The Capitalist

Can a Prime Minister really be on borrowed time less than two years after a landslide election victory? Benjamin Wilson speaks to ConservativeHome's Henry Hill about the mounting speculation around Sir Keir Starmer — and why Labour’s internal unrest may be less surprising than it looks.Henry argues that Starmer’s problems were baked in from the start: a low-turnout election, a deliberately cautious manifesto, and a parliamentary party that never felt bound to deliver painful choices on welfare, spending, or reform. But now the problems run even deeper: Labour’s rebellions, the structural difficulty of governing with a huge and undisciplined majority, the changing expectations placed on leaders in the age of social media, and the stagnant fiscal reality that now threatens any party in power. From Reform’s rise to the fragmentation of the electorate, Henry thinks Britain may be entering a brutal cycle in which voters punish every governing party for problems no leader can easily fix.

In this special live discussion, Mervyn King, Lord King of Lothbury, and Terry Burns, Lord Burns, reflect on the economics and politics of the Lawson boom, chaired by Daniel Mahoney. Drawing on their first-hand experience working with Nigel Lawson, they revisit one of the most consequential periods in modern British economic history.Presented in front of a live audience, the discussion touches on the inheritance of 1970s inflation and the controversial 1981 Budget, tax reform, monetary targeting, exchange-rate policy, and the late-1980s boom and bust. King and Burns challenge the myth that the 1988 Budget alone caused the Lawson boom, arguing instead that prolonged low interest rates, financial deregulation, data misreads, and global conditions played a decisive role.Looking forward, they connect these lessons to today’s debates on inflation after Covid, the role of money and fiscal discipline, supply-side reform, and the growing strain on central bank independence. A timely, candid exchange between two architects and critics of Britain’s modern macroeconomic framework – and a crucial reminder of how hard-won credibility must be renewed.

As calls grow louder to cap personal fortunes, a new philosophy – “limitarianism” – argues that no one should be allowed to be rich beyond a fixed limit. In this essay, Tim Worstall, Senior Fellow at the Adam Smith Institute, takes aim at the idea, arguing that it rests on a fundamental misunderstanding of how wealth, value and incentives actually work. From Mark Zuckerberg to global inequality, he makes the case that extreme riches are not a social failure, but often the by-product of innovations that benefit billions – and that banning wealth would leave society poorer, not fairer.Despatch brings you the best articles from CapX’s unrivalled daily newsletter.

As Robert Jenrick defects to Reform UK, pressure is mounting on the Conservative Party to chart a new course. In this episode of The Capitalist, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg joins Marc Sidwell to dissect the fallout — and to make the case for a pre-election pact between Reform and the Tories.One of the party’s most recognisable figures, Rees-Mogg argues that Kemi Badenoch has emerged strengthened, but warns that division on the Right could lead to catastrophe. Drawing on the historical precedents of 1918 and 1931, he outlines how a pact might work in practice — and why, in his view, the future of the Right depends on swift, strategic unity.

Robert Jenrick’s dramatic defection to Reform UK has blown open long-simmering tensions on the British Right — and handed Kemi Badenoch a serious test as Conservative leader. In this essay, Joseph Dinnage, deputy editor of CapX, dissects the intrigue behind Jenrick’s dismissal, the risks Badenoch took in cutting him loose, and the uncertain gains for Nigel Farage’s insurgent party. It’s a story of ambition, loyalty and timing — and one that may yet reshape the balance of power on the Right.Despatch brings you the best articles from CapX’s unrivalled daily newsletter.

What happens when a regime shuts off the internet — and then turns its guns on its own people? For the IEA's Mani Basharzad, the question is deeply personal: he hasn't heard from his mother or friends in Iran for days. As the country plunges into its most violent crackdown in decades, reports of mass killings, information blackouts and nationwide protests raise a stark question: is the Islamic Republic finally losing control?In this urgent episode of The Capitalist, Joseph Dinnage speaks to Mani about what an internet shutdown really means on the ground, why this wave of protests feels fundamentally different from those that came before, and how a broad coalition of Iranians — rich and poor, secular and religious — are rallying around the prospect of regime change. Mani explains the role of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the economic collapse hollowing out the state, and why this movement is less a revolution than a fight to reclaim basic normality.

As ministers insist the labour market is merely “normalising”, the numbers tell a more troubling story — especially for the young. In this essay, Damian Pudner, an independent economist specialising in monetary policy, argues that Britain is sliding into a slow-burn recession under Rachel Reeves, with youth unemployment surging and entry-level jobs disappearing. Higher payroll taxes, tighter regulation and rising business costs, he warns, are scarring a generation before their working lives have properly begun — with consequences that could haunt the economy for decades.Despatch brings you the best articles from CapX’s unrivalled daily newsletter.

Are today’s culture wars, party fractures and populist backlashes really something new — or are we simply reliving an old British story? In this episode of The Capitalist, Marc Sidwell looks three centuries into the past to understand the political turmoil of the present. From riots over immigration to furious pamphlet wars, from elite anxiety about misinformation to bitter arguments over Britain’s role in Europe, the foundations of modern politics were laid in the age of Whigs and Tories.Marc is joined by historian and author George Owers, whose book "The Rage of Party" (one of CapX's favourites of 2025) brings the birth of British party politics vividly to life. Together they explore the explosive origins of left and right, the rise of finance and global ambition, the dangers of suppressing demagogues, and why moderation — however unfashionable — has always been the hardest political art to master.