I always enjoy the uncompromising leftist views of John Harris (though he seems most uncompromising with the facts of fiscal arithmetic. He’s not bad doing telly either. Here in this video he follows a disappointed Labour voter, and a pre-election David Miliband, round South Shields. The DLV followed this up with a Cif Piece explaining [...]
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
18 May
I won’t deny it: the inflation figures suck
Here is the BBC story; here is where you can get the data. The BBC mentions volcanic ash driving up Food prices. But as far as I can see, the things that rose hardest from March to April were not particularly vulnerable to delayed flights: (correct me if I am wrong: I did that graph [...]
18 May
Robin Hood, the prequel: a defence of feudalism?
Look, I know I ought to hate this movie. But though I found it long, I enjoyed pretty much every one of its 140 minutes. Yes, it plays havoc with history. Even though Robin Hood is just a figure from ‘folklore’, and therefore a big blank as far as real history is concerned, we all [...]
17 May
Wresting back monetary control, surrendering fiscal
The big headline from Osborne’s first days at the Treasury is his setting up the Office for Budget Responsibility. Stephanie Flanders describes the move here (she adds an observation about Osborne asking Mervyn King for permission to start cutting) and argues that this is not as significant as Brown giving away power over interest rates [...]
17 May
Orange Book in hot demand
Well, it’s hardly surprising, is it? The zig-zag story of the Conservatives’ attempt to embrace liberalism under Cameron has its images, sayings and catchphrases: the well-hugged hoodie, the huskie, the green tree, We Believe in Society, Cameron’s embrace of the NHS, and so on. But the other movement that led to the coalition partners coming [...]
16 May
Crazy spending, or our lifeline?
To no great surprise, David Cameron has announced an immediate audit of the ‘crazy’ spending of Labour’s last years in power. Politically, this no doubt makes great sense – “look what those idiots got up to” is perfect scene-setting for the blood-letting that will follow. But what worries me is what sort of a narrative [...]
16 May
Most shocking quote from the Economist this week
Please, don’t less this be the future for a Britain now signed up to less liberal immigration policies. From a story about how an anti-immigration backlash plays out in Japan: Families have been broken apart as parents of children born in Japan have been detained and deported. People who seemed to qualify for a special [...]
14 May
Some stuff to add learning and entertainment to a sunny weekend
Sorry, I am in a sunny mood. Martin Wolf is also infected with the sun, because he comes out with a surprisingly generous verdict on The economic legacy of Mr Brown. The general theme is that his mistakes were shared by most of the economic policymaking world, and Wolf makes this telling point: “In retrospect, [...]
14 May
‘Labour’s electoral strategy’ – and a call for Empiricism
Given that the next election is possibly 5 years away, am I the only one to find arguments about Labour’s election strategy just a little premature? I keep trying to remember what such discussions must have been like for the Lib Dems in 2005, and then find I can’t. Because five years is such a [...]
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