Euro – STUFF HAPPENS

Ambivalence

I am about to publish my first novel, called 59 Years 4 Days. The novel’s main character is a middle-aged man called Simon who learns that he has a fatal illness. Simon is a baby-boomer, a successful member of the Tony Blair generation (TB happens to be a political friend of Simon’s, and a character in the novel). […]

by Alex Hickman

Notes on UK Strategy for C21 ii

A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed by a Bosnian journalist about the future of the City and the UK’s relationship with Europe. The conversation made me think – not for the first time – about just how deep a hole we are in, and how we find the right way out of it […]

by Alex Hickman

The Eurozone won’t survive in its present form

On the eve of the latest Eurozone bail-out, I listened to a panel of four central bankers (an American, a Japanese, a Cypriot and a Dutchman) discuss the outlook for the global economy. The context was a conference hosted by a global banking group. The panellists were a bright foursome and all commanders of their subject and they […]

by Alex Hickman

Notes on Frankfurt

Walking past the entrance to the European Central Bank I could see the tension in the faces of the chauffeurs and the bodyguards standing by the security gate smoking cigarettes. Towering above them is the money headquarters for a continent of over 300 million people, and things are in bad way. Around the corner in […]

by Alex Hickman

Two black swans prepare for take off

When I was running the cross-party campaign opposing UK membership of the euro (‘europe yes, euro no‘, 2000-03), the things that used to keep me awake at night were the things over which I had no control. I wasn’t worried about raising enough money, or winning the daily skirmishes against our opponents, or building our […]

by Alex Hickman

How the other half lives

Europeans have been coming to terms with uncomfortable levels of anxiety and uncertainty over the last few months. Prolonged financial crisis has pushed us back in to recession, and has condemned us to more austerity, low growth and lost opportunity. Each week seems to bring a new shade of darkness. What next month will bring – […]

by Alex Hickman

Beware elites

During the late 1990s, when I was asked what I did by my neighbour at the twenty-something dinner parties which for a time seemed like an unavoidable component of my social life, my response was so toxic it sometimes hushed the table. “Business for Sterling?”. Tony Blair was in Number Ten, and preparations to stage […]