Tim Worstall

It’s a pity he’s not going to get anywhere really for this is really rather good, about Rudy Giuliani: He only uses three words in a sentence: A noun, a verb, and 9/11    

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Why, eh? According to estimates from the CBO, supports for sugar in the House bill could cost taxpayers from $750 million to $850 million over the next five years. The eagerness of members of Congress to please their sugar daddies is not surprising. Campaign donations from the sugar industry have topped $3 million in each [...]

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At The Business. Jonathan Freedland makes one of the better arguments for education vouchers that I’ve seen so far. I don’t think he’s aware that he’s made it but there you are.

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Naming the person at the centre of the royal sex scandal might not be all that wise an idea: A lawyer who is defending one of the men accused of blackmailing a member of the Royal Family has called for anyone identifying the alleged victim to be prosecuted. Giovanni Di Stefano, who represents Ian Strachan, [...]

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Last night there was an earthquake in the Bay Area, about 5.6 on the Richter scale and centered on San Jose.   Sort of a "small earthquake in Chile, not many hurt" type story really. Quick question. That story of that headline is that Cyril Connoly and mates were trying to invent the silliest or [...]

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I have to say that I’m still on the fence over this report that organic vegetables are better for you. Yes, if the facts change I will change my mind but until I can actually read the report itself (I’ve not found it online as yet) then I’ll continue to fence sit. However, that won’t [...]

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Well, yes, this is exactly what is needed: But the solution to the challenge of global climate change is as plain as day. The only chance of improvement is to decouple economic growth from energy consumption and emissions. This must happen in the emerging countries, and even more urgently in the old industrial economies. This [...]

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Thomas Palley really does come up with some beauties. The current global exchange rate system is a sub-optimal arrangement. There are many theoretical reasons explaining why foreign exchange markets are prone to mis-pricing, and the empirical evidence shows exchange rates persistently depart from their warranted fundamental levels. Moreover, the system permits strategic manipulation so that [...]

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I’m not sure why The Guardian is all exercised over this: Britain faces the prospect of power shortages and soaring prices this winter after the National Grid warned of a shortfall in electricity-generating capacity yesterday. The alert coincides with a surge in gas prices, which are now 40% higher than in continental Europe, and the [...]

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Yes, I know that small business is important, but this much so? Small businesses employ more than 10m people, nearly half the private-sector workforce, and contribute almost £1,000bn to the British economy. The British economy is what, some £1,2 trillion? And we’re saying that 50% of the private sector workforce alone is providing 83% of [...]

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No, not that geeky one on the TV, this one: David Frost, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, has found himself in hot water with women’s business groups at the launch of Small Business Week. Speaking at the release of a report on the growing popularity of homeworking and what the Government [...]

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At The Business. Virtual paedophilia: a complement or a substitute?

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Another sign of the silliness of the current regulatory regime for drugs: Spending of hundreds of millions of pounds on drugs treatment programmes has failed to improve the success rate of addicts coming off heroin and cocaine, according to a report. The budget of the National Treatment Agency (NTA) has increased from £253 million in [...]

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Yes, I understand Labour’s (perhaps "the left’s" is better) hatred of private schools, I can even get my head around the dislike of Grammars (a single competetive exam at 11 years old might not be the very best way of predicting future academic success, for example) but this is astonishing: However, the Department for Children, [...]

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So the Telegraph is running something to try and find the Great Britons. One suggestion: Or John Gummer and Zac Goldsmith who brought the Conservative Party up to date on green issues – and duly had some of their policies pinched by Labour? They’ve clearly lost their minds then.

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I don’t normally see much TV but just caught 10 minutes or so of something on Sky while fleaing (or is that defleaing?) the dogs. No idea what it was called mind. But it was about how to sell your house. I thought all the shows were about how to buy a house, or how [...]

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Competition Time! At The Business. You’re invited to come up with, if you can, an absurd chain of (a) historical reasoning. My starter for 10 was that Martin Luther caused WWII.

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Comment at a site I won’t name on a subject I won’t name. 12 lines on the throne.  

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Yes, really: David Cameron has today moved the Tories back onto their familiar core territory with a pledge to cut the number of pensioners in the country. He said ‘while there is nothing wrong with pensioners per se. – we do need to cut the net increase’. He said ‘it is recognised they are by [...]

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At least they’re not trying to cover up (sorry) the cause here: Rickets, a softening of bone tissue often characterised by bowed legs, is caused by a vitamin D deficiency and was associated with Victorian slums. But a study found that there were 56 suspected cases between 2003 and 2005 in the catchment area of [...]

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