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John Kay has been writing a column on economics and business since 1995. His academic career has included chairs at London Business School and Oxford University; he is currently a visiting professor at the London School of Economics. He also had a career in the policy world which established the Institute for Fiscal Studies as one of the most respected think-tanks and a business career in which he established, developed and sold a substantial consulting firm and in which he has been a non-executive director of Halifax plc and several companies.
His most recent book was published in 2003 in Europe as The Truth about Markets and in 2004 in the US as Culture and Prosperity. He has published two collections of his columns, Everlasting Light Bulbs (2004) and The Hare & the Tortoise (2005). John commutes between London, Oxfordshire and the south of France, where he enjoys composing columns in the course of long walks in the mountains behind the Riviera.
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Buy as bankers move from denial to depression
The credit crunch is not over because it takes time for individuals, or organisations, to move on. But move on they will, writes John Kay
A ban on touts will not fix a rigged game
Many more people will always want to go to great sporting events than there are seats. There is no good solution – but market-oriented policies are probably the least bad outcome, writes John Kay
An innumerate mistake haunting the government
The chancellor cannot now restore the 10 per cent rate because such a move would be far too expensive, writes John Kay
Lennon was right about music and the man
The notion that extending copyright protection would provide pensions for impoverished crooners is an engaging fantasy, writes John Kay
In times of complexity, common sense must prevail
Only judgment from outside statistical models – general knowledge – tells us when correlations will remain stable, writes John Kay
How I blew my money on the wrong video discs
The history of consumer electronics shows that no one really knows what consumers will want, writes John Kay
More regulation will not prevent next crisis
Since financial stability is unattainable, the state should aim to insulate the real economy from the effects of instability, writes John Kay
No need to own the road: buy the tollbooth
In today’s capitalism without capital, intangible assets are crucial, writes John Kay. Most large companies do not make things, they provide services
Just think, the fees you could charge Buffett
His fortune has come not through growing an investment management business, but from his own share in the funds, writes John Kay
Sloppy talk means executives are lost in space
Loose terms such as ‘in the space’ allow executives to avoid being precise about what their companies could and should be doing, writes John Kay
