While all eyes are turned upon the possibility of preventing a proroguing of Parliament (the spoof twitter account ‘Not Boris Johnson’ is currently thanking the 274 MPs who voted in favour of him closing down Parliament and running a dictatorship instead, whilst ‘Our future our choice’ has, wonderfully, dubbed Johnson as Trump with a Thesaurus),… Read more
Category:
Economics
Economics Theory
Non inflationary Basic Income
By putting a price on everything in terms of monetary value, we devalue the things that cannot effectively be priced. This is a rough quote from Professor Guy Standing, he of Universal Income fame, from a recent ‘Renegade Inc’ interview. So happiness is both priceless and worthless. Anyway Professor Guy Standing has produced a report… Read more
If the NHS is not a charity why are private providers?
It seems to have received little publicity but I have to say I’m pleased that the government is going to be taken to court over rates bills. Apparently: Hospitals in England and Wales will pay a combined £408.6 million in business rates this year – a rise of 42.8% since 2017 when the Government carried… Read more
Is Interest the Opiate of the Masses?
This is the title of an interesting article examining alternatives to interest bearing debt including Islamic finance. Now, looking at the website on which the article appears, I must emphasise that I am not of any religious persuasion and I’d be wary when it gives voice to some rather dubious – to me anyway –… Read more
Keeping Corbyn Out
This is from the latest blog post from Jonathan Cook. I consider it all worth reading, but in case you decide against, the final paragraph is worth some attention: As long as we colluded in the manufactured consensus of western societies, the system operated without challenge or meaningful dissent. A deeply ideological system destroying the… Read more
Political pigmies where self interest reigns supreme
Ann Widdecome’s appalling speech to the European Parliament (she is remarkably, now a devout Catholic, so irony on irony, looks towards Rome) demonstrates the Brexiter paradox that was so cogently pointed out by Fintan O’Toole – Britain is a great global power that has no need of the EU. But is simultaneously an oppressed (EU)… Read more
‘De-stress’ – by ditching neoliberalism
There is some interesting, if highly disturbing, research indicating that suffering stress during childhood ‘worsens ability to deal with it in later life’. Researchers found people who suffered high levels of anxiety at a young age had abnormal responses to stress in adulthood. Cortisol levels normally peak when we wake up and decrease steadily during… Read more
What, exactly, is the question to which Brexit is the answer?
A very simple indication of Britain’s future ‘global’ inadequacy is the EU’s deal with Mercasur, the South American customs union comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. (Venezuela is a full member but has been suspended since December 1, 2016). Associate countries are Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru and the small (population 0.5m) ex Dutch… Read more
Swiss ‘vollgeld’ referendum seems to have been as much a fraud as Brexit
I understand that Positive Money’s (PoMo) replacement book on ‘Modernising Money’ has been cancelled and that they are refocussing in favour of research and shorter campaigns such as that which endeavours to stop further sell-off of the Royal Bank of Scotland and others like the report as to how and why the Bank of England… Read more
What a state we’re in
I see Fintan O’Toole is, again, pointing out the inconsistencies and logical failures of the two remaining prospective Conservative Party leaders. Indeed, as he implies, if there were actually a technological solution to the ‘Irish backstop’ then they do not need to bother their not so pretty little heads about it. Because a border without… Read more