The story we're currently seeing unfolding in Israel and Gaza at present doesn't seem to have much to do with economics. It's about murders, terrorism and missile attacks. But the economics lurks behind the scenes. It can't explain all of what's happening in the Middle East. It certainly can't justify the horrendous attacks on Israel on 7 October - the worst massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust. Nor can it explain the intensity of the Israeli response, which has, according to Palestinian representatives, claimed more lives than were lost in the Hamas attack. But, alongside religion, history, democracy -...