Europe’s responsibility deficit is out of control December 15, 2011 DAVID Cameron spoke of ending a “responsibility deficit” yesterday. He wasn’t talking about the Eurozone, but he could have been. Its steadily-compounding financial disaster is an epic tale of failed responsibility, the consequence of spending without thought to the consequences. And yet lazy references to “PIIGS”, while they point rightly to the dysfunctional choices made [...]
RAPID RESPONSES December 15, 2011 All hail shale I wholeheartedly agree with Matt Ridley [In America, the shale gas revolution is creating jobs and growth, yesterday]. The country would be much richer for letting the shale gas industry compete on a level playing field with subsidised green energy. Crucially, doing so would spark much-needed industry in the north-west. Many people [...]
In America, the shale gas revolution is creating jobs and growth. It can here too December 14, 2011 WHEN is a job not a job? Answer: when it is a green job. Jobs in an industry that raises the price of energy effectively destroy jobs elsewhere; jobs in an industry that cuts the cost of energy create extra jobs elsewhere. The entire argument for green jobs is a version of Frederic Bastiat’s broken-window [...]
Russia’s protests are a cry for less state corruption December 14, 2011 ANYONE surveying the scene in Russia today has one name to commit to memory: Alexey Navalny. It would be a gross exaggeration to say that this 35-year-old anti-corruption blogger was responsible for turning out a 50,000-strong protest against a rigged parliamentary election – the largest pro-democracy movement Russia has seen since the collapse of communism. [...]
Minority shareholders need more protection December 14, 2011 I NOTED with interest Andrew Tusa’s article in CityAM about UK listing rules [Critics of listing rules in the UK should bear in mind how the system actually works, Tuesday]. REAL CONCERNS While Andrew makes some good points about the role of the United Kingdom Listing Authority (UKLA), I am concerned that he possibly [...]
RAPID RESPONSES December 14, 2011 A flatter tax pitch I gratefully acknowledge the coalition’s willingness to embark on a witch-hunt of benefit cheats, but I am not convinced they have the courage to tackle tax cheats with the same vigour. A company I jointly founded some years ago was put into voluntary liquidation as a result of not being able [...]
Time to say the unsayable – European unification needs to restart without the euro December 13, 2011 DAVID Cameron’s veto last week expresses again the British elites’ long running ambivalence to the European project. Though probably not his intention, his oppositional stance also represented something perhaps more novel: a tiny dent to the dominant assumption that nothing is more important today than “saving the euro”. A parallel point to ponder is that [...]
Durban’s climate conference puts green deal on ice December 13, 2011 AFTER two weeks of talks and partying, delegates at the UN climate summit in Durban agreed to meet again for further talks and partying around the dream of a global climate treaty. As expected, an informal coalition of major emitters such as the USA, China, India and Russia won the battle at the climate talks [...]
Automatic fines are a SAD Eurozone policy December 13, 2011 THE cold war policy of mutual assured destruction stuck many people as mad. If the Soviet Union was wicked and foolish enough to launch a nuclear attack on the United States, killing millions of innocent Americans and plunging the planet into a nuclear winter, it would be crazy to compound this wickedness with a retaliatory [...]
RAPID RESPONSES December 13, 2011 Higgs resurrected After Philip Ball’s Forum piece on the Higgs boson [Physicists are hunting for a so-called God particle, but their faith is dwindling fast, 25 November] I had begun to wonder if the £6bn large hadron collider was simply the most expensive piece of scientific equipment that had ever been set up to search [...]