Does hosting the World Cup pay off?
The economics of sporting mega-events, and a useful counter to the assumption that hosting must be good for growth. Taylor sets out the hoped-for boost to spending and 'animal spirits', then marshals research showing host cities usually lose money: $9.3bn of losses around USA 1994, no lasting employment effect from Germany 1974, and $13,000 of stadium cost per tourist for South Africa 2010. The twist is Marco Mello's finding that winning, not hosting, delivers the real boost,
The Toy Story Inflation Index
Modelled on The Cut's Devil Wears Prada Inflation Index, this compares 1996 Argos toy prices with today's and finds several have actually fallen. Taylor uses it to explain why measured inflation is tricky: cheap overseas manufacturing (China now makes 86 per cent of the world's toys) has pushed prices down, while quality has risen so much that like-for-like comparisons mislead. The standout is a clear, student-friendly explanation of hedonic (quality) adjustment, which rarely
Why World Cup tickets got so expensive
Taylor breaks down FIFA's 'variable pricing' for the 2026 World Cup and sets it beside the faster dynamic pricing that caught out Oasis fans, a neat way to show prices responding to demand in real time. The piece is strong on scarcity and urgency raising willingness to pay, and on how a near once-in-a-lifetime event supports high prices. There is a good comparison with US entertainment pricing (Super Bowl, Taylor Swift) that raises the question of whether prices simply recali