Retired Professor of Political Economy
(Lancaster University, UK - retired 2021)
(also #ProfDJ across the Lune Valley)
Contributor: North West Bylines #NoBridge
Agreement on a new cross-channel energy connector has stalled as France & the UK cannot agree on costs; the UK wants equal budget sharing for the construction; France thinks the UK should take on the bulk of the cost.
The French position is as for most (but not all) the time the UK is importing electricity generated in France, the benefits are gained by the UK & so the UK should cover the majority of the costs.
I'll leave it for you to decide if that's unreasonable!
a new one (the disagreement is on construction costs) from the FT article:
Potential new interconnector projects between Britain and France include the 1.4GW GridLink project owned by iCON Infrastructure Partners and the 1GW Eleclink 2 proposal through the Channel Tunnel.
So while the proscription remains in place to allow some further legal argument & a possible appeal by the Govt. for now the High Court has concluded (on two out of the four counts raised) that Palestine Action's proscription was unlawful.
The proscription did not fully follow the Govt.'s own rules on proscription & the proscription also failed by contravening, Articles 10 & 11 of the ECHR.
Meanwhile the National Gallery seems to have caught the UK universities' disease; plenty of money for capital projects but a projected deficit on running costs, leading to a voluntary severance programme (followed by forced redundancies if not enough staff depart).
Despite gaining £150m for a new extension, the NG will be shedding staff & day-to-day activities.... just like many universities.
As so often its easier to raise money for capex, than for payroll!
So far Brexit looks to have cost the UK between 4-6% GDP per capita, with the negative impact continuing to compound as GDP growth remains weak compared to similar countries.
This chart should be shown each time Nigel Farage tries to make out its been a success (or if not, its not his fault). Brexit was clearly his project, its clearly cost the UK dear (in economic terms) & he should be reminded of this fact continually & publicly
Chart: UK GDP compared to similar countries before & after Brexit Referendum.
Shows UK GDP broadly in the middle of similar countries' trend then sinking to below the aggregated range fo comports counties
Full chart & details:
https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/googles-investing-the-economic-cost?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=4zlk2w&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Jonathan Coe's self-consciously 'state of the nation' novel The Proof of my Innocence (2024) tracks the period of Liz Truss' PMship to frame a murder story told in three styles intended to be an exercise in multi-voice fiction (but is also all a bit 'meta' as young people say). Its reasonably enjoyable, but is very much an established writer doing what he's known for without any real compelling idea at its heart. Good but not great!
The Far Right's attack on democracy & free speech (under the banner of protecting it) were all on show at the seventh annual Transatlantic Summit of the Political Network for Values in Brussels this week.
This is where far right alliances are cemented, policy approaches shared & politicians emboldened in their political stance.
Sian Norris' report for Open Democracy makes the links between the PNV & practice found in the Epstein Files clear!
Its perhaps unsurprising that the Tangerine Tyrant has reversed a ruling on the link between greenhouse gases & pubic health; the Obama administration's 'endangerment finding' underpins much of recent US environmental regulation (especially in the automotive sector).
The impact will be varied (from health to economic) but reflects Trump's scepticism about climate change.
Like tariffs however, it seems likely that MAGA voters will be paying the price?
As the BBC prepares to appoint a new Director General, Anne McElvoy hopes (demands?) this will be the time that a DG takes the problem of women's roles in the state broadcaster seriously.
Women, as has been established, suffer from both ageism & sexism in the allocation of public-facing roles at the BBC. Can a new DG reverse this prejudice or will it look like a secondary task compared to 'saving' the BBC (when, of course it its actually part of it).
As an FT OpEd concludes: 'America is embracing an Orwellian definition of freedom. The rest of the west will survive only if it can muster the courage to defend freedom’s true form'!
In other words, as is already starting to happen, countries need to push back on the Tangerine Tyrant's lies & disinformation, while focussing on the damage his administration is doing to the internal politics of the USA.
Latest UGov polling suggests that ReformUK Ltd's national support has plateaued, but remains higher than any other party (at just on 30%)... although Nigel Farage's personal ratings have dipped in recent weeks.
How this will impact on the Gorton & Denton by-election where currently opinion favours the Green Party remains to be seen.
However, it continues to be clear that Reform's support is substantial & has not been dented by Labour's adoption of some Reform-like policies.
Interestingly this week there have been a flurry of stories about sectoral shares being hit by (a range of) concerns regarding the impact of AI on various economic sectors (primarily but not exclusively in the US).
This has (again) stoked the volatility in US share prices, hinting/implying that the AI-related crash waiting in the wings may be about to step into the daylight.
The next few weeks may confirm what many critics have expected - a rush for the exit.
The Govt. has awarded nurses & other NHS staff a 3.3% pay-rise (well imposed without concluding negotiations with the unions) but Wes Streeting has indicated that the rise will need to be funded (again) within already agreed budgets - so that's more cuts then.
It may also mean less money for a Resident Doctor's award, while other NHS staff are not happy the RD's settlement might actually be negotiated (separately); not imposed.
Yes, I too am surviving on my USS pension, still a coupe of years away from state pension age, and its investment decisions have not aligned particularly with my views, but I cannot escape now
By the time I retired (five years ago) the DB element was starting to be diluted, although most of mine is DB - with a slowing expanding DC element which was not (as you will imagine) at all popular - there has also been quiet some pressure from investment academics doubting USS investment strategy over the last decades
The Green's candidate in the Gorton & Denton by-election was absent this week from canvassing; she was finishing a course of plastering (she is a working plumber);
now some are going to spin this as a problem for the Greens, but actually if I was them I would be pointing out that this is why Hannah Spencer is more like the locals than the flown-in other candidates.
Like many working people she has to prioritise keeping her skills up to date!
I can't check as I have a (free, sorry) academic subscription... but people have confirmed in the past, so you should be fine - to be honest I think the FT is more interested in getting its reporting out as widely as possible.... so the paywall is likely to be permeable
And when we see commentators saying this will now require the BoE/MPC to reduce interest rates, because they will see that they need to do that to stimulate growth.... we should treat this is the same way that we would treat the hope that someone who has just pushed us off the deck of a ship, might now be prepared to throw a lifebelt after us.....
I'm sort of sooo over Labour that I'd rather they continued their self-destruction & (here's where the hope comes in) open/leave a substantial political space for the Greens (both GPEW & SGs) to develop a new left alternative & success in three years taking a role in Govt.
My fear is Labour will make some half-hearted reforms, perhaps retain some of the soft left & split the vote on the broad left.
I agree that's the danger, but while the Corbyn 'revolution' wasn't faultless, it was pretty clear that quite a lot of the problems came from within the Party (specifically Blue Labor & their familiars).... so in a sense people have had a go at that, perhaps throwing it all in with the Greens is worth a go
Well, its an interesting Q. about how much could/will be achieved in three years, but many people will think Labour's support has for too long rested on exactly that considerations....
Here's Aditya Chakrabortty on the politics of disappointment which has engulfed a Labour Party, whose strategy of triangulation & 'centrism' has seen it finally evacuated of any real political mission.
Of course, there have been some good things to come out of this administration, but even they seem to have been watered down in execution, while this is all over-shadowed by a series of technocratic own goals.
Yes, but also one can accommodate capitalism in many ways, the problem was New Labour chose to accommodate capitalism by drinking the financial services kool-aid... if could have been different had different voices been more influential (and here, for all his faults, I'm thinking of Will Hutton & the stakeholder capitalism crowd)
Yes, that was sort of my point; lost of take about Stakeholder capitalism, but much less actual implementation of the regulatory instruments to make such a thing a reality... but your recollection is much more detailed (better) than mine, thanks
No-one will be surprised that new research into attitudes to the US across populations in the G7 plus Brazil, India, China & South Africa, revealed that the view that the US was a threat had increased most among Canadians.
But for all countries this view was rising (although it predates the start of the Tangerine Tyrant's second term as POTUS).
Again, its yet more background to the continuing pivot of US allies away from the US and towards other 'partners'.
there's a general rule in economics that shifts in policy often take between 18-24 months to really show up in measurable economic activity... so we are only going to really starting to see the impact of the Tangerine Tyrant in US economic activity during this year - it may get very ugly!
An aeon or two back, my father (more of a classical afficianado) bought this album as a sop to his offspring. We, not knowing much better, played it to death; & eventually it disappeared from the face of the earth.
55 years later, in a fit of nostalgia, I found several copies on Discogs & threw a tenner at a seller. The vinyl arrived today; & it's not bad, even given the rosy-tinted rear view of temps perdu...
The gatefold cover of a 12" LP record from 1970: the lower half depicts a sixties-style image of a sunburst-patterned orange jacket over a grey shirt and blue tie with white stars; the top half is of a cartoon human head split open vertically, containing assorted musical references and a picture of a rock guitarist playing his instrument - the neck of which has been replaced by the barrel of a machine gun...
For (selected) artists in Ireland there is some good news; the piloted basic income scheme is to be made permanent... but, the successful recipients can only gain the support from every other three year cycle (i.e. support for three years then three years without); no doubt to 'encourage' then to capitalise on the first three years to gain over art-related income streams?
Still which not UBI, this is yet more evidence of how basic income(s) do work!
Its a good Q.: I think your point about it being a good dream is likely correct - there is a sense among some supporters of UBI that it could be introduces into society as it is, but my feeling has always been unless it was very meagre, then actually a massive social revolution as regards political economic organisation would be required - and there the issue is not so much whether the ned point is good but how one might manage the transition - which is where the pain & disruption are
