Tim Worstall

Study shows Putin’s election victory doesn’t add up Vladimir Putin’s election as Russian President was either the result of a hopelessly inept rigging exercise or voting patterns which contradict the laws of statistics, according to a new study. Really, that just is such a surprise, isn’t it?

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Here’s the key characteristic of populism: populists contrast an image of a pure, homogeneous people with that of a corrupt or at least, uncaring elite that colludes with those who are not properly part of the national body politic. That can mean both those at the very top of the social ladder and those at [...]

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And fails to even note the correct starting point, let alone a decent end result. Talking about MPs’ pay she ponders on their worth. The amount of work they do and the value of it, attempting, somehow, top come to some number that balances the various values she has in play. Entirely missing the point [...]

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The French people and the labour movement will have a lot to lose if the radicalised right – which, moreover, is after the extreme right’s votes – monopolises state power. Sometimes the other bloke gets in and enjoys that State Power over you. The solution is to not allow the State to accumulate such power.

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According to the actress Helena Bonham Carter, a long term acquaintance, the prime minister is far from right wing and not even that conservative. If her friend of 15-years had been running in America he would be a member of the centre left Democratic party, she added. It would sorta depend upon which State he [...]

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This will likely be successful politically — blaming the speculators will likely ring true for many — but I don’t think the underlying economics supports the claim that speculation is the primary cause of high energy prices. Do note that this is from a generally lefty (by US standards certainly) economist. It just ain’t speculators [...]

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Affordable homes is next. Boris says there will be “50,000 affordable homes by May next year”. He doesn’t say what year. The video says there have only been “56 affordable home started building between April and September”. They don’t say what April and September. Let’s take a quick look at a random council though. According [...]

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Parties have to show proportional coverage, and most broadcasters rely on opinion polls which do not routinely single out independent candidates Mrs Benita is also denied an election broadcast because she is not an official political party. Not relly. The BBC relies almost exclusively on results from the previous election of that type. Thus at [...]

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It’s because he’s an airhead: I think that most people who go into politics do so in the belief that they can make the world a better place. Nope. Public Choice. Now I’ve actually worked in politics. Been a candidate in a real election, run* the press office for a real party in a real [...]

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I’m instinctively attracted to the idea of state funding for political parties, designed to remove the temptation to allow powerful groups (both corporations and trade unions) and individuals to distort democracy. Sigh. The most powerful group in society is The State. We elect politicians, at least in theory, to direct that State. You know, to [...]

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Says he’ll protect the Constitution. Mitt Romney sought to win over the arch-conservative membership of the National Rifle Association by promising to be the protector of American freedoms and accusing President Obama of launching a stealth attack on the constitutional right to bear arms. Addressing the NRA’s annual convention in St Louis, Missouri, Romney tried [...]

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And why they’re not important. The first few comments don’t seem to be buying it. A useful reminder that politics is not about what is but about what people believe is.

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Everyone in Galway and Ireland should know this: Che has a lot in common with Oliver Cromwell. Like Cromwell, Che proclaimed himself a liberator and felt justified in committing thousands of atrocities in a land other than his own, all in the name of a higher cause. Like Cromwell, Che stole everyone’s property too, for [...]

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Coalition plans for Lords reform thrown into turmoil Joint select committee to recommend that elected second chamber should only be introduced after a referendum Yes, The Sovereign in Parliament is sovereign. However, when there’s a major change to how that sovereignty is passed around then we the citizenry should indeed get a vote on the [...]

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An interesting finding: But for young workers, seeing others around them do well can actually make them happy by providing them with aspirations, according to a new report. Economists believe that workers under the age of 45 get high levels of satisfaction from seeing their peers earn more than them, because they think they have [...]

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The coalition agreement promised “limiting donations and reforming party funding in order to remove big money from politics”. Sir Christopher Kelly was duly asked to find a solution, which he did back in November. Donations would be capped at £10,000 per individual, Labour must sign up trade union members as individual subscribers and the state [...]

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The backlog of fuel deliveries caused by yesterday’s panic buying could mean a wait of up to three days for supplies to be replenished after motorists filled up over fears of a strike by tanker drivers. Entirely and totally down to the government being so damn stupid. It just doesn’t make sense to have such [...]

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Bit of a surprise, eh? Wonder if he’ll bother turning up to the Commons this time around?

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Fuel strike: pumps go dry as ministers provoke a panic Umm, didn’t I mutter something about the fuel tanks of the car fleet possibly holding more than the wholesale system itself? Yes, I saw the comments about strategic reserves but they are of crude, not refined products. So, Timmy 2 Cameron 0 here I think. [...]

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Motorists should consider stockpiling fuel for strike, suggests No 10 Motorists should consider stockpiling petrol in case a strike by tanker drivers disrupts supplies, the Government has suggested. Hmm. There’s a possibility that this would actually cause the shortage that it is hoped can be averted. It depends upon the relative sizes of the two [...]

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