I have always been surprised by how the Accident and Emergency crisis has never been linked to any aspects of the private health sector. The chart below suggests NHS Intensive Care Units [ICU] seem, between them, to accept (per year) well over 3000 patients transferred from private hospitals with no ICUs. This cannot help the… Read more
Dysfunctional Britain
Unaccustomed as I am to reading the ‘Spectator’, I think this article worth highlighting. It not only draws attention to an informative book, ‘Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain’, recounting the author, James Bloodworth’s experiences in Britain’s ‘gig’ economy, the ‘Spectator’ article actually thinks it is worth sending to the Prime Minister. The Spectator… Read more
Unmapping Preconceptions
Could somebody ask the Brexiters where we are? And which way up?… Read more
The government, by definition, owes a duty of care
I wonder if it is possible for those MP’s who consider many of their constituents to be lazy, scrounging, thieving, irresponsible and generally feckless, to be in a position to understand any of the consequences of their policies. To judge by a recent ‘Guardian’ report this is actually the only possibility that seems remotely comprehensible:… Read more
How many Brexiteers does it take to change a light bulb?
Answer: One to promise a brighter future and the rest to screw it up. (Courtesy of Twitter)… Read more
The Transition Agreement – a few initial thoughts.
As predicted, the transition agreement was agreed yesterday. To some extent this did not seem probable as the UK had so many red lines that an agreement seemed nearly impossible. It also seemed widely agreed that the EU is in a much stronger position than the UK and the agreement would go 80-90% the way… Read more
The Old for the Young – or Pensions for the Future?
There is much publicity about the University Pensions strikes. A solution has been suggested by Alexander Douglas Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of St. Andrews, who puts forward a government guarantee for the University Superannuation Service (USS). It sounds like self serving advocacy but he also suggests good reasons that this could be opposed including,… Read more
How are you going to pay for it? – a politician’s guide
I thought it worth flagging up these two, short well-written pieces from Australia on how politicians should be answering the question “how are we going to pay for it?” A Politician’s guide to the question, “How are you going to pay for it?” The only improvement I’d suggest is that ‘the politician’ fails to point… Read more
Diversity is Key
I’ve for some time been trying to advocate much greater diversity in the UK economy and I’ve often linked to this research, which suggests that economically diverse countries are more prosperous. To quote directly: inequality lives within a range of values that are determined by your underlying industrial structure. Which, being translated, means that if… Read more
Money trading and its part in our downfall – perhaps
Although its author still thinks, mistakenly, that banking is based on the fractional reserve system, the article “Why it’s time we manufactured money as we manufacture goods” contains some interesting observations – not least a title which rather echoes the piece ‘Welcome to the Money Factory’! He writes: It is apparent that money is simply… Read more
Support Progressive Pulse
Share ideas for a progressive world
