Blogging is a fantastic medium for providing a brief statement of your views. Or for building an argument involving a small number of points. Or, perhaps, for giving a high level summary of a more complex argument. But it’s not a great medium through which to appraise complex […]
Buses. Buses and markets. Markets for buses. It’s not a topic I have spent much time thinking about. But it’s been on my mind. And it’s my own fault. Last week I ran a session with some students discussing the economic critique of government and its consequences, mostly […]
Last Thursday David Cameron made his much-discussed speech on ‘moral’ capitalism. Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg also made speeches last week that visited similar territory. Cameron’s speech was rather short on what he meant by ‘moral’. Or, to put it another way, for him moral capitalism was primarily […]
The desirability of free capital movement is an article of faith for the international organisations that seek to govern the global economy. The perspective is shared by the governments of most developed countries. Liberalisation of capital markets is typically part of the medicine prescribed to ailing countries. A […]
How often do you encounter something important and find yourself thinking “how is it that I didn’t know about this already?”. It happened to me last week when reading an FT piece (£) by Gillian Tett on the flash crash experienced by the US equities market in May […]
Clegg needs to ask himself a difficult question: did he come into politics to be part of perhaps the most diplomatically-inept and Euro-hostile government in modern British history? John Campfner, The Independent, 10/12/11 The consequences of David Cameron’s refusal to agree to participate in the Merkozy plan early […]
It appears that Selby District Council has restructured its whole organisation into a small group of commissioners – a core group of 14 staff – and a multifunctional provider organisation – Access Selby. We move a step nearer to realising Nicholas Ridley’s vision of the Enabling Authority. We’re […]
With the discussions over the future of the Eurozone at a critical phase, David Cameron yesterday started to make helpful noises about exercising a veto if British interests were not protected. And when he says British interests, it seems he primarily means protecting the status of the City […]
[Originally posted at Liberal Democrat Voice, 03/12/11, where it was 2nd most read post of the week] Having followed the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement and then watched Danny Alexander interviewed on Newsnight on Tuesday I have to say my initial reaction was “oh, what is the point?”. That was […]
I have recently had cause to reread CentreForum’s Your Choice: how to get better public services, published back in the summer. Don’t ask. It’s for a thing. The resonance between the sorts of prescriptions that emerge from Queen Anne’s Gate and the policy prescriptions within the subsequent Open […]
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