Newspaper writings portfolio · Updated September 2026
Long before the essays on this site, I was writing for the newspapers: on economics and finance, the European Union, how the country is governed, and the life of our society. This is a record of that published work, shown as the original cuttings where I have them, and listed by theme where I do not.
This is my newspaper writing, collected in one place. For more than twenty years I have written for the Maltese press, in English and in Maltese, on the economy and finance, the European Union, how the country is governed, and the life of our society. Some of it ran on the comment and opinion pages of the national dailies, some in the Maltese-language press. This page brings that work together, shown as the original cuttings where I still have them, and listed by title where I do not.
I have organised the writing by theme rather than by date. Where a cutting carries a legible date, it is shown. Many of the older ones do not, and I would rather group the work honestly by subject than put a date on it that I cannot stand behind. If you need the date or the outlet of a particular piece, ask and I will check the original.
Read together, the pieces trace a consistent set of concerns: sound economic rules, a Europe that works for its people, institutions that are accountable, and an education system that gives people a real chance. They are the same questions I still write about today, at greater length and with sources shown, in the essays archive.
Most of my newspaper writing has been about the economy: how a small country creates value rather than only taxing it, how finance should be regulated so it protects ordinary people, and how the European Union can back its own businesses. These pieces run from the euro crisis and the case for a bolder Europe, to consumer financial regulation and the productivity problem at home.
This is writing about how the country is actually run: whether Parliament delivers, whether public money is accounted for, and whether the party system still serves the voter. It takes in pensions, transport and public administration, and returns again and again to a single argument, that good governance is not a slogan but a set of habits.
Writing on the things that hold a society together: education and social mobility, faith and institutional reform, national identity, and the culture of our towns and festas. The thread through all of it is that a country is more than its economy, and that the softer institutions matter just as much as the hard ones.
Writing that looks beyond Malta, at Britain and the wider world, and reads one against the other. The questions travel well: inequality, opportunity, and how open societies keep their footing when the ground shifts.
It is a record of my published newspaper writing over about twenty years, on economics and finance, the European Union, governance and society. The cuttings shown are the originals as they appeared in print. Further pieces are listed by title under each theme, so the record is as complete as my archive allows.
Where a cutting carries a legible date, I show it. Many of the older cuttings in my archive are undated, so I have grouped the writing by theme rather than assign a date I cannot verify. If you need the date of a particular piece, ask and I will check the original.
Across the Maltese national press and its comment and opinion pages, over roughly two decades. Several of the English-language pieces ran in The Times of Malta. The outlet is named where the cutting shows it.
In both English and Maltese. Some pieces were written for the English-language comment pages, others for the Maltese-language press, depending on the outlet and the audience. Both are represented here.
Many of the newer pieces are published in full in the essays archive on this site. For older cuttings, the image is the record I have. If you would like a clean copy or the full text of a particular article, ask through the contact page and I will see what I can find.
Yes. The essays on this site are where the writing continues, in longer and fully sourced form. I also write to commission for organisations and public figures; the details are on the commissioned writing page.
Where the writing goes next, and the record behind it.
Essays
The full archive of my essays and longer articles, published in full with their sources.
Press
Where my work has been published, quoted or featured, by subject and outlet.
Commissions
Op-eds, briefings and reports written to commission for organisations and public figures.
About
The person behind the writing, the teaching and the advisory.
