British banks have lendings of £7bn which is about 5 times the British GDP; and that is far worse than the ratio that precipitated the banking crisis that is devastating the Irish economy. The risk is that at some time in the next few months or years there will be another British Continue Reading
Internet economy was 9% of UK GDP in 2009
A study by Boston Consulting Group has calculated that the Internet economy was worth in excess of £100bn in 2009. They furthermore calculate that the sector is a net exporter for the UK and is stimulating double digit growth rates amongst participants.
If the world had only 100 people:
57 Asians 21 Europeans 14 from the Western Hemisphere 8 Africans 52 females 30 whites 70 non-Christians 11 homosexuals 6 Americans possessing over half of all the wealth 80 living in substandard housing 70 who wouldn’t know how to read 50 suffering from malnutrition 1 near death 1 near birth Continue Reading
Chaos theory and economics
This was an article I wrote in 2001, but it seems appropriate to repeat it… I have been following your articles on the various arguments between those (American) economists who demand greater transparency in financial markets as a solution to recent instability, and those who believe in a supra-national regulator. Continue Reading
The high speed rail link
All three major political parties have endorsed the plan to invest £60bn in a high speed rail link that will shave minutes off the journey time of a few very rich people travelling between London and Scotland. The alternative would be to invest that same amount amount of money to enable Continue Reading
My favourite Quotes
I learned that it is the weak who are cruel, and that gentleness is to be expected only from the strong. Leo Rosten (1908 – ) It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare; it is because we do not dare that they are difficult. Seneca Continue Reading
Vote yes for AV on the 5th May
At the last election I was fairly ambivalent as to which party I supported, which is unusual for me. But I was pretty certain that I did not want the Conservatives to win! I was sure that the Osborne form of sado-masochistic economic policy in which we bow to the Continue Reading