There was an interesting item buried in the ‘Next’ retailer’s annual report (click to read it!) It expresses some optimism on their shop rents. Their leases run on average for only six years (which actually seems short to me) but at a 25% reduction on their current costed basis. That is very good news for… Read more
Category:
RentierCapitalism
Surely the ‘Banking Age’ must be nearly over?
History suggests that any society that holds on to its original ideas for ever is surely bound to fail. If we, as we seem to be, are part of the Banking Age is not finance itself the reason for the failure? We have been operating a financial system based broadly on ideas from the seventeenth… Read more
A wonderful Tweet from Russ in Cheshire
Who I don’t know, but I really sympathise with. I cannot vouch for all of the detail – but I’m pretty certain that some of the statistics are ONS compliant. It rather effectively adds to the tale of woe that Charles has just posted here. Russ in Cheshire: Social Justice Catering Corps. Designer, data-analyst. Once… 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
Central Banks – the Overmighty Citizens
There is an interesting book review in the FT (occasional paywall) on “Unelected Power -The Quest for Legitimacy in Central Banking and the Regulatory State”, by one, Paul Tucker, previous Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, no less. It comes in at 656 pages so I’m glad the FT has read it so that… Read more
Président Macron’s government to sell Paris’s airports
I was most impressed with a journalist’s summation on France 2 of the proposal by Président Macron’s government to sell Paris’s airports. They are currently owned by just a shade more than 50% by the state.. The Prime Minister has said it is not part of the government’s purpose to extract dividends from infrastructure. Though… Read more
The REAL argument for Universal Basic Services
As a postscript to the previous piece on Universal Basic Income, (together with the interesting comment from Charles Adams on the same page) an American article makes a coherent case against a full Universal Basic Income: Our current economic crisis goes beyond the problem of income inequality. While inequality garners the most attention, it’s a… Read more
Jubilee Shares
The Guardian has a current headline: “Stock market turmoil: All eyes on the Dow after $4tn wiped off global shares.” A shame, probably for our private pension, if we have one. Yet nobody has actually lost $4tn though one or two might have lost something if they needed to sell in a declining market. It… Read more
The Bourbons would still be doing okay under English law
It has been a long time coming but it seems that at last leaseholds on new houses are to be banned. And ground rent on leasehold flats will apparently be able to be set only at peppercorn levels. But there are still not any definite plans to help those already affected by the blatant rent… Read more
Deceit NOT Ignorance
I feel I must draw attention to the blog by Simon Wren Lewis on Monday this week. It is well worth a read throughout. But it also contains this withering indictment of ‘our’ government. It is a devastating comment, particularly for an Oxford academic and a – hardly revolutionary – ex civil servant. “Some may… Read more