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…
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,…
We need to stop pretending that our pathetic attempt at democracy is in any way fit for purpose. The spectacle of the next Prime Minister of the UK being elected via television gameshow is merely the most ridiculous manifestation of a system of government that has long since given up any pretence of representing the…
“My vote never makes any difference,” is the universal complaint, and one that’s hard to argue with given the crude way that we currently do democracy. But instead of complaining we need to do something about it. We will never reach our destination of Universal Sustainable Prosperity until we devise a better way of making…
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…
Ian Goldin is Professor of Globalisation and Development at the University of Oxford. He recently wrote an article in the Financial Times in which he gives a brief description of how technology is replacing human labour, making it harder for people to earn a living from paid employment. He then goes on to list five…
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11895084/How-Swedens-negative-interest-rates-experiment-has-turned-economics-on-its-head.html Negative interest getting an airing in the economics section of The Telegraph. They haven’t yet realised the potential of the concept, but it’s a step in the right direction: https://malcolmhenry.com/2013/11/18/the-positives-of-negative-an-idea-to-change-the-world/
http://www.scottsantens.com/minimum-wages-vs-universal-basic-income Scott Santens explains how basic income trumps minimum wage.
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/basic-income-tax-subsidies-minimum-wage-by-robert-skidelsky-2015-07 Here’s Robert Skidelsky asking useful questions about the wisdom of promoting a higher minimum wage when we should really be moving towards universal basic income.
Views From The Boatshed 