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
Posts by:
Charles Adams
The complete failure of the so-called ‘centre’, and what we should do.
If the centre fails, polarization and discord follows. This is a matter of life and death but rather than use evidence to avoid failure, we allow a disparate rabble of unfit politicans to claim the centre, even when the evidence shows that they are not centrists. Their lies are destroying the fabric of society (where… Read more
Modern money theory (MMT) and me: A personal quest for the essence of money.
Crossed posted at Brave New Europe. Until 2008, I was not particularly interested in money but following the global financial crisis I became completely obsessed with how it works. People keep telling me it is odd for a physicist to be writing about money, to which I say, this is what physicists do – figure… Read more
The UK: A divided country
Something that I knew, but it still shocks me, is illustrated in this data from The Economist. Exhibit 1 In terms of regional inequality, the UK is more divided than the US. The situation in the UK is extreme. It is as if a great crime has been committed on large parts of the UK… Read more
The single most important piece of economics that everyone should know.
Sectoral balances may not sound like something you need to know, but if you will give me a moment I will try to convince you. It might change what you do. We are all familiar with whether our bank account is in the black or the red. Sectoral balances are the same, except that now… Read more
Fiscal policy is a matter of life and death.
Cross post: Brave New Europe Over the last few weeks an interesting debate emerged within the blogosphere about fiscal rules, see here, here, and here. This may seem rather academic and to some extent it is, but we should never forget that fiscal policy is a matter of life and death. Unless, that is, you believe… Read more
Market failure – fortunately we have the NHS
Market ideologues are a group that believe in the supremacy of the market. Their belief may be based on what they learnt in Economics 101 or on what works best for them. Their problem, and a problem for all of us when market ideologues gain power, is that market ideologues refuse to accept evidence of… Read more
The magic multiplier effect
When you plant a tree in the ground, it grows, producing seeds which become the source of new trees. But remember, trees can only grow where there are resources – water, sunlight and nutrients in the soil. We can think about government investment in the same way. In a democracy, government spend happens because society… Read more
Brief reflections on the Brexit story, so far
I do not usually write about Brexit, better to read Sean, but on the special occasion of the two-year anniversary I am making an exception. In his 1912 book The problems of philosophy Bertrand Russell divided knowledge in two types: There are things that people tell us, and there are things that we learn by… Read more
If only you could buy happiness?
What should politicians do? Make us happier of course. UK politicians are not doing great at this – we are only 18th in the happiness league table of OECD countries.* Maybe politicians have got their priorities wrong? As I show below, as happiness and equality are related, maybe they should be doing more about inequality… Read more