Even, it seems, when we are told there is a ‘democratic deficit’! The below is clearly government legislation – and it has to be hoped that this is also government intention: So I have to agree that the: The Tories seem to have encouraged absolutely anything but unmuddled thinking……. Read more
Gardeners’ Question Time – New Left International edition
Amid all the general gloom I found this exchange rather encouraging…… Read more
Regulatory competence
There is a notable ‘Guardian’ article by Will Hutton on the the crashes of the Boeing 737 Max 8 and the pervasive capture of the American state by corporate interests, where he highlights the bonfire of regulations (where have we heard that before?) that has led to reductions of funding of the Federal Aviation Administration to… Read more
Chickens and Hayek
I strongly recomment a listen to The Inquiry – How did we mess up antibiotics? A part of the story involves chickens. The figure below is from businessinsider. Clearly, there is something not natural going on here. Back in 1989 I went on a trek in the far north of Thailand. In the villages, chickens… Read more
Stand not upon the order of your going but go at once…
Perhaps I should not be calling on the aid of Lady Macbeth, but to me it seems singularly and desperately appropriate. Our Prime Minister, who, I see Ian Dunt descibes as “quite simply, the worst British prime minister of our lifetime, and quite possibly of anyone else’s” managed yesterday to write a letter pleading for… Read more
A metaphor for Brexit…
This wonderful picture of a ParcelForce Worldwide van (surely symbolic of ‘Global’ Britain) teetering on the edge of a 200foot drop at er…..Tintagel, is irresistable (and just in case you may wonder – fortunately, no ParcelForce employees were harmed as a result of this photograph). The problematic dilemma is emphasised in this lovely article… Read more
Corbyn’s Engagement
First, it is worth noting that the government is so divided that, at the eleventh hour, it has been forced to call upon the opposition for help. I suggest that indicates that the government and the Conservative Party have collapsed. The UK Prime Minister, who has been so intent on putting party before country, has… Read more
Net Migration to and from the UK
Net migration into the UK has become a very politicised topic. It is worth however looking dispassionately at the numbers over the past 50 years or so. The numbers are taken from the ONS and available here. They only run to 2015, so are a few years out of date. Immigration patterns have changed considerably… Read more
Rent to prosper – or not?
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
Does the minimum wage encourage the gig economy?
There is much joy in the Sunday papers and also elsewhere that the minimum wage is due to increase from the Ist April. This is certainly good news: good news too that that after a full twenty years of operation jobs have not, as was initially feared, been destroyed by the minimum wage. Indeed jobs, we… Read more
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