Madsen Pirie Madsen Pirie

Self-government within the union

The surprise and convincing win by Plaid Cymru in the Caerphilly Senedd by-election has set political analysts wondering if it forebodes the break-up of the United Kingdom. 

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Madsen Pirie Madsen Pirie

Snoopers in High Places

 The UK government has a long history of keeping an eye on its citizens, once through opened letters, now through digital surveillance.

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Tim Worstall Tim Worstall

Claim about renewables we don’t believe

Jess Ralston, head of energy at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit thinktank, said: “Every bit of free wind and sun power that we harness means we need to buy less foreign gas from abroad, boosting our energy security.”

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Tim Worstall Tim Worstall

Whaaat? Less supply pushes up prices?

Average private rents in Great Britain have climbed to record highs, with the amount tenants are being asked to pay in some hotspots rising more than 25% in a year, data shows.

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Tim Worstall Tim Worstall

Productivity isn’t about who owns but who uses

This year’s three Nobel prize winners in economics won because they all argue the alchemy of capitalist growth lies rather in “creative destruction” – letting outworn companies with redundant technologies go to the wall while fostering their rapid replacement by young and innovative companies based on the technologies of today or tomorrow.

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Tim Worstall Tim Worstall

But ‘planes just are cheaper than trains

If I want to get from Barcelona to London, I face what should be a simple choice: either I take the plane, and pump out about 280kg of pollution that heats the planet, or the train, and spew just 8kg.

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Madsen Pirie Madsen Pirie

Remove HMRC priority to boost growth

Historically, HMRC (His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs) had ‘preferential creditor’ status in insolvencies, meaning it was paid before unsecured creditors such as suppliers, small lenders, and sometimes employees beyond a certain cap.

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