06 September 2018 Mark Carney: 50 “whys” to leave your lover The “unreliable boyfriend” has outstayed his welcome. By Frank O’Nomics Just when we were starting to assess the runners and riders to be the next Bank of England Governor it seems that the race has been postponed. Comments from Mark Carney this week suggest… Continue reading Issue 168: 2018 09 06: Mark Carney
Article Category: Comment
Issue 167: 2018 08 30: Lens on the Week
30 August 2018 Lens on the Week UK GCSE GRADES: This year’s GCSE results show an improvement on last year, with both passes and what are now passes at level 7 up by 0.5%. That sounds good on the face of it, particularly bearing in mind that the exams were slightly harder this year, but… Continue reading Issue 167: 2018 08 30: Lens on the Week
Issue 167: 2018 08 30: Judgement Day
30 August 2018 Judgement Day Away with the rules. By John Watson Let’s look at two different stories. The first was splashed all over the front of Tuesday’s The Times. State school headmasters have been manipulating their schools’ positions in the exam tables by excluding children who are unlikely to get good results. Does this… Continue reading Issue 167: 2018 08 30: Judgement Day
Issue 167: 2018 08 30: Summer Storms
30 August 2018 Summer Storms Will Trump survive? by J R Thomas One more week, almost, to Labour Day, and then normal life can resume in the political salons and smoke free backrooms of Washington. Our attempt to whip up a Stormy Daniels connection by our modestly false news headline above is fated not to… Continue reading Issue 167: 2018 08 30: Summer Storms
Issue 167: 2018 08 30: Diary of a Corbynista
30 August 2018 Diary of a Corbynista Streicher’s Motto! by Don Urquhart 22 August Israel’s expansion into the West Bank continues relentlessly. Haaretz reports: Israel Approves 382 New Homes in West Bank Settlements In addition, plans were advanced Wednesday for an expansion of a residential neighbourhood in Kiryat Netafim settlement by an additional 84 housing… Continue reading Issue 167: 2018 08 30: Diary of a Corbynista
Issue 167: 2018 08 30: All That Glitters
30 August 2018 All That Glitters Gold, Gottingen and Venezuela. By Neil Tidmarsh Two years ago, over a period of two months and ten visits, a 19-year-old boy sold 279 gold bars to a bank in Gottingen, Germany, where he lived. The bank paid him €300,000 for them. It was reportedly keen to buy even… Continue reading Issue 167: 2018 08 30: All That Glitters
Issue 167: 2018 08 30: Inflation: Know Your Onions
30 August 2018 Inflation: Know Your Onions Food inflation is little to worry about. By Frank O’Nomics Onion prices up 40%, carrots up 80%, beef prices under pressure. News like this not only suggests that soon a decent stew will only be eaten by the wealthy, but also that we should batten down the hatches… Continue reading Issue 167: 2018 08 30: Inflation: Know Your Onions
Issue 166: 2018 08 23: Why Not Fuck Off?
23 August 2018 Why Not Fuck Off? A political message. By John Watson Just as I would rather not meet Mike Tyson in the ring, so I would be reluctant to disagree with Rowan Atkinson on matters of humour. All the same I didn’t laugh out loud on reading Boris’s article in which he compare… Continue reading Issue 166: 2018 08 23: Why Not Fuck Off?
Issue 166: 2018 08 23: Revolution?
23 August 2018 Tapping Up a Revolution Changing Course – a key Tory skill. By J R Thomas Before the summer break we were musing on how and if the Conservative party might survive the turmoil which now besets it. But last week occurred an event that might put that in context. The death was… Continue reading Issue 166: 2018 08 23: Revolution?
Issue 166: 2018 08 23: Square Pegs In Round Holes
23 August 2018 Square Pegs in Round Holes Should GPs (or anyone) love work? By Lynda Goetz “GPs working three-and-a-half day week”; “Part-time GPs ‘pose a terrifying risk to patients’” screamed front page headlines last week. Helpful and unhelpful suggestions and comments from all quarters made points such as that being a doctor should be… Continue reading Issue 166: 2018 08 23: Square Pegs In Round Holes
Issue 166: 2018 08 23: Robot Chores
23 August 2018 Robot Chores We are not ready for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. by Frank O’Nomics The potential impact of artificial intelligence on traditional employment is not a new subject. However, when the Chief Economist of the Bank of England, Andy Haldane, warns of “large swathes” of technologically unemployed, in the same week that… Continue reading Issue 166: 2018 08 23: Robot Chores
Issue 166: 2018 08 23: Fallacy in Trumperland
23 August 2018 Fallacy In Trumperland More nonsense (with apologies to Lewis Carroll). By Neil Tidmarsh “My people … said they think it’s Russia. I have President Putin; he just said it’s not Russia. I will say this: I don’t see any reason why it would be.” – President Trump, 16 July 2018. “The sentence… Continue reading Issue 166: 2018 08 23: Fallacy in Trumperland
Issue 166: 2018 08 23: Diary of a Corbynista
23 August 2018 Diary of a Corbynista Palestinian Holiday by Don Urquhart 3 August When people ask what all the fuss is about in Palestine, they could start to inform themselves by reading Oliver Holmes’ article in today’s Guardian: Activists who attempted to sail a fishing boat carrying aid to Gaza but were intercepted by… Continue reading Issue 166: 2018 08 23: Diary of a Corbynista
