Most people hugely underestimate the amount of ’empty space’ we have in our country. Fly over the U.K., and you see that human settlement does not fill up the U.K. at all. It accounts for something of the order of 15 per cent of the landmass. Evan Davis Read Quote
For years, we’ve grown dependant on American consumers as the world’s spenders of last resort. They’ve kept Europe out of recession, allowed China to industrialise, and prevented global deflation. But at the same time, they’ve not been looking after their own futures. Evan Davis Read Quote
Black Friday is not another bad hair day in Wall Street. It’s the term used by American retailers to describe the day after the Thanksgiving Holiday, seen as the semi-official start of Christmas shopping season. Evan Davis Read Quote
In principle, there are only three main components of spending that much matter to monetary policy: consumer spending, business investment and exports and trade. Evan Davis Read Quote
We escaped the last big bursting of a bubble – the dotcom bubble – with a relatively light U.S. recession. On that occasion, the world economy found its way back on track fairly quickly. Evan Davis Read Quote
Art can help a town by attracting a certain Bohemian population that adds life to the bars, character to the streets and a buzz to the name. Employers may then follow. But art can’t do much if every town does it. There aren’t enough Bohemians. Evan Davis Read Quote
As it happens, I have personally been something of an enthusiast for the London Olympic games, mainly on the grounds a) that a bit of wasteland will be made nice and b) that it tends to make everybody happy that their country should be the centre of world attention for a couple of weeks in their life. Evan Davis Read Quote
Once we are fed, heated, housed and healthy, our extra consumption inevitably has an element of luxury about it. And once luxury enters the scene, the practicalities are in trouble, as women who wear expensive stiletto heels can testify. Evan Davis Read Quote
I actually profoundly think the world’s a better place when economics is fairly boring… The more boring the better. Evan Davis Read Quote
