Yesterday I posted a warning about the nature of the economic recovery in the UK. Today it is worth looking at the issue at the heart of the failure, since the end of WWII, to establish sustained economic renewal not characterised by boom, bust and most recently, crash. It is the over valuation by markets, […]
Politically the Coalition can take justified comfort in the strong performance, relative to weakness elsewhere, of the UK economy and if this can be sustained it will place the Coalition parties in pole position for the general election next year. Unfortunately it is not a simple as that. There are other political issues and they […]
If a novelist set out to write a story about a political party cutting its own throat, the writer would be hard pressed to invent a more astonishing chain of events than that which now transfixes Westminster. The Lib Dems, having built a reputation as a sensible party with level headed, if not exciting people […]
There is something deeply troubling about the disclosure in the newly released papers from the Thatcher government era showing that the claim by the N.U.M. that there was a hit list of seventy odd pits, ridiculed at the time by officials at the very highest level, was true. Government in a democracy must be based […]
The Nationwide building society has reported that the average house price rose by 8.4% in the last year. This news is catastrophic, since it demonstrates that the economic recovery is debt led and founded on inflating assets. Not only are we back to the old idea of boom and bust, but the impact on housing […]
There is a very real problem for Ukrainians; they are in disagreement over the best way forward for their country. Should they move closer to Europe or stay close to Russia, on whom their economy is presently dependent? Ideally it should not be an either or, since much more effort should have been put into […]
Now that the ceremonies following the death of Nelson Mandela have been completed, showing the world a refreshing combination of mourning and celebration, many will be the thoughts about his legacy and what his life will mean to future generations. There is one lesson to draw which stands above all others; reconciliation with former enemies […]
The BoE has declared that the Funding For Lending scheme will no longer be usable by banks to fund mortgages and will only be available for business lending. This is the single most important change in lending policy for three decades. The Bank has also indicated that it will set minimum deposit levels at a […]
Every day some new atrocity is reported from one or all of these countries. At the moment the worst by far is Syria. All three countries share a common profile in that they were created suddenly by drawing lines on a map and not by a natural process over time and all have different religious […]
We are witnessing one of those great moments in history when the balance in the tectonic plates of state power shifts,and thereafter everyone sees the world differently. The United States, as fashioned by Abraham Lincoln and on an upward trajectory since 1865, is now indisputably in decline. This is a good thing for the world. […]