Are Tyrants Hijacking The COVID Language?
Remember these Brexit phrases? “Crashing out” “Withdrawal Agreement” Language used not to illuminate, but conceal truth. To convince us not to believe our lying eyes. Gaslighting, some call it. We were never going to “crash out” – we were going to walk away. And the Withdrawal Agreement was actually a…
Well, OK Owen, Hold Boris To Account
Owen Jones wants us all to know that the Tories – spit, Boris! – must be held to account for their failures during covid. Seems fair enough to be honest, those who would rule us should be accountable for the way they rule us: As the government seeks credit for the triumphant success of the NHS’s mass vaccination programme, let…
Housework Is Worth One Seventh Of The Average Wage
The Guardian is loving this ruling from China where a housewife is, upon divorce, awarded compensation for all the housework she did. There are reasons to think this may or may not be fair but let’s run with the feminist argument that it is. There should be a value put on this domestic work. They’re not then going to like the…
Has the GameStop ‘Short Squeeze’ Changed Finance?
The start of this year saw a bit of a tussle between retail traders and Wall Street as the Reddit community of wallstreetbets grew from a few hundred thousand to over four million in a very short period of time all off the back of trying to push the stock price for GameStop higher – whilst some consider the changes that platforms like…
To Prove That Recessions Reduce Inequality
Just a little note to point out why it is that recessions reduce inequality. They do indeed increase poverty – lots of people get to have less money which is a useful definition of getting poorer. But inequality reduces in a recession. Because the richer among us gain more of their income from profits than do the poorer among us. So,…
The Rhetorical Casuistry Of Robert Reich Revealed
Robert Reich wants us all to believe that Texas is especially evil and that the plutocratic capitalists sit there, cackling with glee, as the poor freeze. That inequality there is more and worse than elsewhere. Which is why he says the following: Texas has the third-highest number of billionaires in America, most of them oil tycoons. Well,…
Why Bhutan Measures Gross National Happiness
Bhutan, the Himalayan kingdom, does not use Gross Domestic Product as the governance target. Instead it pursues Gross National Happiness. It also bans tobacco which is said to increase said joy at merely being alive. It’s possible to wonder why they change the target that so many others find useful. The argument put forward is that…
Bitcoin’s Market Capitalisation Is Not $1 Trillion, Don’t Be Silly
This story is all over the papers, that as Bitcoin has gone over $50,000 therefore the market capitalisation has passed through $1 trillion. At which point we need to proffer the injunction – don’t be silly. The market cap is higher than it was, sure, but it’s still not $1 trillion: Bitcoin hit a new high on Friday, giving…
A Very Bad Judgement
From our Swindon Correspondent: There’re reasons we should generally simplify laws, especially around employment and tax. From the BBC:- Uber drivers must be treated as workers rather than self-employed, the UK’s Supreme Court has ruled. The decision means tens of thousands of Uber drivers are set to be entitled to minimum wage…
The Brexit Impact for the Online Space
The Brexit Impact for the Online Space Since day one, there had been uncertainty around the impact Brexit would have for many different industries, and whilst the most obvious were within the direct trade which had also been the first to see the big change in the new year, the online space had always had a big question mark filled with…
A Radical Idea – Thought As An Input To The Governing Process
Given what does get suggested as government policy here’s a radical idea – let’s inject some thought into it. Of course, this will lead to vast swathes of what is suggested being dismissed out of hand but then that’s rather the idea. We would still retain the idea that every idiot can propose as they wish but it will…
The Environmental Damage Of HS2
From our Swindon Correspondent: From the BBC Green MP Caroline Lucas called it a “vanity project”. She says travel patterns have been revolutionised during Covid, and won’t return to previous levels. And she complained: “It’ll take decades for the project to have even a chance of becoming carbon neutral because of the emissions from…