Tim Worstall

Here.

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With reference to this story. Air travel ‘as bad as stabbing person in the street’, says MEP When asked if flying to Spain was as bad as knifing a person in the street, Ms Lucas said: ‘Yes – because they are dying from climate change.’ Hmmm……now I believe that Caroline herself does indeed fly sometimes….when [...]

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This is really rather interesting. From the Taxpayers´Alliance, a calculator to find out how much you pay in green taxes. They´re trying to make visible the taxes you pay that are embedded in your energy bills etc. The thing that I find fascinating about this is…. That is a total bill of more than £740 [...]

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As adverts for political blogging go, the whole Guido vs Draper thing has been somewhere on a par with promoting a cage fight between Stephen Hawking and Helen Keller as an advert for mixed martial arts, Not sure I agree but nice phrase.

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It has to be said that some of these are simply wonderful: Whatever the complaint in question, let’s hope it’s not the one that you’ve been suffering from for the past 3 years, Kevin. Having his head wedged inextricably up his own arse. … "McBride’s formidably bright" As in – he used a government computer [...]

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At the ASI. Why "green bonds" are like the Underpants Gnomes.

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The torso of a man which has been found in a ditch is from a murder victim Really?

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Academics rediscover the Peter Principle: ‘Our research finds that the mental health of managers typically deteriorates after a job promotion, and in a way that goes beyond merely short-term change. ‘Just because people in managerial positions find themselves to be healthier does not necessarily mean this is as a direct result of their occupational positions. [...]

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Oh Lordy, he trots out this Vanuatu nonsense again. The Happy Planet Index is a measure that assesses the relative efficiency with which natural resources are converted into meaningful human outcomes. It compares peoples’ ecological footprints with life expectancy and life satisfaction. On average, island nations score better than other states on all three indicators. [...]

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Banks have been accused of profiteering as new figures show they have almost tripled their margins on mortgages in the past year. Isn’t this what we want to happen? If banks are falling over left right and centre because they’re going bust then we want them to improve their profit margins, don’t we? So that [...]

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Dan Hannan’s right here: Labour official resigns over email scandal, but the Brussels email scandal remains unreported But, umm, isn’t it a bit rich that a complaint about a story not being reported is coming from a columnist and leader writer for one of the major newspapers in the land? Couldn’t we have a little [...]

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My, it’s only a couple of centuries since you went away. PM Gordon Brown intends to force every teenager in the country to carry out 50 HOURS of work to help the community. His call today for youngsters to do their duty and work for Britain echoes Lord Kitchener’s World War One recruiting poster with [...]

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Since the Eighties, greed has been glorified. Private gain has been elevated above public good. MPs reflect that wider society. Apparently it’s all Maggie Thatcher’s fault. Sigh.

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At the ASI. On government by technocrats

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Trying to pick apart what he’s really hinting at here: On David Cameron: He could clear up exactly how much the Cameron’s worth … and he could make clear that he’s not hiding any embarrassing illnesses.’ Reading around that embarrassing illness is hinted as being of a sexual nature. Erm, like what? What we colloquially [...]

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This one looks like it’s going to run and run: TOXIC emissions from ships are killing prematurely an estimated 39,000 people a year across Europe, with Britain among the worst-affected countries, research has shown. Won’t the greenies be happy, yet another stick to beat international trade over the head with. However: Such findings were reinforced [...]

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Last week, the employees of Bartle Bogle Hegarty, an advertising agency and, as such, perhaps not noted for its caring, sharing outlook on life, became the latest firm to vote for a pay cut for all, rather than redundancies for some – 99.5% in favour, in fact. Just as the employees of JCB did a [...]

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Cars powered by electricity or hydrogen are cheaper. I have to say that I didn’t actually know that. I was under the impression that, even when you include the social costs of carbon and other emissions, electric and hydrogen powered cars were still vastly more expensive than oil powered ones. But then that’s why I [...]

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Hmmm…. Last summer, Kaupthing loans to the Tchenguiz empire amounted to 230bn krona (£1.47bn) – equivalent to 46% of bank deposits. It’s easy enough to make money in the middle of an asset bubble if you’ve a compliant banker willing to fund you. But to nearly half of the deposit base? That’s near lunacy in [...]

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Bruno tells us that the Lords and Masters in Brussels have an idea for us. The "shout" is part of an MTV campaign (three spots, cost of EUR2.3 million) to "encourage young people throughout the European Union to share their feelings, ideas and concerns". The ads "feature young people hanging loudspeakers in London, Paris and [...]

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