Tim Worstall

At the ASI. We need to have more of the bits of capitalism that capitalists don’t like. That competition, markets, stuff.

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Diplomatic immunity and the culture of impunity The case of Dominique Strauss-Kahn is an exception to the rule that NGO officials escape censure for alleged sexual misconduct. Err, lads? When you’re talking about the UN, IMF, UNHCR, WHO and all the rest you’re not in fact talking about NGOs. An NGO is a “non governmental [...]

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Quite remarkable really: Yet the British have rediscovered the urge to travel by rail. If the parameters are not changed and demand for rail travel doubles over the next 20 years, as is forecast, the subsidy and public debts of the rail industry will become unsustainable. Something must change. I think we’re beginning to understand [...]

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From the letters page: Under the Sexual Offences Act, the definition of rape is making someone have sex when they don’t want to. This is something women do to men all the time with impunity, because men never complain.

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You’re surprised, right? We find it extremely difficult to understand why the judges cannot appreciate that, when the Home Secretary makes a determination that an individual’s presence is not conducive to the public good, the decision has been made after careful consideration of all the relevant facts. There should be a presumption against overturning it [...]

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Has Arnold Schwarzenegger’s love-child scandal terminated his career for good? The former California governor’s secret affair has turned one of Hollywood’s greatest success stories into a pariah figure, reports Nick Allen in Los Angeles Infidelity among acting types or politicians is hardly unusual. Nor among Kennedys come to that. So what is it that’s made [...]

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Judges block Home Secretary from deporting convicted terrorist A convicted terrorist banned from Britain for being a risk to national security has been stopped by the courts from being deported. And yes, so the courts should. There’s two entirely different points here. The challenge hinged on interpretation of the Immigration Act 1971 and other immigration [...]

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No, really, fabulous: They could – as I have suggested – require that pension funds invest 25% of their contributions in new employment creating activity. They could promote a Green New Deal. It’s  utter nonsense that the cuts won’t impact people. It’s utter nonsense that we just sit back and take the crap that might [...]

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Labour needs to go far deeper than a Cameron-type strategy of superficial repositioning. We must set out a national mission … The task for the Labour party is to do what we have always done when we have succeeded: to set out a clear national mission . …. So our challenge now is to respond [...]

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At the ASI. Switching to a flat tax would increase growth and thus cut the deficit.

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No. Use this page as a handy check as to whether the Rapture, the giant earthquake which will sweep believers into heaven, has happened as yet on 21 May 2011. If the page is still here, no it hasn’t.

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On the Fred Goodwin superinjunction: The mistress of Sir Fred Goodwin was promoted twice while he was chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, Sadly this story is a lot more boring than I’d originally thought. John Hemming, the backbench Lib Dem MP who announced the existence of Sir Fred’s injunction to the Commons [...]

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All those years of playing football, all those huge, millions a year incomes. I’ve heard that he might lose all that money. Lawyers really are terribly expensive, you know?

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Is the Group Resourcing Director for RBS. As the Mail asks: Why’s the Royal Bank of Scotland’s perky ‘Group Resourcing Director’, Susan Bor, such a focus of curiosity online? A YouTube video of her discussing mundane business matters attracted heavy traffic before it was removed this week. It’s not as if Susan is a really [...]

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An outsider like Peter Mandelson could be perfect for the IMF Oh Dear Lord. We’d rather, you know, have someone who knows a little about economics? Banking experience would be a plus. Rather than a machine politician: might as well propose Richard Daley.

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It’s not like he doesn’t miss other important differences, is it? The FT says twice as many business leaders say that the world economy is going to improve in the next six months than think it is going to get worse, according to the FT/Economist global business barometer. Well, I presume the survey does say [...]

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So Caroline, Ritchie and all are going to get a piece of their Green New Deal. And they’re whining about it. Quelle Surprise. A report from the environmental thinktank E3G and research by the Green party MP Caroline Lucas suggest that householders’ bills are likely to be so high there will not be enough of [...]

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Al says his Current TV is being forced off Sky Italia because he’s hiring Keith Olbermann in the US. Sly says that Current TV wanted more money for the fewer viewers it was delivering. A News Corp spokesman said: “The non-renewal of Current TV’s carriage agreement with Sky Italia is purely commercial. Current TV asked [...]

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We’re often told that markets are too short term. They don’t look far enough ahead. Only wise and benevolent governments can do that for us. Slowly but surely, Europe is coming round to the idea of sovereign debt restructuring – an inevitability that has long been apparent to markets, but which the EU has until [...]

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Well, obviously, I don’t actually know, but I can give a sketch of what’s likely. The basic situation is that Southern Cross operates but does not own a series of nursing homes for the retired/elderly. 30,000 odd residents, 45,000 odd staff. They’re in a squeeze. The major customer is the local authorities, who have a [...]

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