Global stock market turmoil and fears about China raises the prospect of historically low borrowing costs staying in place for longer than expectedThe first rise in UK interest rates could be delayed until autumn 2016, according to City expectations, as market turmoil in China raises the prospect of historically low borrowing costs staying in place for longer than expected.

The latest turbulence in global markets and fear of doing anything that might send the economy back into recession will stay the Fed’s already wary handCentral bankers have their own lingo. They tend to speak in tortured prose that obscures more than it illuminates. Given the choice, they favour a gnomic utterance over plain speaking.Bill Dudley, the president of the New York Federal Reserve and the second most important US central banker after Janet Yellen, has just provided a masterclass in central bank-speak. Asked what the latest turbulence in the financial markets meant, Dudley replied that recent economic data had been “pretty positive”. Continue reading...

The Trump campaign has not issued an economic policy paper, but from what experts can tell, his flawed proposals could threaten a trade war with ChinaRepublican presidential candidate Donald Trump accused China on Tuesday of “one of the greatest thefts in the history of the world” and said he could fix the problem by drawing on the negotiating skills laid out in his 1987 bestseller The Art of the Deal.“I do great with the Chinese,” Trump told an audience at a campaign rally in Dubuque, Iowa. “And they’re great people. The problem is their leaders are too smart for our leaders. Continue reading...

Office for National Statistics says payments rose by 2.7% in 2014-15 to £42.4bn, putting the total figure 0.1% below the record reached in 2007-08Britain’s economic recovery has helped bonuses return to within a whisker of their pre-recession peak, according to official data.The Office for National Statistics said that salary top-ups rose by 2.7% in 2014-15 to £42.4bn, despite less generous payouts in the City.Related: Britain's average pay rises, but so does unemployment Continue reading...

China’s faltering economy is the destination for large proportions of many countries’ export sectors, in some cases for substantial proportions of GDP. See which countries stand to lose out if China’s import demand continues to weaken, and what happens if it slows further Continue reading...

As share prices continue their rollercoaster ride, China’s governance problems are becoming impossible to ignore. Given the country’s importance to the global economy, domestic instability could pose major risks worldwide

Billions of dollars were wiped off the value of the Chinese stock market on ‘black Monday’. But what caused it? Is it an indication of another global economic crisis? And what more can the Chinese government do to stop the situation with the world’s second largest economy from getting worse?Live updatesRead: stock markets continue to be volatile as investors fear China risk Continue reading...

Is it London, playground of the world’s super-rich, or an Asian financial centre such as Hong Kong or Singapore? In fact, two of the most respected surveys locate the world’s most expensive city in AfricaWhere is the world’s most expensive city? London, where garages can sell for half a million pounds? Or Paris, where hotels, restaurants and boutiques cater to almost 50 million tourists a year in the world’s most visited city?

Events of the past few days echo those that led to the Wall Street crash, so optimism about long-term impact on the west of China’s crisis is prematureOn day one the stock market fell by 13%. On day two it fell by a further 12%. On day three hopes were high the storm had blown over after equity prices recouped the previous session’s losses. Let this be a cautionary tale. These figures relate not to the Shanghai Composite index in August 2015 but the Dow Jones Industrial Average in October 1929.

Markit data shows that the value of the short positions hedge funds have taken, effecting betting that FTSE 100 share would fall, is £17.8bnHedge funds are set to bank tens of millions of pounds from the slump in share prices in London, having bet almost £18bn that the FTSE 100 would fall.The funds making the bets include Lansdowne Partners, which is run by George Osborne’s best man, Peter Davies, and Odey Asset Management, which is led by Crispin Odey – who made millions by predicting the credit crisis and earlier this year said the world was heading for a downturn “likely to be remembered in 100 years”. Continue reading...

Tycoon lost $3.6bn on ‘Black Monday’, according to Bloomberg, as 24 billionaires saw their fortunes fall by more than $1bn in one dayAsia’s richest person was the largest loser in Monday’s stock market crash in China, after stocks in the region fell dramatically.Chinese tycoon Wang Jianlin, whose UK interests include luxury boat firm Sunseeker yachts and commercial property in London, lost $3.6bn (£2.3bn) on Monday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Wang’s main business vehicle intends to build a five-star hotel on the Nine Elms regeneration site in south-west London, billed as the first Chinese luxury hotel overseas. Continue reading...

As the latest cohort of students collect their GCSE results (Report, 21 August), we at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors have been pondering the research from the Federation of Master Builders (Construction-sector recovery at risk from skills shortage, say building firms, 28 July). Indeed, our research echoes this and indicates that, unless a new generation of skilled workers joins the construction industry soon, 27,000 building projects a year will be at risk by 2019. We need to make it clear to young people that construction is not an inferior career choice – it’s an exciting, challenging and rewarding industry for all levels of academic ability.Take surveying – there’s an array of real career opportunities available for young and qualified people. These can involve planning and managing the creation of iconic buildings, and infrastructure projects around the country. What’s more, the routes into careers are ever-expanding. RICS has helped to create a new degree apprenticeship as an alternative to A-levels/university. More vocational routes provide learners with the knowledge they need, and also ensure that young people understand how this knowledge can be applied practically.

Many Americans don’t want to let go of tipping because they see it as a step toward socialism, or because they don’t want to lose the power to judge serviceAs progressive American municipalities roll out a $15 hourly minimum wage, one result has been a renewed debate over the practice of tipping service workers. Some restaurants are experimenting with compulsory service charges as well as other systems that they hope will ensure all employees earn more, while rewarding high-performers and still allowing the customer some say.Related: Top tips on tipping around the worldI don’t tip because society says I have to. All right, I mean I’ll tip if somebody really deserves a tip. If they put forth the effort, I’ll give them something extra. But I mean, this tipping automatically, it’s for the birds. As far as I’m concerned they’re just doing their job. Continue reading...

Governments can pull many levers to influence the behaviour of households, businesses and investors – Beijing has opted for half a dozenChina has tried to reboot its economy for the last year after it became obvious that a slowdown in early 2014 was turning into a steady decline in growth. Governments can pull many levers to influence the behaviour of households, businesses and investors. Here are the six main ones Beijing has used.Related: China seeks to reassure stock markets with rate cut and looser lending Continue reading...

The People’s Bank of China reduces the one-year lending rate in a signal of readiness to head off a repeat of June’s stock market crashChina has sought to calm its panic-stricken stock markets by cutting interest rates and loosening constraints on bank lending after a second day of plunging share prices.The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) reduced the one-year lending rate to 4.6% in a clear signal that it was prepared to head off a repeat of the stock market crash that hit the country in June. The benchmark Shanghai Composite fell by 7.6% on Tuesday, bringing its loss in the last two days to more than 15%.Related: China opts for measured response to days of stock market panic Continue reading...

US firms await outcome of Congress deliberations over Iran agreement, leaving them at the back of the queue for a market due to reopen after years of sanctionsThe ink was barely dry on the agreement with Iran to limit its nuclear programme before a German government plane packed with the nation’s economic elite touched down in Tehran.The trip was the first in a rush of European ministers and business people flocking to a market poised to reopen after years of grinding sanctions. Upscale Tehran hotels are packed and tables at trendy restaurants are scarce as foreigners jostle for bargains, even amid uncertainty over whether President Obama can overcome US congressional opposition to the deal.Most of our clients recognise that this will not be business as usual for probably many years to comeRelated: British embassy in Iran reopens Continue reading...

Beijing cuts interest rates to support the real economy, but keeps some of its powder dry to avoid further damaging investor confidenceBeijing has taken action. After two days of painful stock market falls, the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) has seen enough. Interest rates have been cut to put a floor under share prices and support the real economy.

Sneaking off to China to beg for political investment in vanity projects that no European would touch is no route to economic recoveryChina was always the Ashley Madison of public money. Finance ministers with an infrastructure problem would sneak off to Beijing for a quickie billion and return with smiles on their faces. The Chinese seemed willing and no one need know. George Osborne and David Cameron have done it for HS2 and Hinkley Point. Boris Johnson can’t keep his hands off Chinese skyscrapers. Now something dreadful has happened. Someone has told the Chinese people where their savings have been going. Does it matter? Of course it matters. Any student of economic history knows that when a swiftly urbanising economy exports its surplus savings – as Britain did in the late-19th century – it loses touch with reality and goes into recession. Money is tipped into African railways, Brazilian mines and Russian bonds. China has been tipping cash into worthless transport and energy projects around the world, or storing it in empty London towers. It encourages reckless governments to get involved with stupid projects that no sane banker would support.Boris Johnson can't keep his hands off Chinese skyscrapersRelated: China's 'Black Monday' sends markets reeling across the globe - as it happened Continue reading...

Leader writers accuse Beijing of incompetence and urge calm on the home frontThe great fall of China. It was a pun too good to miss for the Daily Mail (page 1), the Sun and the Times. It kept company with the most used cliché of the day, the one about China sneezing and the rest of the world getting a cold.In various guises, it appeared in the Guardian, Independent, Daily Express, Daily Mirror and the Sun. But the Sun deserves special mention for the pun over its editorial, Chinese burn.“It is clear that China is slowing down much faster than anticipated... If the Chinese model really has run its course, the impact will be shattering. Yet the fundamentals that earned the label of the Chinese century are still largely in place.What is needed is transparency. China must also let its markets function more freely and accelerate the shift from an export-led economy towards greater consumption at home... In the meantime there is no need to stockpile pickled cabbage or storm the ATMs.”“China is being forced to learn the hard way what traditional practitioners of market-based economics have known all along - that you cannot buck the markets and that economic development never proceeds in a straight line.The belief that China’s own peculiar form of authoritarian, state-sponsored capitalism could somehow defy the usual laws of economics always did look deluded.”“At the very least, its slowdown threatens to spark a rolling series of debt and currency crises in emerging markets... Small wonder that stock markets are panicking.”“It should be public about its conclusions, however much this may go against the grain. Markets and the wider world need confidence in the existence of a plan, given the absence of the monetary and fiscal tools common to market economies.”“Instead of soothing nerves, these measures only stirred new concerns about why they had been necessary at all. Beijing’s grip on events loosened again in the eyes of the world after it allowed the yuan to slide over the last fortnight...Beijing is certainly not out of options nor treasure just yet, and yet the world is losing its blind faith in the assumption that China’s often-secretive political processes can in the end be relied on to steer the nation to ever-greater prosperity.”“Alarm bells should be ringing very loudly in Downing Street as the economic weather darkens. Instead, the Europe-obsessed Tories are focusing on renegotiating Britain’s relationship with Brussels.And Labour is mired in a chaotic leadership battle which is doing lasting damage to the party.” Continue reading...

Chinese stock market slide since 12 June peak has panicked not only Beijing and country’s investors but markets across the globe Continue reading...

Party formed after split from Alexis Tsipras’s Syriza, unlikely to succeed

Benchmark Chinese markets fall 6% but some indices bounce back on the day after ‘Black Monday’Asian stock markets record big swings Related: Dow plunges after rollercoaster trading on ‘Black Monday’ for global marketsMarkets across Asia experienced more turbulence on Tuesday, with Chinese shares suffering a dramatic fall of more than 6% a day after hundreds of billions of dollars were knocked off global stocks. As the gravity of China’s market woes continued to sink in – following a trading session dubbed “Black Monday” by the country’s official news agency – stock markets in the region were again hit by wild fluctuations.Related: Asian stock markets recover amid wild swings after Wall Street slump – live Continue reading...

Australia’s economy can survive these share shocks for now, but further falls in stock prices could challenge the Coalition’s resistance to fiscal stimulusThe savage market ructions of recent weeks and days are disconcerting. While not unprecedented, the quite staggering fall in share markets and commodity prices are threatening to undermine the global economy. For Australia, the news is particularly alarming. Australia’s stock market, the ASX, has not performed well in recent years, lagging well behind the other markets. If the market ructions translate to an extended period of weak global growth, Australia’s already dismal export performance will be hampered and the commodity price weakness will further undermine national incomes.We are not there yet. There needs to be either further falls in stocks and commodities or an extended period where market weakness persists for there to be material damage to the Australian economy. Continue reading...

Chancellor’s remarks come on day Beijing dubbed ‘Black Monday’ and as European markets saw biggest falls since 2008 financial crisisGeorge Osborne has played down fears that European economies will be derailed by the dramatic stock market slide in China that triggered some of biggest swings at bourses around the world since the 2008 financial crisis.The UK chancellor said the volatility in China, where the main Shanghai Composite index on Monday had its biggest one-day drop since 2007, was “a cause for real concern”.

A stock market bubble and bust that was made in China might have stayed there – had the west not got other reasons to be fearfulPotential disruption to the iron ore trade; the sudden exposure of the South African rand; the incompatibility of Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption drive with that Wild East entrepreneurial spirit which has powered decades of Chinese growth. Watching panic spread from Shanghai and Shenzhen to London and New York, western analysts grabbed for straws of understanding in unfamiliar fields, reflecting not only a professional need to look as if they know what’s going on, but a psychological yearning to impose order on a wild, mercurial swing in the mood. There may be no single reason why August 2015 proved the moment for the world’s investors to take collective fright about the People’s Republic. What there is however, lurking under all the anxiety, is a single question for governments everywhere. Namely, what’s left in the locker?Like a swaggering pre-crash financier, Beijing had grown to resemble a Master of the Universe. What it said more or less went; even the great crisis of 2008 caused only modest and impermanent departure from the course that it had set. But in recent months, the regime has been having to do ever more to achieve ever less. After inflating an extraordinary stock bubble, by enticing people of modest means into the market, the Communist rulers became visibly terrified of a burst. Restrictions were imposed on shares being sold off, while public bodies were sent on a buying spree. Instead of soothing nerves, these measures only stirred new concerns about why they had been necessary at all. Beijing’s grip on events loosened again in the eyes of the world after it allowed the yuan to slide over the last fortnight. This might have been explained as a pragmatic adjustment to a slowdown at home after years in which a rising currency had eroded competitiveness overseas. Instead, there was spin suggesting that the move was all part of a well-laid plan, which succeeded only in alerting the world to the rate at which China had been burning through its vast reserves. That created such panic that further resources soon had to be spent on putting a floor under the slide. Continue reading...

Concerns about inflation, shares and interest rates are raised after ‘Black Monday’ chaos sees billions wiped off markets around the globeChina’s stock market has fallen sharply over recent weeks despite measures by officials in Beijing aimed at calming investors’ jitters and shoring up global confidence in the country’s slowing economy.As in August 1997, 1998, 2007 and 2008 we could be in the early stage of a very serious situation.It is far from clear that the next Fed move will be a tightening.Advice on the looming crash, No.1: get hard cash in a safe place now; don't assume banks & cashpoints will be open, or bank cards will work.Crash advice No.2: do you have enough bottled water, tinned goods & other essentials at home to live a month indoors? If not, get shopping.Crash advice No.3: agree a rally point with your loved ones in case transport and communication gets cut off; somewhere you can all head to.Today is just the stock market catching up with the terror over defaults that's been gripping the bond market for months.Related: China stock market panic shows what happens when stimulants wear off Continue reading...

Unlike in 2007, this crash could be seen coming. China just provided trigger for sell-off in global financial markets bulked up on quantitative easingRelated: Asian stock markets fall again after Wall Street slump – liveFinancial markets have gone cold turkey. For the past seven years, they have been given regular doses of strong and dangerous narcotics. The threat that the drugs will no longer be available has resulted in severe withdrawal symptoms.Related: Why is China's stock market falling and how might it affect the global economy? Continue reading...

London index and Germany’s Dax fall sharply as global markets reel from worst day in Shanghai and Hong Kong since 2007European stocks tumbled and US equity markets prepared for steep falls after Chinese shares had their worst day since 2007 – intensifying a stock market rout driven by fears about the world’s second-biggest economy.In lunchtime trading local time, the FTSE 100 had fallen almost 4.5% to 5,914 points, wiping more than £60bn off the index of leading UK shares. It was the first time the index had dropped below the 6,000 mark since early 2013, with almost all companies in the red, and followed a week of declines last week.Related: FTSE plunges as China sparks global markets crisis - liveBlack Monday! #ChinaStocks join global panic selloff, dive 8.5%, worst since Asian financial crisis at midday pic.twitter.com/nLHoFf34bVRelated: Share markets plunge triggered by jitters over ChinaRelated: China to allow pension fund to invest in stock market for first time Continue reading...

Adviser to Labour leadership frontrunner hits back after John Cridland says QE was justified in banking crisis but should not become standardJeremy Corbyn’s plan for “people’s QE”, which in effect would involve printing money to fund infrastructure spending, has been criticised by the head of the CBI.John Cridland, director general of the independent employers’ organisation, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that while he agreed that capital investment was urgently needed, the Corbyn plan was not based on sound economics.John Cridland: “We all know household finances and government finances are the same”. No they are not!!! Households cannot print money Continue reading...

Federal treasurer Joe Hockey speaks about recent falls in the share market. Hockey says he will be travelling to Turkey for the G20 next week and ‘the more transparency we can get from the US Federal Reserve, and Janet Yellen in particular, the more it will help to address some of the volatility in global stock markets’ Continue reading...

Sale of shares takes taxpayer’s stake in bailed-out bank to less than 13%The government has sold 1% of its stake in Lloyds Banking Group to reduce its ownership of the bailed-out bank to less than 13%.UK Financial Investments, which manages the government’s stakes in Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland, has reduced its holding to 12.97%, Lloyds said on Monday. Continue reading...

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 falls 2.4% in first 20 minutes as stocks across the board affected by global worries about China, Greece and oilThe Australian share market has plunged at the start of trade, with losses felt across the board from banks to resources stock as uncertainty grips global markets.The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 and the All Ordinaries indices fell more than 2.4% in the first 20 minutes of trade on Monday.Related: Global stocks sell-off deepens as panic grips markets - liveRelated: Fortescue to cut hundreds of jobs despite partial rebound in iron ore price Continue reading...

Political mood becomes even more poisonous as former PM Antonis Samaras accuses Alexis Tsipras of acting like ‘drunk captain of a rudderless ship’Confusion over the timing of fresh elections in Greece has threatened to jeopardise the prospects for a smooth transition to a new government and the ability of the debt-stricken country to meet the conditions of its €86bn bailout.The election campaign intensified over the weekend with officials preparing candidate lists and the appointment of a caretaker administration after the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras refused to participate in talks with other party leaders to form a new government.Related: Greek crisis: what's the mood in Greece after Alexis Tsipras' resignation? Continue reading...

Chancellor meets European leaders in three Scandinavian capitals as part of effort to gain support for UK’s bid to renegotiate EU relationshipGeorge Osborne will tell European leaders during a whistlestop tour of capital cities that Britain’s bid to reform the EU will also benefit their nations.The chancellor is visiting Helsinki, Stockholm and Copenhagen to build support for the UK’s demands for a new settlement in Brussels.Related: Even with Labour in disarray, Europe could still derail the Tories | Isabel Hardman Continue reading...

Economist says Australia is in better shape than others to weather the global market turmoil fuelled by China’s slowing economy

State news agency reports 30% of net assets will be allowed to be invested in domestically listed shares, which could restore investor confidenceChina has cleared the path for local authority pension funds to invest in the stock market for the first time, potentially channelling hundreds of billions of yuan into the country’s struggling Shanghai exchange. After a week of turbulence that sent world stock markets spiralling to their worst weekly loss for the year, Xinhua, the official news agency, reported on Sunday that under the new rules, the fund will be allowed to invest up to 30% of its net assets in domestically listed shares.The move, which is likely to be seen as a brazen attempt to inject pension cash into the market to shore up prices and restore investor confidence, comes ahead of several reports that are likely to show the world’s major economies struggling to recover as China’s main industries slowdown.Related: China syndrome: how the slowdown could spread to the Brics and beyond Continue reading...

We are living in an era where big companies want to exploit the information we’ve given them for free. This powerful knowledge could be used for good – or to create entire business empires

World hasn’t changed much since financial crisis, which showed an economic model based on widening inequality and uncontrolled capital flows is unviableAnd so it begins. Shares are falling, currency markets are in turmoil. The price of oil is going through the floor, burning the fingers of speculators who have made the wrong bets on borrowed money. Welcome to the crash of August 2015.Financial markets being what they are, there is every chance there will be a bounce on Monday. Investors will be sniffing out bargains and be hoping that the scale of last week’s falls will prompt a response from central banks. Even in the most severe bear markets, prices never go down in a straight line. But don’t be fooled. This could get ugly.Related: Stock market correction: is this a new global financial crisis?Related: China syndrome: how the slowdown could spread to the Brics and beyond Continue reading...

It is the current government’s policy and its objectives that are extreme, not the Labour leadership candidate’sThe accusation is widely made that Jeremy Corbyn and his supporters have moved to the extreme left on economic policy. But this is not supported by the candidate’s statements or policies.Related: Jeremy Corbyn wins economists’ backing for anti-austerity policies Continue reading...

The unlikely leadership frontrunner looks vulnerable to criticism over some policies and pledges. But someone in opposition had to come out fightingThe seeds for the phenomenon of the rise and rise of Jeremy Corbyn were sown when Labour either voiced acceptance of George Osborne’s welfare cuts or abstained in the parliamentary vote.This really did raise the question: what is the Labour party for? One may disagree with Corbyn over his stance on Nato and one or two – or possibly seven – economic issues, not least his proposals for the Bank of England, which would demand serious quantitative analysis. But he certainly struck a chord with his full-frontal attack on austerity. Despite all the bad-mouthing of him, he has indeed forced other leadership contenders to stop apologising for a deficit that was induced by the financial crisis and had nothing to do with spending plans that were supported by George Osborne at the time.Until Corbyn came along, Labour was like a rabbit in the headlights on the subject of austerity Continue reading...

The Amazon revelations reflect a wider tendency for companies to take a brutal approach to employees at all levelsMore than 100 years ago, the Cadbury family built a model town, Bournville, for their workers, away from the overcrowded tenements of central Birmingham. Cadbury’s vast chocolate factory was at the centre of thousands of purpose-built villas, a village green, schools, churches and civic halls.The message was clear. Cadbury cherished and invested in their workers, expecting commitment and loyalty back, which they got. Sir Adrian Cadbury, now in his 80s, still proudly shows visitors how his Quaker forefathers felt a genuine sense of responsibility to their workers. His family believed in capitalism for a purpose – innovation and human betterment. Continue reading...

Syriza leader under fire as radical left goes to war over austerity before electoral campaign gets under wayGreece’s pre-election campaign has turned ugly before it has even officially commenced, with senior figures – including the former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis – rounding on the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, for his governance of the crisis-plagued country.Related: Yanis Varoufakis: ‘If I’m convicted of high treason, it would be interesting’ Continue reading...

Emerging markets, once the world’s great economic hope, could see the good times end as Beijing falters. We look at which countries are most vulnerable to the 21st century’s next financial crisisTumbling share prices. A sell-off in commodity markets. Capital flight from some of the world’s riskier countries. Hints of a looming currency war. Financial markets ended last week in panic mode as fears emerged that the world was about to enter the next phase of the crisis that began eight years ago in August 2007.Back then, the problems began in the developed world – in American and European banks – and spread to the rest of the world. The bigger emerging markets – China and India most notably – recovered quickly and acted as the locomotive for global growth while the west was struggling. Continue reading...

Most major markets around the world suffer bruising losses as investors worldwide become increasingly concerned about Chinese economyUS stock markets dropped dramatically on Friday afternoon, dragging overall global markets to their worst week of the year as concerns about the health of the Chinese economy rattled investors across the world.

World stock markets have suffered their worst week of the year so far buffeted by worries over China, a potential US rate rise and troubles in emerging economies. What do six big moves across markets tell us about increasingly jittery investors?World stock markets have suffered their worst week of the year so far as concerns about the health of the Chinese economy rattle investors across the globe.

Commission says it expected Alexis Tsipras to call snap elections last night

Unexpected acceleration in economic activity suggests ECB’s bond-buying scheme and weaker euro could be having a stimulating effectEurozone business growth unexpectedly accelerated this month as steeper price cutting drove an increase in new orders and led to firms building a bigger backlog of work, according to a new survey.The relatively upbeat survey, one of the earliest monthly economic indicators, suggests the European Central Bank’s (ECB) massive bond-buying programme and a weaker euro may finally be having an impact on growth.Related: Brutish, nasty – and not even short: the ominous future of the eurozone | Wolfgang Streeck Continue reading...

Yvette Cooper risked ridicule for bringing up feminist economics. But if there had been a few founding mothers alongside the founding fathers, the discipline would look very differentWhen God created man, runs the old car sticker, she was only joking. When God created economics, however, he was very definitely a him. Yvette Cooper invited, and duly received, rightwing disdain last week, after the Labour leadership hopeful dared to suggest that possession of a pair of X chromosomes might have a bearing on how a leader would set about running UK plc. Her intervention shone a rare light on the obscure but important corner of academia that is feminist economics.Tasked with introducing this unpromising breakfast-time topic on BBC radio, Jim Naughtie initially spluttered out these two words as if they sat together as oddly as, say, Yorkshire physics, or socialist chemistry. But a pithy turn from Oxford University’s Professor Jane Humphries soon enlightened him and all but the most reactionary listeners that economics was, after all, a field in which there really is a case for a distinctive feminist slant. Nearly 300 years on from Adam Smith’s birth, male hegemony in the field was – until comparatively recently – challenged only by brilliant exceptions, such as Joan Robinson. And this dominance has made itself felt at every level of the discipline, from the intellectual foundation stones up. Continue reading...