The Blind Side

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Monday, 22 November 2010 at 10:29 pm A correspondent writes: I note in today’s Guardian that Ed Miliband uses an NFL analogy.  Perhaps you and he could bond over that shared interest. I certainly think some form of rapprochement would benefit both of you. This is a good point, well made. Indeed, sport is …

More on the Blind Side

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Tuesday, 23 November 2010 at 2:34 pm Further to my comment about the views on economics of my fellow American football fan, Ed Miliband, a friend who has read The Blind Side by Michael Lewis, the book cited by the Leader of the Opposition, writes: Even people who aren’t interested in sport (I’m not) should …

False start penalty

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Saturday, 27 November 2010 at 12:24 pm A post-final word on Ed Miliband and American football from Charlie Wolf, the US Republican commentator,* on the Today programme. Wolf referred to previous posts on this blog (thank you, Charlie) and said: Ed Miliband doesn’t seem to understand free-market economics. Thanks to EDB. *As opposed to Martin Wolf, …

Watch this, er, space

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Sunday, 2 January 2011 at 4:29 pm Grant Shapps, the housing minister (right), does not emerge well from the application of the principle that “Everything before the ‘but’ is bullshit”: This government absolutely supports people’s aspiration to own a home. But we also believe that [property] should be primarily thought of …

A Question to Which the Answer was No

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Sunday, 16 January 2011 at 8:13 pm I saw only a small part of Ed Miliband’s interview with Andrew Marr this morning. Enough to know that he looked and sounded more confident than he did in yesterday’s disappointing speech. Now I have had time to read the transcript, and can confirm my …

Ed Miliband’s Blind Side

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Monday, 24 January 2011 at 10:11 pm I have now read and enjoyed Ed Miliband’s favourite book, Michael Lewis’s The Blind Side, and it is every bit as good as my correspondent said it was. I don’t know how good the film, starring Sandra Bullock, is, but it is a made-for-movies story. The fairytale …

The Truth About Those Rip-Off Energy Companies

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Last updated: Wednesday, 2 October 2013 at 9:42 am I mentioned profit margins in the energy industry in my column in The Independent on Sunday. I pointed out that margins were not high, although they had risen at the end of last year and start of this one, “from being a bit …

What do Adam Smith, Karl Marx and Stella Creasy have in common?

By John Rentoul Eagle Eye Last updated: Saturday, 26 April 2014 at 5:40 pm I interviewed Stella Creasy, one of the most interesting of the 2010 Labour intake, for Ethos Journal. She talks so fast that we had space for only a small fraction of what she said during our hour’s conversation, so I shall post a …