Up until the 1950s the Southern States of the USA were solidly Democrat. From the 1870s onwards the “Solid South” voted Democrat even when the rest of the USA voted Republican. This map shows the 1956 Presidential election. The blue states held out for the Democrat Adlai Stevenson while the rest of the US went … Read more
I love conspiracy theories. From the novels of Thomas Pynchon to websites with names like Above Top Secret I find them endlessly entertaining. I just don’t believe in them. Don’t get me wrong, I think that from time to time conspiracies do happen, but they tend to be limited, temporary and hard to conceal. In … Read more
If you follow public policy long enough you see the same shit policies over and over again. This isn’t surprising. After a while an administration runs out of steam, runs out of ideas. They start asking Civil Servants what they should do, and Civil Servants tend to give the same advice to Ministers regardless of … Read more
The Americans have a huge aversion to socialised health care. While all other major Western economies have developed some model of state or socialised healthcare the USA alone leaves it’s health in the hands of the market. Brits like me who grew up with the NHS are baffled and appalled at the way the US … Read more
This week is the 200th anniversary of the Peterloo massacre. It was Britain’s Tiananmen Square, with pro-democracy demonstrators facing off against the military, on St Peter’s Fields in Manchester, 16th August 1819. My great-great-great Grandfather was in the front line of the demonstrators and an eye witness to the violence. If you know a lot … Read more
Two sharply contrasting policy announcements from the two major parties over the last couple of weeks, but equally frustrating. First up was BoJo, with an announcement that he will prioritise funding for health and social care: Next up was Shadow Chancellor with an announcement about ending public sector outsourcing: There is of course one policy … Read more
We are living through a golden age of near full employment according to the Department of Work and Pensions and the Office of National Statistics. Despite a slow growing economy and low levels of business investment unemployment is back to levels not seen since the 1970s. I have mixed views about this. I do think … Read more
Anne Widdecombe announced her arrival in the European Parliament this week with a speech that made a spectacularly ill judged comparison between Brexit and the abolition of slavery. Widdecombe’s views on slavery, the British Empire and the last few hundred years of British history maybe eccentric and unpleasant, but she isn’t the only person with … Read more
At school everyone knew someone who told lies. Massive lies. If your dad had a new car their dad had a helicopter. If your dad had new job their dad was James Bond If you went to Tenerife, they had been to Elevenerife. If you went to Belmont you didn’t last long with that kind … Read more
The Institute of Fiscal Studies has commissioned Sir Angus Deaton to lead a review of growing inequality in the UK https://www.ifs.org.uk/inequality/ The press have got very excited about this, and rightly so – what could be more exciting than a 2 year study mixing economics with epidemiology? Just think of the graphs! https://news.sky.com/story/suicide-drug-abuse-and-alcoholism-linked-to-more-middle-aged-deaths-than-heart-disease-11719426 https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2019/may/14/britain-risks-heading-to-us-levels-of-inequality-warns-top-economist?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other For … Read more