Tim Worstall

From the Coalition Programme for Government: We will ban the sale of alcohol below cost price. I’m absolutely certain that they’ve not thought this through. So, booze wholesaler goes bust (or offie, pub, supermarket, village shop, whatever). The liquidator comes in and has to shift the stock swiftly in order to get cash back for [...]

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Ritchie gives us this chart: It shows the distribution of household incomes in the UK. According to Ritchie it shows that there is clearly and obviously a bias in favour of the rich, one which we should do away with by taxing them more and redistributing that money to the poor. Do note that this [...]

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Here. I have predicted it will eventually be worse that that: I see 4 million as the likely unemployment total. We now have an objective test of Ritchienomics. Note this is unemployment, not those who fall out of the labour force. So, we’ll see shall we?

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Absolutely, essential, oh yes. As an example of intransigent work rules, one source pointed to a clause in the union contract that would prevent a busboy from being asked to perform other duties, such as unloading produce from a delivery truck. The source also said the union — not management — would get to determine [...]

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Via, this: He had major rhythmic problems and his harmonic and melodic vocabulary was extremely limited, mostly to pentatonic based and blues-lick derived patterns, and he basically exhibited only a rudimentary understanding of how to function as a professional soloist in an ensemble – Lorber was basically playing him off the bandstand in terms of [...]

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At the ASI. Further proof that the Laffer Curve really does exist.

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There are families where that would indeed be considered fun…..

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Terrorist Asset Freezing Bill. (Treasury) There is already provision for freezing terrorists’ assets in law – however, a new Bill could be the vehicle for expanding the definition of an organisation classed as terrorist, possibly to include Hizb-ut-Tahir, the revolutionary Islamist party, which David Cameron has said he will ban. Oh Aye? We’ve already got [...]

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Europe’s movement toward unification has always been the product of crises. It ain’t the neo-liberals who use crises to advance their agendas…..

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At the ASI. We need more economic growth so let’s have a bonfire of the regulations.

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David Cameron is rejecting the advice of top security officials by insisting on walking around Whitehall, refusing police motorcycle escorts and demanding to be allowed to keep his BlackBerry smartphone. There is increasing nervousness about the protection of the Prime Minister, who officials believe is making himself vulnerable to terrorists, lone obsessives and cyber-criminals. Having [...]

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The Mail has a right old go at Mandy here. Worth reading in full. The one bit they’ve left out is that such tariffs do not necessarily apply to all “product x” from “country y “. It’s entirely possible for tariffs to be applied only to “product x” from “factory y”. If, that is, factory [...]

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The Mahdi again. Essentially, anti-gay (and lesbian) prejudice in Africa is complicated. Whereas here it’s just because some are homophobes. What amuses me most about these sorts of arguments is that precisely those who argue that we are all much more similar than we are different, the internationalists, are those most willing to make complex [...]

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Or, make sure your constituency gets its snout in the trough: Zac Goldsmith is urging ministers to kickstart a revolution in eating habits by ensuring that all schools, hospitals and care homes start using healthy, environmentally friendly, sustainable food. A Conservative party taskforce led by the new MP for Richmond Park and prominent green campaigner [...]

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And yet, despite all this, one worrying finding did emerge. The heaviest users of mobile phones – on them for a total of 1,640 hours, equivalent to just half an hour a day over 10 years – were 40 per cent more likely to get glioma, the brain cancer that killed Ted Kennedy. What kills [...]

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Her brother, Prince Carl Philip, is dating a model and reality television star notable for posing topless with only a python to protect her modesty. The Prince is a racing car driver and nightclub regular who has designed his own range of cutlery. Prince, nightclubs, bird with bazoombas, racing cars, yes, sure. But cutlery?

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Bono hurts his back, has surgery, tour to be rescheduled: U2′s manager Paul McGuinness also posted a message to inconvenienced fans on the U2 website insisting the tour dates will be rescheduled. ”The bank were really looking forward to getting back out on the road until the emergency on Bono’s back which took place in [...]

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As retailed by my father: Leonard Wolfson and his parents – he was their only child – were founder trustees of the Wolfson Foundation in 1955. Endowed with £6 million worth of GUS shares, its objectives were the advancement of health, education, science, the arts and humanities. The trust multiplied in value more than a [...]

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An interesting analysis really: The reality is more significant. Ordinary people – the vast majority of people – were in reality priced out of some basics of living, like housing, by an elite. That elite – the holders of the vast majority of wealth – forced up the price of many assets – housing in [...]

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To grant anonymity in rape cases we are saying that the problem is not with the estimated 75 to 95% that never get reported; the 94% of reports that do not end in a conviction on the charge of rape; or the widespread belief that women out drinking, flirting or just plain breathing ask for [...]

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