Martin Sandbu’s Free Lunch is the FT’s weekly newsletter on the global economic policy debate. Free for premium subscribers, it is sent out every Thursday lunchtime in Europe, and offers a spirited opinion on the latest commentary and stories.
Sign up to the newsletter here
Add this topic to your myFT Digest for news straight to your inbox
It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so
Spending cuts are far from the only option
There are ways to prevent hardship that are both cost-efficient and keep the incentive to save energy
Taking on some lazy arguments for monetary tightening
IMF-World Bank meeting shows the previous hands-off consensus is still being left in the dust
The UK market panic reveals more about challenges to monetary than fiscal policy
Some economic arguments for benign neglect
Kyiv’s counter-offensive, inflation and the Wizard of Oz
While budgets are set to bleed from the energy crisis, the taxation of wealth has not kept up with its growth
The distributional consequences of high prices are enormous between countries as well as within them
The cost of power is not like any other price — and that complicates how we manage it
Price pressures might have reached their peak, but the descent is unlikely to be as swift as the surge
Don’t try to tame price rises by using public services as an anchor
Another wave of global rate rises beckons following the US central bank’s latest mega move
Here are a number of awkward facts for the conventional view that policy must tighten
US proposal would expose the world’s dependence and enhance Putin’s ability to threaten the west
The EU must be a key player in co-ordinating funds and monitoring their use
Economics shows how Roe vs Wade profoundly restructured society
A splintered parliament is both a challenge and an opportunity
The government’s latest refusal to leave Brexit behind is dishonest, hypocritical and ineffective
Sanctions make it hard for Moscow to spend its export earnings — but reducing them still matters
Make high marginal prices work for our geopolitical and climate costs
So far, slowdown in cross-border activity reflects slowdown in growth
What the pandemic tells us about recession-fighting
A net zero carbon world may be difficult to achieve but need not be painful to live in
International Edition