The addiction to cheapness makes the economy especially ‘fragile’

by Peter May  on

There are some things that ‘should’ , it seems, be cheap: food, ‘labour’ and consumer goods are most usually cited…. What isn’t ever cheap is housing – whether purchased or rented – indeed any ‘real estate’ property is rarely cheap. Though it is virtually never mentioned, expensive housing inhibits the ability to compete ‘globally’ (to… Read more

Bookcase Credibility

by Peter May  on

I was much amused by this picture which comes from a Sky interview with one of Trump’s former spokeswomen. You certainly don’t need to listen to her but an account called ‘Bookcase Credibility‘ pointed out that ‘Credibility is hard to maintain when you forget to iron the creases out of your bookcase’. And sure enough,… Read more

Stymied by your own government

by Peter May  on

The ‘Newsletter’ shows very worrying news from Northern Ireland, where transport providers estimate there are just five days before food distribution breaks down, Remarkably this includes Tesco, which is by far Britain’s largest food distributor and who, in my experience at least, are usually legally and technically proficient. Some of HMRC systems are thought to… Read more

Conservative reality

by Peter May  on

‘A single market without barriers—visible or invisible—giving you direct and unhindered access to the purchasing power of over 300 million of the world’s wealthiest and most prosperous people. It’s not a dream. It’s for real.’ This is a quote from Margaret Thatcher How far have we fallen – and what utter incompetence has our current… Read more

Brexit Project Fear is the Reality of an own goal – if not two or three

by Peter May  on

We have met this regretful, leave voting fish merchant before – he now thinks he’s ‘stuffed’, poor chap. Basically by carrying fish from several exporters in one load – his transport agent has warned him that if a mistake with his paperwork leads to the truck being turned back at the border he will be… Read more

‘Money we owe to ourselves’

by Peter May  on

It appears that a Financial Times survey found investors believe the central bank’s quantitative easing programme is a thinly veiled attempt to finance the government’s deficit to keep its borrowing costs down. They seem to feel they’ve been ‘had’. The City would much rather government borrowing costs went up of course, but charts like this… Read more

Whither free broadband?

by Peter May  on

According to John McDonnell MP When I published Labour’s policy on free broadband in November 2019 I said “It’s about large numbers of children being able to do their homework properly, and have the speed of connectivity.” The BBC described it as Broadband Communism. Interesting how relevant it’s now become. Isn’t it just? Mind you… Read more