Merry morality
It is that time of year. We are not a religious family, yet we attended our local church’s atmospheric Christmas Eve midnight mass, complete with candles and carols, as many …
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A dog in the manger
We had snatched a festive triumph from the jaws of defeat. Then the canine went crackers. I will be so glad to see Christmas over. The last few weeks have …
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Prison food
Thieves and vagabonds with hellfire and damnation: would you like fries with that? The world is becoming increasingly topsy-turvy. The economic policy agenda now includes industrial policy, trade restrictions, and …
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At the flip of a billion coins
Can finance provide what humanity needs? As we approach 1.5ºC average warming, nature collapses, and conflicts escalate, this must be a reasonable question. Or is it naïve as finance is …
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Malnutrition is a weapon of war
Generations of Gaza’s population have been below the breadline since Israel came into being as a state. Frances Coppola explains. “Famine, what famine? There’s no famine in Gaza. Look at …
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The die in diet
While we depend on food, water, air, and shelter to survive, only our requirement for food demands that we rely on a complex international trading system for our day-to-day needs. …
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Through the past darkly
A banquet beggars belief as Verity’s charming Prinz saves the day. Thomas, my sainted husband, is currently recovering from organising the 1,100th anniversary of Cuthbert’s Cabbage. It turns out our …
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The illusion of stability
Economic calm is always the precursor to a storm. Economics says stability is the sign of a healthy economy. There may be shocks that temporarily knock an economy out of …
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The gravity of the situation
I grew up in the 70s in a world where there was a sense of expanding progress. The great wars were behind us and even when Thatcher/Reagan pushed dog-eat-dog neoliberalism …
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A sting in the tale
Verity discovers that when the wise man points at the moon, the fool looks at the finger. Thomas, my husband of forty years, has a new project. It keeps him …
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