A short pointer towards a suggested read – Joanna Blythman’s concise article here (in the food trade Bible – ‘The Grocer’) ‘Why we should resist the vegan putsch’ on the suggestion that we should eat very little meat from the Eat-Lancet Commission. Surprisingly and worryingly to me, it seems to have the chemical company, Monsanto,… Read more
Government policy mistakes and failures: unintended or ignored consequences?
We all know – or at least those of us who are able and willing to undertake periods of self-evaluation and critical thinking do – that our actions have both intended and unintended consequences. This applies regardless of whether we act as individuals or as members of groups and collectives (e.g. families, interest groups, political… Read more
Even the FT is gradually acknowledging where money comes from
There is an interesting letter published in the FT of 15 January from a Gary Prosser of Bristol: Martin Wolf argues in “How the UK can finance the rising burden of public spending” (January 10) that “the country will have to raise taxes . . . impossible to do without courage, both intellectual and political”…. Read more
Freedom of Movement – Cultural Attitudes and comparison with Ireland
Introduction UK politics has been for many years split on a Left/Right – Labour/Tory axis, but over Brexit this is breaking down. Prof. Richard Murphy gives a succinct definition that difference between Left and Right is how widely ‘us’ is defined. Left wing people cast the definition of ‘us’ very widely; ideally incorporating the whole… Read more
Travelling hopefully is better than arriving
This French cartoon is too good not to share at a time of what is called the ‘Meaningful Vote’. The caption reads, SatNav style, ‘You have arrived at your destination’. Whoever remarked that it looked pretty similar to a few of the places the Prime Minister has given speeches has a point… Meanwhile I feel… Read more
Counter-cyclical Job Guarantee or Universal Basic Income as An Economic Stabliser?
A very interesting recent post from Ivan Horrocks leads me to think a Job Guarantee is clearly possible, but it seems to me to be particularly suited for school leavers. For those worried about the country’s lack of work ethic, who, anecdotally at least, so often seem themselves to be in financial services or property… Read more
Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) and international trade
I have been taken to task for my recent post on some of the difficulties of Modern Monetary Theory’s (MMT) conception of international trade by Professor Bill Mitchell, in a post headed ‘There is no internal MMT rift on trade or development.’ Apparently he has been “bombarded with E-mails (and DM Tweets) … The specific… Read more
Not another one? Why not use the numerical evidence to guide us?
I agree with Clement Atlee and Margaret Thatcher, referenda are “a device of dictators and demagogues”. The whole point of representative democracy is that we elect representatives to make decisions on our behalf. If we do not like their decisions, we can elect new representatives. Adding referenda into this mix creates conflicting mandates leading to… Read more
Policy priorities: a stark contrast from the US of A
Last Friday I was interested to watch a segment of The Rachel Maddow Show (TRMS) – a US news and current affairs programme on MSNBC which I’ve mentioned before on this blog – which contrasted the policy agenda of the incoming Democrat Congress (i.e. the House of Representatives) with that of the previous Republican controlled… Read more
Job guarantee programmes: back to the future?
Following Peter May’s mention in his blog of the 8th January of Dr Fadhel Kaboub and Modern Monetary Theory (MMT), and his advocacy of proposals for job guarantee initiatives, I happened to spot a link to a presentation by Dr Kaboub in a TRUK blog (http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2018/05/05/the-case-for-a-job-guarantee-in-the-uk/). The presentation is worth watching in full, not least… Read more
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