Month: January 2014

Vince on “social housing”

Vince Cable made a substantial speech to the Royal Economic Society at the beginning of this week. The speech is worth reading in full because it represents one of the most thorough, thoughtful and wide-ranging perspectives on the economy that you are likely to hear from a front […]

IDS? idk

I was intending to discuss Iain Duncan Smith’s speech today at the Centre for Social Justice. I really was. But I just can’t. I’ve read the text of the speech and watched some of the VT. But I’m not quite sure what to say. The characteristic missionary zeal […]

Shifting ground on housing?

Something interesting is happening in the world of housing policy. At least it feels that way in my more optimistic moments. Since the Coalition government produced its housing strategy in late 2011 there has been a lot of talk about the need to deal with the housing problem, […]

Extracting apologies from the unrepentant

The Liberal Democrats seem to be getting into an almighty tangle over the Rennard affair. Stephen Tall offers a good overview of the state of play. It seems no one, apart from Lord Rennard and his chums, feels the outcome of the Webster inquiry is satisfactory. Many also […]

Ed and Nick go courting

          Today, as might have been anticipated, Andrew Rawnsley took as his subject the apparent thawing of relations between Labour and the Lib Dems. The opinion polls suggest that an outright Labour majority in 2015 is by no means assured. So it makes sense […]

On agreeing with George Osborne

I have to admit I found the whole situation rather discomfiting. Yesterday I found myself agreeing with George Osborne. Of course, as David Gillon (@WTBDavidG) pointed out on Twitter, we can all join George Osborne in agreeing that Iain Duncan-Smith is not perhaps the sharpest knife in the […]

A voyage of rediscovery

Today’s papers bring us further news of the sickness that afflicts our housing market. On the front page of the Telegraph is a piece focusing on St Vince of Cable’s warning that the housing market is exhibiting all the signs of overheating and that Mark Carney is considering […]

Peace and trust can win the day

How do you feel about the immigration debate? There seems to be a lot of anger out there. The right wing press/UKIP axis has brought its perma-rage about all things European Union into sharper focus around the lifting of the transitional controls on Bulgarian and Romanian migrants. We’ve had […]

The Q#4 quintet

Here are the five posts on this blog that recorded the most hits between October and December 2013: On signs you’re reading bad criticism of economics (4th Nov) Uncertain terrain: Issues and challenges facing housing associations (11th May) Would post-crash economics be a step backward? (21st Nov) The Bedroom […]