Tim Worstall

As societies become richer, citizens tend to want better schools, better medical care and other government services. This country is following that pattern, but without paying the necessary taxes. That combination has us on a course to Greece-like debt. Make those things the citizenry want not government services and taxes don’t have to rise, do [...]

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As of this morning I cannot get onto The Guardian’s site. All I get is the browser saying “done” and a blank page. I knew that the Earl of Witney* had said that he was going to sort out these tedious lefties and socialists but that’s pretty quick work, isn’t it? Were their finances so [...]

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But electoral reform has to remain on the agenda. We cannot afford the Tories ever having the chance to secure a majority in its won right – the prospect for democracy in the UK is just too horrible to contemplate. Apparently democracy doesn’t include the possibility of people Ritchie doesn’t like getting elected by the [...]

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Polly Toynbee, The Guardian Polly agrees with what Gordon said. In those areas where she doesn’t, she’ll find out what Gordon thinks then agree with that. Is boned for columns from now on, will likely wait until Labour has a new leader, then agree with him instead, unless the party starts smoking crack and absent-mindedly [...]

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Well, we know how this is going to get reported, don’t we? Staying late in the office or working overtime is bad for the heart, researchers warned yesterday. A large study of British civil servants found that those who regularly worked 10 or 11-hour days were up to 60 per cent more likely to suffer [...]

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Researchers from the University of New South Wales in Australia and Purdue University in the US said global warming will not stop after 2100, the point where most previous projections have ended. In fact temperatures may rise by up to 12C (21.6F) within just three centuries making many countries into deserts. A) No one has [...]

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The 10 pirates were captured last week after seizing a Russian oil tanker but were then unexpectedly released, with Russian officials saying there was insufficient legal basis to keep them in detention and that they would be too expensive to feed. “According to the latest information, the pirates who seized the Moscow University oil tanker [...]

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Well, that’s the Earldom of Witney sorted out in a few years time then, isn’t it?

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Martin Freeman (who he?) says he would cook pasta: for JC does seem to love things Italian.

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If Kagan is confirmed, the Supreme Court will consist of 6 Catholics and 3 Jews, none of whom would have been considered to fit the core definition of “white” before the mid-19th century in America. I guess we can finally lay to rest the WASP Empire then….

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Here.

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17:05 Pound fell around a cent against the dollar following that statement from Gordon Brown. 17:04 Well, real drama to end the day. Gordon Brown has said he plans to step down as Labour leader and opened up the real prospect of a Lab-Lib coalition. Who knew the pound would *fall* when Gordo said he [...]

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It’s the 200 th anniversary of the foundation of Peugeot. As a result they’re running a competition, prizes include 2 day all paid trips to the Le Mans 24 hour race. Watch the video and follow the instructions to enter. Partage propulsé par Wikio http://www.new-peugeot.com/

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An interesting proposal from a reader: but has anyone run the stats on Postal votes? Particularly where, say, the split of postal votes is wildly different to the overall constituency. For example, it would be interesting to find out how many key marginals had a) a sudden increase in the postal vote and b)  where [...]

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But it is funny….. Consider the gay movement. Short of having Graham Norton sodomise him with a crucifix live on stage, Cameron couldn’t have done more appease them, and that brilliant strategy was how the Tories ended up with grand total of 9% of their votes – which is to say, 9% of 2.8% of [...]

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Berkeley isn’t really known as a wildly libertarian or classically liberal sort of place. The general reputation is more of an American style liberal place really. Brad DeLong isn’t, similarly, thought of as an economist who is going to sign up to Cato, or Adam Smith Inst, style libertarianism or classical liberalism. However, take a [...]

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Polly does seem to have become a tad wild in her rhetoric here: …a new beginning with a progressive alliance…..He can only legitimately turn towards Labour if it is self-evident that no way can this radical and progressive party fold in with a sub-Thatcherite programme…..And Labour panickers should take a deep breath (get some sleep) [...]

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I am getting rather confused about radioactivity. I’m definitely not getting some sciency bit here. So, here’s the regulation on disposal of radioactive waste. It says that if radioactivity is less than 0.4 becquerels per gramme of mass then you’re not under the radioactive waste regulations. OK, good oh. But they then seem to be [...]

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Another confident claim from our favourite retired accountant: The private sector is not creating jobs. None at all. That would be why unemployment is rising by 47,000 a week then would it? GEP used data from the Office for National Statistics’ Inter-Departmental Business Register, which records all businesses in the UK. Researchers discovered that on [...]

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Blimey. French politician shags about. Bit of a shocker, eh?

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