Tim Worstall

Speccie. Looks like blogs are now illegal, what is the point of John Hilary and the financial crisis was caused by insufficient securitisation.  

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In a bid to get the country’s youngsters on board the controversial scheme, the Home Office has launched MyLifeMyId.org, where 16 to 25 year olds “can have their say about identity issues in the UK.” But anyone browsing the discussions on the site would be hard pushed to find a single positive comment, with contributors [...]

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This bloke reports on financial matters for NPR. For the last several centuries, for the most part, most of the wealth in the world stayed in Europe, then started moving to the United States. Jeepers. Very little wealth "moved". More was created. That he starts out from the zero sum position tells you all you [...]

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Hmm, so that’s the second bank that I have a relationship with that’s gone bust/been bought out in a distress sale. Might be worth keeping an eye upon Rabobank, Santander, HSBC….

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Dan Hannan’s plan. Excellent, very good indeed. Of course, he’s in the wrong political party to bring all this about…..much of this is already in the policies of one that he doesn’t, but perhaps ought to, belong to.

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Officials said the image of a bull represented the Greek myth in which Zeus turns himself into a bull and abducts Europa, a beautiful princess. Campaigners said it was bizarre that there not more outward symbols of Britishness on the card, given that it will be used as a proof of residence. Lorraine Mulally, spokesman [...]

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These houses being sold in Sicily for €1 each. The election was seen by many as a stunt by a man desperate for the oxygen of publicity, but Mr Sgarbi is working overtime to prove them wrong. And his first brain wave – to offer ancient and derelict homes in the historic town centre for [...]

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Speccie. Do our rulers know what they’re talking about, Guardian column of the day and Hank and Ben can have all the money they want.  

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No, not a nut job argument, rather a subtle one in fact.

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Crippled Jesus Christ on a friggin’ unicycle. It is true that a tonne of carbon dioxide pollution saved in Bangalore is the same as a tonne saved in Birmingham – but by paying others to make carbon reductions for us, Labour are selling Britain short by subsidising abroad the efficiencies and savings we need to [...]

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Dr Sentamu described his concern about the market, where “the share value of a bank was no longer dependent on the strength of its performance, but rather on the willingness of the Government to bail it out”. Speaking at the Worshipful Company of International Bankers’ annual dinner in London, he said: “To a bystander like [...]

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The credit crunch is creating a new global hobby: trading down. People are cushioning the squeeze on their incomes by buying cheaper alternatives. This is already showing up in the results of food stores. Well, that entirely buggers the argument that we’re made miserable by having too many choices then, doesn’t it?

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"We had great times here. There were artists and writers all around. Great parties. They’re all gone now," says the former communist. "Now half the families in my block are immigrants. They can’t speak German. They can’t even speak English." Slightly odd final line, no? Or is speaking English really that much of a marker [...]

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Allowing Catholics to reign, first born inherits whether male or female….. Sources said No 10 would like the legislation to be passed quickly in a fourth term… Ah, OK, back to sleep everybody. A fourth term there just ain’t gonna be.

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Said Uncle Milt. The FSA said the ban would be in place until January when permanent new rules on shorting would be formulated. Mr Brown said: "I think you’ll find new rules come in for the future…We have very unusual and volatile financial markets . It would be wrong for good companies to be brought [...]

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Hmm, now that we’ve got the EU anthem back, time for a little bit of guerilla action I think. We need a decent sound man and the only one I know wouldn’t take part in this, not having quite the same feelings about the EU as I do. So, the aim is to mock of [...]

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An undercover investigation has found that many pharmacies – especially independent outlets – are relying on poorly-trained staff and failing to give the correct information to customers. Which?, the consumer watchdog, sent investigators to visit 101 pharmacies across the UK and got unsatisfactory advice on a third of visits, according to an expert panel. Independent [...]

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The Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, condemned the financial traders who made millions by driving down the share price of leading banks as "bank robbers and asset strippers". In a powerful speech to City bankers on the effects of the credit crisis on Wednesday, he denounced the "Alice in Wonderland" world of global finance [...]

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Meanwhile, in his speech, Mr Johnson announced a new pubic awareness campaign to… Tsk.

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Speccie. If anyone actually remembers how to calculate radioactive half lives etc then please do correct me in the comments there.

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