Civitas
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2012

Self-Government and Judicial Imposition

21 February 2012

By David Conway Last week, a dispute was resolved in the English High Court between Bideford Town Council and one of its former councillors backed by the National Secular Society. The two latter had taken the council to court to contest its right to open its meetings with prayer. In a decision whose ramifications reverberated… [Read More]


England and the Need for Nations, by Roger Scruton

20 February 2012

England and the Need for Nations, the classic Civitas pamphlet by world-renowned philosopher, Roger Scruton, has been long out of print but continues to be available as a Kindle ebook. As the European Union sweeps away the national sovereignty of Eurozone members in an attempt to save the Euro, its central message remains as important as ever,… [Read More]


Geert’s Wildly Inappropriate Anti-immigrant Website

16 February 2012

By Anna Sonny Geert Wilders, the leader of the Dutch Party for Freedom (PVV), has become rather well-known for his highly divisive and inflammatory views, particularly when it comes to immigration. Yet, despite his right-wing notoriety few can fail to be shocked by his latest project – an online forum welcoming complaints from the Dutch… [Read More]


This Valentine’s Day: give credit the competition it deserves

14 February 2012

Bankers, politicians, regulators, economists, imprudent mortgage lenders, credit rating agencies… the list of villains in the story of the financial crisis is long and each group has been keen to rectify their tarnished image. The need for a bout of rehabilitative PR may explain the active, almost combative stance taken by the ratings agencies recently,… [Read More]


Greece’s Border (De)fence

8 February 2012

By Lucy Hatton On Monday, the Greek Government announced its remarkable plans to construct a fence along its border with Turkey in order to curb illegal immigration into the EU, a move the European Commission has denounced as ‘pointless’.


Book Review: Postmodern Citizenship

6 February 2012

By David Conway Title: Citizenship in America and Europe: Beyond the Nation-State? Author: Michael S. Greve and Michael Zoller Publish Date: 2009 Publisher / Edition: AEI Press, 2009 The collapse of the Soviet Union transformed the political landscape of the West no less profoundly than it did that east of the former Iron Curtain. Long… [Read More]


Response in Full Fact to concerns over wind power

2 February 2012

Ruth Lea follows Colin Gibson in seeking to draw attention to the costs of intermittency latent in wind power, but is very well aware how hard they are to quantify accurately.
Offshore wind is generally accepted as more expensive than other large-scale means of meeting demand for electricity. There are further potential uncertainties that detract from stability of supply and cost. These are more important from a customer’s perspective than from that of a generator.
Understanding of additional costs has developed since 2003. The Milborrow article in Power UK underestimated transmission costs. Scaling back optimistic assumptions about capacity credit increases the costs of intermittency.


Helmer’s Bad Heir Day

1 February 2012

By Lucy Hatton A political stalemate has emerged in Brussels between the UK Conservative Party and one of its more outspoken members, Roger Helmer MEP, over the succession of the latter’s seat in the European Parliament (EP).


What is the relationship between debt and growth?

30 January 2012

Last Friday the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) announced that it had estimated the growth in American GDP in the fourth quarter of 2011. The BEA estimated that the American economy had grown at an annualised rate of 2.8 per cent. This shines a harsh light on the current economic growth, or… [Read More]


New President gives the European Parliament a new image

24 January 2012

By Lucy Hatton Last Tuesday (17 January) German MEP Martin Schulz became the new President of the European Parliament (EP). He may have won a majority at the mid-term presidential election but his election is certainly not without controversy.


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