They warned at the last British elections that if we voted Conservative the poor would be brutalised by a mean, uncaring government. And they were right…
They warned at the last British elections that if we voted Conservative the poor would be brutalised by a mean, uncaring government. And they were right…
A reader picks up the Gresham’s Law posting below and links to this speech in 1974 by Nobel Prize-winner Friedrich Hayek: The Pretence of Knowledge. Magnificent analysis, all about how we deal with the fact that it is hard to make wise (and prescriptive) policy on the basis of what we can’t […]
Another row between Moscow and Kiev over energy prices and supplies: Crippled by the financial crisis, Ukraine is struggling to pay off hundreds of millions of pounds in debt for Russian gas it bought earlier in the year. At the same time, Ukraine – which carries 80 per cent of […]
Does ‘bad’ money drive out ‘good’ money, as Sir Thomas Gresham claimed back in the mid-C16? This turns out to be Complicated. See Wikipedia on the subject, as well as this lively and elegant analysis. The issue arose because once upon a time the core standard of value was gold. […]
The great debate rages across the UK. Is it good or bad for female students to take part in beauty contests? The Guardian with a naughty little title (Betraying the student body – phwoar!) agonises: In 2006 Loughborough University student union hosted the FHM "High Street Honeys Tour", where female students […]
You know that things are moving into a New Phase at home when your nine year old daughter uses her laptop to access Yoobot (I’m Professor Gunter von Gunter. Hatch your Yoobot now. JaHa!), then goes on to Google Images to download from the Internet a fatuous picture of her beloved […]
This is pretty strange. Top EU officials are moved to and fro round the Commission without all Commisssioners being told in advance: European Commission President José Manuel Barroso today (3 December) announced a far-reaching reshuffle of his senior officials, surprising several commissioners and raising questions about how the top jobs are […]
… means (if I recall correctly) "too little too late" in Afrikaans. You know things are looking bad for President Mugabe when Archbishop Tutu calls for him to step down: The Nobel Prize winner told Dutch television that Mr Mugabe should be removed by force if he refuses to go. […]
The latest issue of DIPLOMAT carries my droll article on diplomatic leaks down the ages. Written before the recent Damian Green MP drama here in Parliament. But perhaps none the worse for that. Has that much changed since Rome in 1870? Thus: One of the USA’s most brilliant Ambassadors, George […]
A reader responds to my posting on Bosnian war deaths: When you will realise that in Bosnia (Yugoslavia) occurred a civil war, and that is caused by the large number of victims and mass slaughter of Serbs by Croats and Mislimans during the Second World War (Serbs have never forgotten that […]
