World War 1 brought an end to the Classical Gold Standard for Britain, just as the Napoleonic wars of a century earlier had caused the suspension of specie payments – the convertability of bank notes into gold. War is always ruinously expensive and WW1 – a war which should have ended in 1915 – required a thorough debasement of Sterling in order to pay the bills…
Category Archives: Economy
Napoleon, Kaiser Willie, Inflation And Where We Go From Here
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on May 31, 2012
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Really, Christine!
Posted by admin
on May 28, 2012
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The West’s economy is dying from decades of quack medication and stimulants, and Christine Lagarde, Head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) wants to give the UK economy another shot of adrenaline…
Her Majesty’s Government Is Borasic – And That’s A Fact
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on May 24, 2012
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Finally, I have tracked down HMG’s April borrowing figures. Is it me, or are they rather coy about this little titbit of information? It wouldn’t be surprising if they were trying to keep it as quiet as possible because, as expected, the figures are nothing short of dire…
Distributism And Sound Money
Posted by admin
on May 15, 2012
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“According to distributists, property ownership is a fundamental right and the means of production should be spread as widely as possible among the general populace, rather than being centralized under the control of the state (state socialism) or by an elite of wealthy property owners (laissez-faire capitalism). Distributism therefore advocates a society marked by widespread property ownership and, according to co-operative economist Race Mathews, maintains that such a system is key to bringing about a just social order…
Globalisation Claims Another Scalp
Posted by admin
on April 29, 2012
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Hull based medical products giant, Smith & Nephew, is switching some of its output to China. Forty jobs are expected to go, but the total could be much higher as staff suspect this is just the tip of the iceberg…
Cyclically-Adjusted Pygmies
Posted by admin
on April 26, 2012
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Yesterday (Wednesday, 25 April) we had confirmation of what anyone with an ounce of common sense knows – the UK economy is in bad shape:
“The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the UK’s economy contracted by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2012…
Education: Budgetspeak and Reality
Posted by admin
on March 31, 2012
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Education will receive £91 billion or 13.32% of total government expenditure in 2012/13…
BUDGET 2012: HMG Resorts to a Pay Day loan of £28 billion
Posted by admin
on March 23, 2012
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Here are a few quick observations on Wednesday’s Budget:
This was reported as a fiscally neutral budget – Peter has been robbed to pay Paul – so we can ignore the minutiae involving the rearrangement of the deckchairs…
Book Review: Global Trade And Conflicting National Interests
Posted by admin
on March 19, 2012
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The theme of this book, ably and persuasively expounded, is the replacement of the classical economics theory of international trade which has prevailed since its original exposition by Adam Smith and David Ricardo in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries.
Copyright: Let’s Get Our ACTA Together!
Posted by admin
on March 2, 2012
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You would have to have been living under a rock not to know proposed legislation: Anti Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA); Stop Online Piracy (SOPA); and Protect IP Act (PIPA) – all allegedly seeking to protect copyright and other intellectual property owners on the Internet – has met with vociferous opposition, particularly from young people.
