Tim Worstall

How can they say this with a straight face? No nuclear power station has been built without state cash – as our government recognises. No subsidies means no nuclear. Supporting nuclear means getting behind taxpayer-funded subsidies for, in George Monbiot’s words, the “liars” who run the industry. In contrast to the billions spent on nuclear, [...]

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How incredibly sensible: In a move intended to halt the trend for workers to spend a growing proportion of their lives in retirement, the Chancellor announced a mechanism to raise the state retirement age automatically in line with life expectancy. Yeeessssss! In future, he said, regular, independent reviews should establish longevity rates, which would then [...]

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Yes, I know that people like Compass have been shouting for this and yes, I know that I said it was stupid when they did. So I’m still going to say it’s stupid when it’s a Tory that implements it: The Chancellor announced a £2 billion-a-year windfall levy on North Sea oil to fund an [...]

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Never the twain shall meet. I wonder if the BCC realise just how crass that comment is? They’re asking the government to carry on with its cuts that are sucking money out of the economy at a record rate. And at the same time they’re saying the government must deliver growth in demand and new [...]

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What is he talking about here? Economically what this country needs is a massive injection of money into local infrastructure to get employment going again and to lay the foundations for growth when the recovery happens. Some green initiatives would help no end too. All this add up to one thing – and the answer is [...]

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It being my birthday soon thought we’d have a little test of how much you all love and desire this blog/me/righteous smiting of the ignorant etc. No, I do not “need” money from you. I have managed, through a combination of business activities and writing here and there, to create an income stream which pays [...]

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You what? The GIB was a Conservative and LibDem manifesto pledge, and a coalition pledge. MPs on the environment audit committee made plain that only an independent bank that can borrow and issue bonds would be equal to the scale of the challenge. But Treasury officials have put up a fierce fight, not wanting to [...]

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So the Fukushima plant had more spent fuel lying around than it should have done did it? When disaster struck earlier this month, the plant contained almost 4,000 uranium fuel assemblies kept in pools of circulating water – the equivalent of more than three times the amount of radioactive material usually kept in the active [...]

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This time it’s the Low Carbon Kid. Talking about the costs of nuclear waste disposal he tells us that: The last estimate for the cost of dealing with the waste and decommissioning of the U.K.’s 19 reactors, by the National Audit Office in January 2008 was £73 billion over the next hundred years. This was [...]

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On how we should do business and our wider, societal, responsibilities. Hmm, for the Work Foundation, that charitable organisation he was driving when it went into bankruptcy: Accounts for 30 Jun 2009: 326 days overdue Annual Return for 30 Jun 2009: 326 days overdue Do note,that’s for the period before the bankruptcy, not the period [...]

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Following the ‘corporate roadmap’ published by the Treasury in the autumn, Osborne could also introduce exemptions on profits from intellectual property and, crucially, exempt a large portion of overseas ‘finance income’ from corporation tax. Many UK-based multinationals are already bending the rules by setting up financing subsidiaries in low-tax jurisdictions. Profits are funnelled through these [...]

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Evidence that markets work is used as proof that markets don’t work……ouch! But, according to the classical economic theory that is still fetishised in some parts of the blogosphere, an organisation like CAMRA should be unnecessary. Markets react to supply and demand. If there is enough demand for traditional beer, so the story goes, new firms will [...]

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My word, this is a surprise: Many of their homes are inside the evacuation zone, with radiation 17 times higher than background levels and tap water too contaminated to drink. 17 times higher than background, eh? As the excellent xkcd points out. General background level is 10 microsieverts a day. Extra radiation from being in [...]

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People may say I can’t sing, but no one can say I didn’t sing. Words to live by whatever your lack of talent.

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Sounds sensible: In a separate move, the budget will be used to announce plans forcing executives and celebrities who use private jets to pay air passenger duty for the first time. Osborne plans to consult on the details but hopes the proposals will raise tens of millions of pounds. In fact, it rather flabbers my [...]

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You will not be surprised to hear that the events in Japan have changed my view of nuclear power. You will be surprised to hear how they have changed it. As a result of the disaster at Fukushima, I am no longer nuclear-neutral. I now support the technology. A crappy old plant with inadequate safety [...]

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Deaths so far from the nuclear power plant* being hit by the 5 th largest earthquake of the past century and a 30 foot tsunami: 0 Deaths today from the coal industry operating as normal: 52 feared dead in Pakistan coal mine explosion The nuclear industry is just so unsafe, isn’t it? * From the [...]

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A court official says Guatemala’s first lady is ending her eight-year marriage so she can seek to succeed her husband as president. Well, doesn’t that just trump Tessa Jowell then?

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He made appearances in blues clubs alone or in a trio, often sporting a homburg, one foot stomping to the beat – although never on Sundays. “I ask the Lord, please forgive me for the stuff I done trying to make a nickel,” he told the Tribune.

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I wouldn’t use this argument myself: It’s also worth remembering that a statistically significant result does not mean that there is no fiscal multiplier. Dr Ilzetzki was keen to stress today that the error range was from -1 to +1 so that means there’s as much statistical chance of it being zero as being 1. [...]

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