There is an interesting article in MIT Technology Review which says that “More and more security holes are appearing in cryptocurrency and smart contract platforms, and some are fundamental to the way they were built.” That does not surprise me. If the blockchain can be built then so indeed can it be unbuilt or subverted…. Read more
Category:
Society
Yanis Varousakis on flawed economic theory
A very interesting lecture was given by Yanis Varousakis in January this year, which I’ve only just got around to looking at. The link is here. I summarise below the essence of what I understood. He suggests the economists are Utopians – and much like Biblical scholars of the middle ages, they form the language… Read more
Life, liberty and the pursuit of sadness
There has been some publicity given to the recent ending of the trial in Finland to pay 2000 randomly chosen, long-term unemployed with a tax free, unconditional, ‘Basic Income’. This was really at the limits of what can be called a ‘Basic Income’ and a big part of its ‘lack of success’ is that no… Read more
No historical justification for the Job Guarantee
When Warren Mosler opines here that where government first spends into the economy it is employing all the people who receive its money, as it is spending into the economy because it wants something in return, it seems plausible. He suggests that government expenditure amounts to employment and sometimes – at least, if one takes… Read more
Oh to be in New Zealand
Th FT of 21st January had an item by the New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern ‘New Zealand hopes to lead the world with wellness-based policies’, which was perhaps, ostensibly pretty pedestrian-based stuff. But it has notable insight. Starting with: Ours was the first country where all women won the right to vote back in… 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
Real progress on real local banking
We are gradually getting the rollout of local banking, which I – among many others – have long wished for! The third one is the South West Mutual covering Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset. Digressing slightly, they have an attractive logo incorporating the flags of all the counties. Except that Somerset doesn’t have one, so… Read more
Nasty party government
Bloomberg has a piece headed ‘The Colossal Price of Theresa May’s Immigration Obsession‘. It suggests: [The]control of British borders is probably the most indelible of May’s red lines in the Brexit negotiations. Even though she voted remain, she was always the fiercest champion of the Conservative Party’s promise to cut yearly net migration to the… Read more
How money is created is always political
There is an informative review of a book published by the Yale University Press (which as far as I can detect is not yet available in the UK) by the British economist and biographer of John Maynard Keynes, Robert Skidelsky: Money and Government: The Past and Future of Economics. Although Robert Sidelsky has been both… Read more
The Rule of Law is in jeopardy
We now learn that Nigel Evans, Tory MP, falsely accused of sexual misdemeanors, would have voted against the legal aid reforms that he supported in government. And the ‘Secret Barrister’ says that, without Legal Aid, the Rule of Law collapses. He seeks to suggest that, just that, is occurring. It is nightmarish… This goes to… Read more