What’s wrong with Natural England
Natural England is often criticized for being slow, bureaucratic, and inefficient in decision-making, delaying projects related to land management, farming, and development.
Nick Stern told us all not to do this
We do learn things: Giving up two doner kebabs’ worth of meat a week
Are we any happier?
The question is sometimes raised to cast doubt on the value of economic growth.
Why Britain should embrace its islands
Britain plays down its strengths, emphasises its weaknesses, and ignores its possibilities. Nowhere is this more obvious than in relation to the UK’s network of Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories.
Sadly, some things don’t have solutions
Another of those complaints about how we’ve got to do something because no one is having children any more:
You’d think that the vast range of activities put on for new parents would coincide with a boom in births.
Bad Trackers
I’ve seen some pretty shoddy data work in my time, but End Fuel Poverty Coalition’s ‘Energy firm “profits” tracker’ (quotations are my own) really takes the biscuit.
The Moral Case For Liberty
Some analysts put the ‘Golden Rule’ at the heart of ethics, saying ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’
That National Wealth Fund lasted a long time then
The claim was that there would be equity investment in things that would make a lovely profit, thereby making both the country and the taxpayer richer:
Investing versus spending
Investment is key to economic growth. We could enjoy now the pleasures that funds can bring. Sometimes we put some of that money into projects we hope will bring us future gain.
Of course manufacturing declines as we get richer
An interesting and useful economic point made in The Observer (of all places): According to official figures, factory output accounts for 8.2% of national income, or gross domestic product (GDP), down from about 30% in 1970, indicating the diminishing role manufacturing plays in the UK economy.
Afuera! to the Arts Council then
Given that we are all Motoserristas these days, on the hunt for what government should no longer do and thereby increasing the fructification in the pockets of the populace, useful to find that the Arts Council is not fit for function:
Governance, sadly, never does mean repealing past mistakes
Much pondering going on over how to revive the London stock markets. Perhaps we should force public pensions funds to buy UK shares?