night I was privileged to attend a lecture by Tom Little KC, a barrister who has prosecuted some of the highest profile criminal cases of recent times, including those of Sarah Everard and Jo...

When I was a youngster I remember walking down East Street in Chichester, passing the doors of The Body Shop, and being rather alarmed at the idea of people purchasing ‘bodies’. More recently the...