NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020
Contents
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38
The Agenda
3 THE SPEAR’S LEADER
The $12 trillion H-bomb
8 EDITOR’S LETTER
By Edwin Smith
11 READERS’ LETTERS
Our readers’ views on mental health, Arabia’s cultural heritage and more
12 DIARY
The Davos-defying Dutch historian Rutger Bregman on protests, taxes and why his latest book was misunderstood
14 THE HEDGEHOG
News from around the HNW universe, featuring cardinal sins, dating advice and chairs you won’t find at IKEA.
15 MOMENTS IN MONEY
The story of the first interest rates
18 BOOKS
A review of Enid, which tells the life story of socialite ‘Lady Killmore’ – plus four more new books to read
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20 PHILANTHROPY
Nicola Mendelsohn CBE, Facebook’s vice president for EMEA, on her efforts to combat follicular lymphoma
22 LIQUID LUNCH
With John Paton, digital media mogul and newspaper chairman
24 MATTHEW GOODWIN
Despite all Boris Johnson’s problems, Keir Starmer still has his work cut out if Labour is to topple the Tories
25 ANNAMARIA KOERLING
With fraud prevalent in hard times, post-Covid investors need to focus on governance issues
26 ROBERT AMSTERDAM
It’s time for a complete rethink of our approach to the fight against global corruption
27 JASON COWLEY
Empty stadiums have changed football for both players and fans
The Issues
30 THE MAGIC MONEY TREE?
Policymakers who for years have pooh-poohed modern monetary theory are now piling on debt. Arun Kakar asks if this is a brief blip or a long-term trend
34 FASHION STEPS
INTO THE LIGHT Without after-parties or air-kissing – and with climate change a constant shadow – the luxury industry is having to change its ways. By Anna Solomon
38 THE TAX MAN COMETH
In its efforts to shut down tax evasion, Fatca is affecting innocent people, one crusading lawyer tells Alec Marsh
44 UP IN THE AIR
Airlines are in a tailspin, and as a result the industry – and the way we travel – will look very different. By John Arlidge
48 IT’S HYDROGEN MAN!
JCB scion Jo Bamford wants hydrogen to power our buses and trucks – not to mention the UK’s future, he tells Spear’s
