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
Category:
Economics
Economics Theory
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
The Wörgl Experiment
I discovered this short video on the Austrian Wörgl Experiment, by Hollis Doherty, who is as may be too apparent, an actress, and also a writer. She has apparently written the screenplay for a film, “The Miracle in Wörgl”, though, unfortunately, I can’t find evidence of it having been actually made. Still it describes well an… Read more
Decayed political thought
I think it is generally agreed that everything in nature has a cycle of growth and decay. The exception seems to be modern capitalism which seeks to achieve continual growth – money has to be continually accumulated and never lose value, and of course the company itself once duly ‘incorporated’ (that is ‘made into a… Read more