At least that is what I’ve always thought. So it was good that I’ve encountered some systematic reasoning on the subject, (but it’s drawn from diverse twitter replies so cannot be properly linked). When the government “borrows”, they give money to somebody, because they, the government, alone create it, and simply decide that, rather than… 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
Burning tallies – and what bankers have forgotten
I mentioned the burning down of Parliament in my earlier post on a federal Britain. Famously it took place to general approval of the rubbernecking public. As Thomas Carlyle put it, “A man sorry I did not anywhere see.” I doubt it would be different now – although JMW Turner’s painting would doubtless be replaced… Read more
Hooray! Brexit delivers an unexpected benefit
This news is a few weeks old, but as I’m not a Daily Mail reader it had passed me by. And as I’m also not deluded, misinformed or ignorant about the EU, or so ideologically hidebound that I can’t separate reality from fiction, any real benefit deserves acknowledging. Strangely enough this benefit comes to us… Read more
Move over, Sleeping Policeman
An interesting debate is to be had on whether this is effective in slowing down traffic – I think it is. But of course the UK version has added water and is more intensively used! Either system could provoke accidents through pothole avoidance, so perhaps the sleeping policeman is, in fact, still sleeping and not… Read more
Has the time come for a Federal Britain?
Blair gave independence referendums to two countries of the UK and began to do the same with the regions – crucially without suggesting the actual overall system. Scotland and Wales got their devolution whereas England, in the end, did not. It is very typical of the piecemeal approach of, what the French call ‘Anglo Saxon’… Read more
On trade deficits: MMT is not MMT enough
As a postscipt to my previous piece, there is futher comment using this title as a paragraph heading from Steve Keen who has pretty comprehensively rebutted the MMT (Modern Monetary Theory) view that exports are a cost and imports are a benefit – in so doing it shows again the dangers of viewing the overall… Read more
A More Definitive guide to the DUP
It is general knowledge that there are two broad groups in Northern Ireland, the Protestant /Unionist /Loyalist (PUL) community and the Catholic /Nationalist /Republican (CNR) community. Historically the PUL community has been the majority and the CNR community the minority, but they are now getting very close to par. Nationalists tend to see themselves as… Read more
Modern Monetary Theory (MMT)’s flaw for balance of payment deficit nations
Many, if not most, would agree that we have been poorly served by Conservative austerity policies, not just because it engenders economic contraction, but also, even more importantly, because it concentrates on judging the economy using the wrong measure. It is obvious that for sovereign currencies where the government creates its own money government deficits… Read more
Land of the rising sun compared with the land of the setting sun…
How interesting that not only India but now Japan wants easier visa access as a condition of any new trade deal. I am referring to this FT article (intermittent paywall) for the story (as well as a comment for suggesting the headline). So the ‘hostile environment’ seems to be equally counterproductive towards nations whose lower… Read more
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