An horrific statistics from the United States:
The current poverty line is drawn at annual incomes equal to or less than $12,490 for an individual and $25,750 for a family of four, regardless of where someone lives. By this standard, 38.1 million people are living in poverty with an additional 93 million more “living close to poverty,” according to the most recent Census Bureau data from 2018.
That’s, ish-ish, half the entire population in or near to poverty!…
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I’m having a really hard time understanding what it is that is being moaned about over the NHS, drug prices and trade deals. Corbyn’s making a large deal out of what I can’t see as being a problem in the slightest:
… See MoreThere is a plot against our NHS. Boris Johnson is engaged in a cover-up of secret talks for a sell-out American trade deal that would drive up the cost of medicines and lead to runaway privatisation of our health service.
It’s entirely true that the iPhone, Apple’s practice of building it in China, increases the US trade deficit. But how and by how much is something worth examining at a greater level of detail. The answer being that it’s very much less than you think:
How the iPhone widens the US trade deficit with China: The case of the iPhone X
Yuqing Xing 11 November 2019
In order to pursue ‘fair trade’, the Trump administration has imposed a punitive 25% tariff on $250 billion’s worth of Chinese goods.…
See MoreAn interesting piece out of academia looking at mass shootings in the United States. Some, obviously enough, are carried out by nutters. What people are nuts about – white supremacy for example – can vary. But given that the race of the perpetrators rather closely matches the racial mix of the country that’s because it’s what nutters are nuts about, not that the series of events is driven by that idea of or longing for white supremacy.…
See MoreLiz Truss has succumbed to the latest panic about our beloved National Health Service, the Wonder of the World that it is. She thinks the Americans want to buy it.
Seriously? No one wants to buy the NHS, Love. It’s not just that it’s not for sale, it’s that there are no buyers. Even the idea of buying it doesn’t make sense:
NHS will not be put up for sale, Liz Truss to warn US
1.3…
See MoreA fascinating little chart of inflation rates for goods and services over the past couple of decades.
As a little test, which things does the government control, price, create a cartel in or allow a cartel in? And which are subject to the terrors of proper free market competition?
No, American health care is not a vicious free market, it’s a cartel, just for those trying to pay attention at home.
See MoreThe thing about an Ambassador is they should be a sort of interface between one country and the other. They should appear friendly to the natives, while pushing their own country’s interests. All the while sending home clear intelligent evaluations of the situation.
If any of those missives home became public then it is a disaster. The ambassador would instantly lose the ability to seem friendly to the natives. Unable to do their job they should either be recalled or, for preference, resign in embarrassment.…
See MoreAn interesting little survey from the United States showing that this idea of votes for women was a bad one. Or, to be a little less jocular about it, that there really are differences between men and women, on average and in general, and it’s not just the details of the plumbing arrangements.
Four in 10 Americans prefer socialism to capitalism, poll finds
That just shows that four in ten are either dim or ill informed.…
See MoreBoth John Cochrane and Don Boudreaux are decrying – if that’s a strong enough word – the new rules being put in place to try to define currency manipulation. The Trump Administration is worried, as many have been, over whether some other countries artificially reduce their exchange rate so as to boost exports to the United States.
That this is a silly thing to worry about is obvious. The point of our indulging in the practice of trade is so that we get those things which foreigners make better or cheaper than we do.…
See MoreThe Senior Lecturer tells us that we must stay inside the European Union so that we can protect the National Health Service. You see, if we leave, then we’ll try and get a free trade agreement with the United States. And such an agreement would require – no, really, require – the privatisation of the national religion, the NHS.
The correct response to this claim is bunkum, tosh, and Dear Lord what have you been smoking?…
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