Tim Worstall

Mmmmmm. Work out how to automate this rather laborious process and I think you’ve got the next fast food revolution.

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It’s always amusing to see her leaps of logic: But if you see the phosphate ban as an arbitrary act of liberal tyranny imposed for the sheer joy of making Real Americans have to wash their dishes by hand, then getting into the car and driving for a few hours to buy dish detergent can [...]

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It has been an epic battle. The planning dispute over the site of a supermarket in the Norfolk town of Sheringham has lasted longer than the first and second world wars combined. Yesterday, after 14 years, Tesco emerged victorious, defeating townspeople who had fought to shield businesses from commercial competition with the retail giant. Well, [...]

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Ain’t the world just getting better and better? Elimination of virus that causes deadly cattle plague makes rinderpest only the second viral disease in history to have been wiped out by humans

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Contrary to the widespread belief that only City fat cats on massive bonuses need worry, savers being targeted by the taxman range from members of public sector pension schemes… Is it the public sector schemes, at least the top end of them, which will be hit hardest? I’ll probably garble this but, so, we’ve got [...]

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I have to say that I’m not entirely sure that I believe this: Researchers looking at almost a thousand mummies from ancient Egypt and South America found only a handful suffered from cancer when now it accounts for nearly one in three deaths. The findings suggest that it is modern lifestyles and pollution levels caused [...]

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Couples in ‘trial separations’ likely to end in divorce Blimey, the things you learn, eh?

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Couldn’t happen to a nicer man: In a statement, the Standards and Privileges Committee said: “At its meeting on 12 October, the Committee agreed that the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards should report to the Metropolitan Police Service the conduct of the Rt hon Member for Rotherham, Mr Denis MacShane. In accordance with procedures agreed in [...]

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Tax Research UK has published a new briefing on secrecy jurisdictions today. This has also been endorsed by the Tax Justice Network and the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development. It is  available here. Groups that Ritchie started and is a member of endorse report by Ritchie. Up next, Elizabeth Windsor endorses the [...]

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The gang constructed a parallel universe that was entirely make-believe but which mirrored the structure of the real Medicare system. To begin with they stole the identities – including the dates of birth, social security numbers and medical licence details – of dozens of doctors. They then set up 118 phantom health clinics in 25 [...]

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No, it’s nothing at all to do with wider class issues, chinless wonders being appointed to see over the slaughter of stout working class boys. “Rescue complete as shift foreman is 33 rd to emerge” Some might call it bringing up the rear, others making sure that the boys are taken care of before oneself. [...]

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Average men in full-time employment work 39 hours per week and earn £28,270 a year……..On average, women with full-time jobs work 34 hours a week and earn a £22,151 salary. You wouldn’t be far wrong to conclude that there’s a connection between the earnings and the hours. Indeed, one of the explanations of that pesky [...]

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Lordy, haven’t these people got bored yet? The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) calculated the impact of each country by measuring the amount of carbon, water and other natural resources consumed by an average person in a year. Overall people are using 50 per cent more than the planet can provide. Yes, it’s that time of [...]

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Public health officials in Los Angeles have said that actors in the pornographic film industry put themselves at higher risk of sexually-transmitted diseases by not using appropriate contraception. I have a feeling that this isn’t true. Yes, of course, having unprotected sex with large numbers of people is risky behaviour: but the proof is in [...]

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Oh dearie me. A slight confusion of cause and effect here. Psychologists believe that traits such as selflessness and altruism have become part of our genetic make-up because they were attractive to mates. Mebbe. “The expansion of the human brain would have greatly increased the cost of raising children so it would have been important [...]

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Someone who is more up with stats and ancestry than I might be able to explain these figures: Barack Obama and Sarah Palin are 10th cousins through a common ancestor, John Smith, a 17th century pastor, according to genealogists. I assume that tenth cousin means you share one ancestor 10 generations ago. So is that [...]

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Apparently, the government borrowing the money to pay for universities, leaving the generation enjoying the universities to pay back the loans and the interest, is entirely different from the students borrowing the money to pay for their own education, they then being liable for paying back the capital and the interest. And all this to [...]

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There is nothing in this world but to love, and be loved in return. In a hundred years the most important man you ever met is anonymous. In a thousand everyone is. We cobbled together a life around the table where we break the bread, and for a few thousand times we were as one. [...]

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…but frankly, when you’ve seen one capsule emerge, you don’t need to see it another 32 times. * Yes, there is. There are no exceptions to Rule 34.

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This time on N Ireland’s mooted 12.5% corporation tax rate. In the intro: The ERGNI argument is debunked in this report by Richard Murphy of Tax Research UK, one of the most important thinkers on this subject. Erm, yes, well….. This from Richard himself is fun: First amongst these are the enormous obstacles that would [...]

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