Climate change is real, substantively human-caused and represents a serious problem that humanity needs to put real effort into solving. I believe this, not because I have “done my own research”, nor because it fits my ideology, but because the consensus of experts (in this case, climatologists) have concluded that it is true, and a good sceptic must follow the evidence where it leads.

Astute reader that you are, it has probably not escaped your notice that politics has taken a turn for the conspiratorial in the last few years. We've recently seen a rise in anti-vaxxers, sovereign citizens, and people convinced that They (whoever They are) made up a global disease in a bid for control over the populace.

Today I'd like to bring something slightly different to this august newsletter, by discussing crank economics - something that exists in abundance, but can be a little difficult to discuss in venues like this. For one thing, it falls outside the standard set of sceptical skills, and for another it is essentially impossible to discuss crank economic ideas without implicating political beliefs, and that's a fraught exercise at the best of times.