Tom Calver
@tomcalver.bsky.social
Data Editor, @thetimes.com
I write a weekly data column called Go Figure
🔗 https://www.thetimes.com/profile/tom-calver
📧 thomas.calver@the-times.co.uk
I write a weekly data column called Go Figure
🔗 https://www.thetimes.com/profile/tom-calver
📧 thomas.calver@the-times.co.uk
Pinned
Tom Calver
@tomcalver.bsky.social
· Oct 12
🇵🇱 My @thetimes column: Poland’s economic miracle
12 out of 17 Polish regions are now richer than West Wales. It has faster internet, cheaper electricity and more high speed rail than Britain
When it comes to regional development it’s the UK, not Poland, that needs to catch up
1/3
12 out of 17 Polish regions are now richer than West Wales. It has faster internet, cheaper electricity and more high speed rail than Britain
When it comes to regional development it’s the UK, not Poland, that needs to catch up
1/3
Reposted by Tom Calver
Great to see @tomcalver.bsky.social using this IFS chart in his (excellent) piece about the UK's economic and fiscal travails. The combination of low growth and high debt interest really does make for some unpleasant fiscal arithmetic. It's a tough time to be Chancellor.
November 9, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Great to see @tomcalver.bsky.social using this IFS chart in his (excellent) piece about the UK's economic and fiscal travails. The combination of low growth and high debt interest really does make for some unpleasant fiscal arithmetic. It's a tough time to be Chancellor.
After Liz Truss's mini-budget, just 15 per cent of people felt the Tories were the best party at handling the economy
Today, the equivalent figure for Labour is 12 per cent
www.thetimes.com/article/470f...
Today, the equivalent figure for Labour is 12 per cent
www.thetimes.com/article/470f...
November 9, 2025 at 3:34 PM
After Liz Truss's mini-budget, just 15 per cent of people felt the Tories were the best party at handling the economy
Today, the equivalent figure for Labour is 12 per cent
www.thetimes.com/article/470f...
Today, the equivalent figure for Labour is 12 per cent
www.thetimes.com/article/470f...
Reposted by Tom Calver
Her decisions may have had a small impact on borrowing costs & inflation. Other factors, like BoE policies & decades of poor growth have done more combined damage. Perhaps Reeves’s greatest failure has been to not see all of this coming
(£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
By @tomcalver.bsky.social
(£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
By @tomcalver.bsky.social
How much of our economic mess is Rachel Reeves’s fault?
The chancellor was at pains last week to blame everyone else for the tax rises she is likely to announce in the budget
www.thetimes.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Her decisions may have had a small impact on borrowing costs & inflation. Other factors, like BoE policies & decades of poor growth have done more combined damage. Perhaps Reeves’s greatest failure has been to not see all of this coming
(£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
By @tomcalver.bsky.social
(£) www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
By @tomcalver.bsky.social
Reposted by Tom Calver
Superb work from @tomcalver.bsky.social and @jburnmurdoch.ft.com showing how the UK's upper-middle classes have born the brunt of our 20yr long productivity stagnation, whereas lower earners have been insulated from this via ongoing minimum wage hikes, compressing earnings across the spectrum.
November 2, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Superb work from @tomcalver.bsky.social and @jburnmurdoch.ft.com showing how the UK's upper-middle classes have born the brunt of our 20yr long productivity stagnation, whereas lower earners have been insulated from this via ongoing minimum wage hikes, compressing earnings across the spectrum.
Reposted by Tom Calver
Fair-minded discussion by @tomcalver.bsky.social on the Brexit impact. I'm more worried about the trade data though - goods exports volumes declining since 2019 is a big problem, and finance and transport services have significantly lagged other advanced economies.
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Would UK be better off without Brexit?
Ministers may be tempted to use it as an excuse for tax rises, but there’s far more to it than that
www.thetimes.com
October 26, 2025 at 9:29 AM
Fair-minded discussion by @tomcalver.bsky.social on the Brexit impact. I'm more worried about the trade data though - goods exports volumes declining since 2019 is a big problem, and finance and transport services have significantly lagged other advanced economies.
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Reposted by Tom Calver
Fascinating as always by @tomcalver.bsky.social on the impact of Brexit. Would UK be better off without Brexit?
www.thetimes.com/article/860b... 1/2
www.thetimes.com/article/860b... 1/2
Would UK be better off without Brexit?
Ministers may be tempted to use it as an excuse for tax rises, but there’s far more to it than that
www.thetimes.com
October 27, 2025 at 7:07 AM
Fascinating as always by @tomcalver.bsky.social on the impact of Brexit. Would UK be better off without Brexit?
www.thetimes.com/article/860b... 1/2
www.thetimes.com/article/860b... 1/2
Strip out London, and Britain’s GDP per capita is just 3% larger than Poland’s 🤯
🇵🇱 My @thetimes column: Poland’s economic miracle
12 out of 17 Polish regions are now richer than West Wales. It has faster internet, cheaper electricity and more high speed rail than Britain
When it comes to regional development it’s the UK, not Poland, that needs to catch up
1/3
12 out of 17 Polish regions are now richer than West Wales. It has faster internet, cheaper electricity and more high speed rail than Britain
When it comes to regional development it’s the UK, not Poland, that needs to catch up
1/3
October 12, 2025 at 12:47 PM
Strip out London, and Britain’s GDP per capita is just 3% larger than Poland’s 🤯
🇵🇱 My @thetimes column: Poland’s economic miracle
12 out of 17 Polish regions are now richer than West Wales. It has faster internet, cheaper electricity and more high speed rail than Britain
When it comes to regional development it’s the UK, not Poland, that needs to catch up
1/3
12 out of 17 Polish regions are now richer than West Wales. It has faster internet, cheaper electricity and more high speed rail than Britain
When it comes to regional development it’s the UK, not Poland, that needs to catch up
1/3
October 12, 2025 at 11:59 AM
🇵🇱 My @thetimes column: Poland’s economic miracle
12 out of 17 Polish regions are now richer than West Wales. It has faster internet, cheaper electricity and more high speed rail than Britain
When it comes to regional development it’s the UK, not Poland, that needs to catch up
1/3
12 out of 17 Polish regions are now richer than West Wales. It has faster internet, cheaper electricity and more high speed rail than Britain
When it comes to regional development it’s the UK, not Poland, that needs to catch up
1/3
Reposted by Tom Calver
Great chart from @tomcalver.bsky.social showing how a third of Britain’s economic output in the mid-1990s comprised fossil fuel extraction, electricity generation and mining. And financial services then stepped in before the financial crisis
www.thetimes.com/article/a394...
www.thetimes.com/article/a394...
October 5, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Great chart from @tomcalver.bsky.social showing how a third of Britain’s economic output in the mid-1990s comprised fossil fuel extraction, electricity generation and mining. And financial services then stepped in before the financial crisis
www.thetimes.com/article/a394...
www.thetimes.com/article/a394...
NEW: Since the start of the Ukraine invasion, 17 out of 27 EU nations have spent more on Russian oil and gas than they’ve sent to Ukraine in aid!
Despite an oil embargo, Europe is still sending £1bn a month on Russian energy.
This week’s column:
www.thetimes.com/article/dd9d...
Despite an oil embargo, Europe is still sending £1bn a month on Russian energy.
This week’s column:
www.thetimes.com/article/dd9d...
September 28, 2025 at 10:47 AM
NEW: Since the start of the Ukraine invasion, 17 out of 27 EU nations have spent more on Russian oil and gas than they’ve sent to Ukraine in aid!
Despite an oil embargo, Europe is still sending £1bn a month on Russian energy.
This week’s column:
www.thetimes.com/article/dd9d...
Despite an oil embargo, Europe is still sending £1bn a month on Russian energy.
This week’s column:
www.thetimes.com/article/dd9d...
Which country works the hardest?
🇺🇸 = long hours, minimal holidays
🇬🇧 = long hours, modest holidays
🇩🇪 = modest hours, lots of holidays
This week’s @thetimes.com column 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/5463...
🇺🇸 = long hours, minimal holidays
🇬🇧 = long hours, modest holidays
🇩🇪 = modest hours, lots of holidays
This week’s @thetimes.com column 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/5463...
August 24, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Which country works the hardest?
🇺🇸 = long hours, minimal holidays
🇬🇧 = long hours, modest holidays
🇩🇪 = modest hours, lots of holidays
This week’s @thetimes.com column 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/5463...
🇺🇸 = long hours, minimal holidays
🇬🇧 = long hours, modest holidays
🇩🇪 = modest hours, lots of holidays
This week’s @thetimes.com column 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/5463...
Reposted by Tom Calver
"The real mystery is why, during a period of mass migration, the number of foreign prisoners hasn't risen by more."
Good piece by @tomcalver.bsky.social (IMO bottom line is that migration/nationality status has little correlation, +be or -ve, with criminality).
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Good piece by @tomcalver.bsky.social (IMO bottom line is that migration/nationality status has little correlation, +be or -ve, with criminality).
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Does anyone know whether migrants really commit more crimes?
News reports suggest asylum seekers are more likely to break the law than people born in the UK — so what does the data show?
www.thetimes.com
August 17, 2025 at 10:57 AM
"The real mystery is why, during a period of mass migration, the number of foreign prisoners hasn't risen by more."
Good piece by @tomcalver.bsky.social (IMO bottom line is that migration/nationality status has little correlation, +be or -ve, with criminality).
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
Good piece by @tomcalver.bsky.social (IMO bottom line is that migration/nationality status has little correlation, +be or -ve, with criminality).
www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...
NEW: Are migrants more likely to commit crimes than non-migrants?
Here’s what the data does and doesn’t show.
1/8 @thetimes.com
www.thetimes.com/article/72b6...
Here’s what the data does and doesn’t show.
1/8 @thetimes.com
www.thetimes.com/article/72b6...
August 17, 2025 at 9:39 AM
NEW: Are migrants more likely to commit crimes than non-migrants?
Here’s what the data does and doesn’t show.
1/8 @thetimes.com
www.thetimes.com/article/72b6...
Here’s what the data does and doesn’t show.
1/8 @thetimes.com
www.thetimes.com/article/72b6...
Data finally proves it: online dating leads to worse relationships
This week’s column is about choice overload, the importance of shared context, and how too much data - when it comes to dating - is a bad thing
@thetimes.com
www.thetimes.com/article/82b7...
This week’s column is about choice overload, the importance of shared context, and how too much data - when it comes to dating - is a bad thing
@thetimes.com
www.thetimes.com/article/82b7...
August 10, 2025 at 8:47 AM
Data finally proves it: online dating leads to worse relationships
This week’s column is about choice overload, the importance of shared context, and how too much data - when it comes to dating - is a bad thing
@thetimes.com
www.thetimes.com/article/82b7...
This week’s column is about choice overload, the importance of shared context, and how too much data - when it comes to dating - is a bad thing
@thetimes.com
www.thetimes.com/article/82b7...
Reposted by Tom Calver
This is what $10,000 invested in Palantir on election day would be worth now.
But can you do any better?
Introducing @thetimes.com trading game. How much money can you make in 9 months?
Free link 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/086b...
But can you do any better?
Introducing @thetimes.com trading game. How much money can you make in 9 months?
Free link 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/086b...
August 5, 2025 at 4:39 PM
This is what $10,000 invested in Palantir on election day would be worth now.
But can you do any better?
Introducing @thetimes.com trading game. How much money can you make in 9 months?
Free link 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/086b...
But can you do any better?
Introducing @thetimes.com trading game. How much money can you make in 9 months?
Free link 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/086b...
This is what $10,000 invested in Palantir on election day would be worth now.
But can you do any better?
Introducing @thetimes.com trading game. How much money can you make in 9 months?
Free link 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/086b...
But can you do any better?
Introducing @thetimes.com trading game. How much money can you make in 9 months?
Free link 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/086b...
August 5, 2025 at 4:39 PM
This is what $10,000 invested in Palantir on election day would be worth now.
But can you do any better?
Introducing @thetimes.com trading game. How much money can you make in 9 months?
Free link 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/086b...
But can you do any better?
Introducing @thetimes.com trading game. How much money can you make in 9 months?
Free link 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/086b...
Reposted by Tom Calver
Imagine you could go back to election day in November 2024, with $10k and everything you know now.
Could you successfully dodge Trump’s tariffs and outperform the market?
Play our stock trading game ⬇️
Could you successfully dodge Trump’s tariffs and outperform the market?
Play our stock trading game ⬇️
Can you beat Trump’s tariffs? Play our stock trading game
www.thetimes.com
August 5, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Imagine you could go back to election day in November 2024, with $10k and everything you know now.
Could you successfully dodge Trump’s tariffs and outperform the market?
Play our stock trading game ⬇️
Could you successfully dodge Trump’s tariffs and outperform the market?
Play our stock trading game ⬇️
Reposted by Tom Calver
If you could go back in time, to the day of the 2024 US election, with $10,000 US dollars and everything you know now, how much money do you think you could make?
Try for yourself and watch how Trump's first six months in office have affected the markets.
www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...
Try for yourself and watch how Trump's first six months in office have affected the markets.
www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...
August 5, 2025 at 11:30 AM
If you could go back in time, to the day of the 2024 US election, with $10,000 US dollars and everything you know now, how much money do you think you could make?
Try for yourself and watch how Trump's first six months in office have affected the markets.
www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...
Try for yourself and watch how Trump's first six months in office have affected the markets.
www.thetimes.com/us/news-toda...
This week’s @thetimes.com column is about how we’re bad at investing
Decades of data shows that rather than investing for profit, UK savers are motivated by pessimism
This “when shit hits the fan, save all you can” approach is bad for our finances, and bad for the economy
1/5
Decades of data shows that rather than investing for profit, UK savers are motivated by pessimism
This “when shit hits the fan, save all you can” approach is bad for our finances, and bad for the economy
1/5
August 3, 2025 at 12:06 PM
This week’s @thetimes.com column is about how we’re bad at investing
Decades of data shows that rather than investing for profit, UK savers are motivated by pessimism
This “when shit hits the fan, save all you can” approach is bad for our finances, and bad for the economy
1/5
Decades of data shows that rather than investing for profit, UK savers are motivated by pessimism
This “when shit hits the fan, save all you can” approach is bad for our finances, and bad for the economy
1/5
This week’s @thetimes.com column: what is a comfortable salary in Britain?
Money does buy you happiness - but there’s a definite hump between £50k and £80k 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/f4dd...
Money does buy you happiness - but there’s a definite hump between £50k and £80k 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/f4dd...
July 27, 2025 at 4:22 PM
This week’s @thetimes.com column: what is a comfortable salary in Britain?
Money does buy you happiness - but there’s a definite hump between £50k and £80k 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/f4dd...
Money does buy you happiness - but there’s a definite hump between £50k and £80k 👇
www.thetimes.com/article/f4dd...
Britain’s grocery prices used to be the envy of Europe; not anymore.
This week’s column on food inflation 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/5c2c...
This week’s column on food inflation 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/5c2c...
July 20, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Britain’s grocery prices used to be the envy of Europe; not anymore.
This week’s column on food inflation 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/5c2c...
This week’s column on food inflation 🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/5c2c...
A third of people in Britain now think the Covid pandemic was exaggerated to control people 🤯🤯
And 22% think the moon landings were staged!
One of many striking findings from new @moreincommonuk.bsky.social report on shattered Britain. My write up here:
🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/bb0f...
And 22% think the moon landings were staged!
One of many striking findings from new @moreincommonuk.bsky.social report on shattered Britain. My write up here:
🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/bb0f...
July 13, 2025 at 9:31 AM
A third of people in Britain now think the Covid pandemic was exaggerated to control people 🤯🤯
And 22% think the moon landings were staged!
One of many striking findings from new @moreincommonuk.bsky.social report on shattered Britain. My write up here:
🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/bb0f...
And 22% think the moon landings were staged!
One of many striking findings from new @moreincommonuk.bsky.social report on shattered Britain. My write up here:
🔗 www.thetimes.com/article/bb0f...
🧵 This week's column is all about council tax!
It's England's most hated tax, and hasn't been touched since 1993. The withdrawal of subsidies has made it even more regressive over time
Yet don't expect it to be reformed anytime soon: nobody can agree what to change it to
1/3
It's England's most hated tax, and hasn't been touched since 1993. The withdrawal of subsidies has made it even more regressive over time
Yet don't expect it to be reformed anytime soon: nobody can agree what to change it to
1/3
July 6, 2025 at 12:51 PM
🧵 This week's column is all about council tax!
It's England's most hated tax, and hasn't been touched since 1993. The withdrawal of subsidies has made it even more regressive over time
Yet don't expect it to be reformed anytime soon: nobody can agree what to change it to
1/3
It's England's most hated tax, and hasn't been touched since 1993. The withdrawal of subsidies has made it even more regressive over time
Yet don't expect it to be reformed anytime soon: nobody can agree what to change it to
1/3
Scientists spent much of the 20th century worrying about overpopulation. Their fears went unfounded: humans became richer as our numbers grew.
Now, demographers are starting to worry about the opposite problem
Review in @thetimes.com
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/afte...
Now, demographers are starting to worry about the opposite problem
Review in @thetimes.com
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/afte...
July 5, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Scientists spent much of the 20th century worrying about overpopulation. Their fears went unfounded: humans became richer as our numbers grew.
Now, demographers are starting to worry about the opposite problem
Review in @thetimes.com
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/afte...
Now, demographers are starting to worry about the opposite problem
Review in @thetimes.com
www.thetimes.co.uk/article/afte...
One down, four to go!
July 4, 2025 at 1:37 PM
One down, four to go!