Archive for category Politics
Legislative term limits give public opinion a power-up
Posted by Nick Cowen in America, Politics on 14/10/2011
Via the Monkey Cage, we learn of a new and interesting academic study examining how public opinion effects law-making across US states. The results offer some tentative support for a theory put forward in our report, Total Recall. There we argued that direct democratic mechanisms can complement representative democracy but primarily as a way to limit the powers of elected officials.
A far from BAEsic problem
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, Politics on 26/09/2011
Tomorrow will see BAE Systems disclose how many jobs the company will cut. Expectations are that around 3,000 jobs will be lost across 3 sites in Yorkshire and Lancashire. Unions and opposition politicians have called on the Government to take action, but is there anything useful the Government can do?
A bad day to release good news
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, European Union, Politics, Tax and Spend on 19/09/2011
Today news emerged that Jaguar Land Rover plans to invest £335 million to build low-emission engines at a site near Wolverhampton. The proposed investment is expected to directly create approximately 750 jobs, with many more indirectly created in the supply chain and wider economy. Such news is welcome, but perhaps overshadowed by the economic gloom, which was propounded today when the Financial Times reported that there is likely to be a £12 billion hole in the UK’s public finances for 2011-12.
Full-Court Press
Posted by Carolina Bracken in Civil Liberty, Crime, Human Rights, Politics on 02/09/2011
Over past weeks, both David Cameron and Nick Clegg have written candidly about the “misrepresentation of human rights”, with the Deputy PM in particular bemoaning how those in power have “belittled the relevance of rights at home”. Their ambitions to “get a grip” on this distortion are essential and to be welcomed, as the media and public bodies continue to pollute the rights discourse with inaccuracies, errors and fallacious propaganda.
Eurobonds – blue or red?
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, Politics on 15/08/2011
In the Matrix Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) asks Thomas A. Anderson or Neo (Keanu Reeves) –
You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Soon investors could be offered both in the form of blue and red Eurobonds.
Life’s Too Short to Understand the PCT Funding Formula
Posted by Nigel Williams in Health, Politics on 02/08/2011
Following the announcement of new funding formulae for NHS primary care trusts, accusations have begun about political bias. Manchester, says a report by Public Health Manchester, would lose £42m. Tower Hamlets would lose £19m, whereas Surrey and Hampshire would gain £113m between them.
In any such reallocation, beneficiaries are likely to conclude that the new version is fairer, whereas anyone losing out will prefer the old version. The Yorkshire Evening Post quotes Maureen Idle of Leeds Hospital Alert as saying “If the money has been given in the first place then there’s clearly an acknowledgement that it’s needed.” Read the rest of this entry »