Foreigners are puzzled why citizens in the UK have to pay to attend a ‘public’ school. I tell them, it is the same reason why you need to use a knife and fork to eat a banana! Melissa Benn has written in the Guardian today that our ‘public’ school system is “morally rotten”. I might… Read more
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You’ve been Trumped! (the shaming of the G7)
So, six of the G7 leaders finally learn that it doesn’t matter how much you fawn over and suck up to Donald Trump the man has no respect for anyone other than himself, Putin and various other strong men/dictators. Furthermore, having fallen into tolerating Trumps daily lies and distortions and much more, they now find… Read more
Potholes, neglect and the wanton vandalism of local infrastructure
No one who uses any form of road transport can have missed the appalling condition of roads in England. But here I need to add an immediate qualifier: I’m talking specifically about urban, suburban and rural roads that fall under the responsibility of local highway authorities (i.e. local councils). I’m not talking about the motorways… Read more
At last! The Japanese speak out (but too late to stop disaster)
And so, at last, members of one of the major manufacturing sectors in the UK – Japanese car makers – backed up by their government, meet with our powerless Prime Minister to publicly express their concern at the direction in which Brexit is heading. In so doing they unambiguously emphasise that should it come to… Read more
Vibrancy of Cities by Tripadvisor Restaurant Listings
One easily accessible parameter is the number of restaurants by city under Trip Advisor which might be considered a proxy for the vibrancy of a particular city. This is of course a completely non scientific approach as a kebab stand or even a garden shed can be listed as important as a Michelin starred restaurant…. Read more
One rule for some and another for MPs (the most egregious example ever?)
As most of us are aware, a new claimant on Universal Credit has to wait at least six (6) weeks before their first payment. Given the majority of UC claimants are unlikely to be wealthy, or even able to cope with waiting for well over a month before being paid, the outcome is frequently that… Read more
Our New Format
Regular readers of Progressive Pulse will have noticed that we have a new cleaner format thanks to the hard work of Nick Koronka. Whereas the PP team think this is a great improvement as usual there may be minor niggles. If you find anything that doesn’t work as expected; broken links etc. please add comments… Read more
For our Prime Minister: a short history lesson on technological change and human progress
Last Friday my fellow Progressive Pulse contributor, Charles Adams, rightly took issue with our Prime Minister’s claim that a free market economy ‘was the greatest agent of collective human progress ever created.’ We are now familiar with May’s ability to spout nonsensical and frequently hollow statements but this was a peach even by May’s standards… Read more
Brave New Europe
An interesting new website has appeared this week called Brave New Europe. The goals are similar to progressive pulse but on a pan European scale. I have an article on how rising inequality is a market failure that needs fixing in order to avoid a continual sequence of economic and political crises. … Read more
‘Democracy in Chains’: a US export that’s not as new as some might claim
On Wednesday I read George Monbiot’s most recent column in The Guardian* in which he briefly discusses James McGill Buchanan, a man who features prominently in US historian Nancy MacLean’s new book, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America. As Monbiot notes, McLean’s book makes what has previously… Read more