There is, understandably, a lot of chatter about energy costs and what can be done to prevent them from causing serious hardship this winter. Unfortunately most of what’s being suggested, not least by politicians (in power and opposition), won’t be much help because of the way that the wholesale energy markets work. The primary aim…
A Personal Note I have written this manifesto as a response to the insanity of our political and economic systems, which have locked us into behaviour that threatens our very existence on the planet. I know that the chances of the ideas within the manifesto gaining any traction are infinitesimally slender. Flag-waving, grievance-mongering, conflict-loving tribes…
The reality of climate change is now firmly embedded in our public discourse. News media are awash with horror stories of fire and flood, and hopeful ones about giant offshore wind turbines, massive solar farms, electric vehicles, and heat pumps. The implication from these is that technology is pushing us in the right direction…
Access to affordable housing has been a problem in the Highlands & Islands of Scotland for as long as I can remember. Forty years of hand-wringing and political hot air has done little to help. As this open letter from a group of young people who would like to live and work on Skye demonstrates,…
Following the financial crisis of 2007/08 the UK government needed to inject huge amounts of money into the financial system to prevent it from collapsing. They did this by selling gilts (fancy IOUs) to the Bank of England and using the money to buy back gilts that it had previously sold to financial institutions like…
Nero’s performance on the roof of his palace while Rome burned around him was not recorded for posterity. We have no idea what tunes he played or if he had any talent as a musician. The current leaders of the world will not be so fortunate if our species, two thousand years hence, is blessed…
The 2019 Institute for Public Policy Research Economics Prize posed the question: “What would be your radical plan to force a step change in the quality and quantity of the UK’s economic growth?” This was my response. Growth For Growth’s Sake? I like your question. The quality of economic activity is habitually ignored by those…
… THE GOVERNMENT DOESN’T NEED TO TAX OR BORROW TO PAY FOR THE NHS, OR FOR ANYTHING ELSE, EVER! (sorry for shouting but some people really haven’t been paying attention and this is very, very important). Once again, this is how it works. When the government spends, it spends new money. This new money is…
“Zimbabwe.” That’s the favourite one. Sometimes backed up with “The Weimar Republic.” Galloping inflation. That’s what you get when the government prints money. Swiftly followed by economic collapse. Guaranteed. Anyone with half a brain knows that. When armchair economists are finally forced to admit that there is a magic money tree, which government can use to…
If the UK has another general election this year (or next) Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party will lose. Again. In their euphoria at outperforming everyone’s expectations in the election just past Mr Corbyn and his merry crew appear to have overlooked the fact that they polled the best part of a million votes fewer than the…
Views From The Boatshed 