Do the British really hate foreigners that much?
The government has so far come up with two ideas to reduce cap immigration, both of which would be highly damaging to the country:
- Let fewer students in
- Reduce the number of foreign workers
Take the first as it has had less attention. Educating foreign students is highly profitable for Britain and earns huge amount of money. It is like an extended, and far more profitable, version of tourism. (more…)
Great crash and credit crunch similarities.
I have been reading Galbraith’s The Great Crash of 1929 and a lot of similarities have struck me, not all of which seem to have been noticed by everyone. (more…)
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How to break up oligopolists
The most discussed problem with my proposals on how to fix capitalism is how one decides which companies to break up, and how one goes about doing it. Needless to say, I do have some answers (more…)
How to fix the banking system
This is a bit less ambitious than my plan to reform capitalism, but the principles are the same.
Too big to fail is too big to exist
Big banks create too much systemic risk, and are far too much of a strain on government finances when they need to be bailed out. (more…)
Two more objections to pharmaceutical patents
My wife suggested an addition to my list of bad incentives created by pharmaceutical patents. It is actually one of two closely related problems. These are possibly the most harmful of all as they can lead to patients directly getting worse treatments, as well as wasting money. (more…)
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Fixing capitalism: reactions and replies
The reactions to my post on fixing capitalism have surprised me: almost everyone who has blogged or tweeted on it agrees with the broad thrust of what I advocate. For proposals so far from the political mainstream, what does that mean? Perhaps is shows how for the politicians are from a popular demand for change. There also a few points that need replies. (more…)
How to fix capitalism
The recession and the crisis and banking are the least of the reasons for thinking that we need reforms. the crisis of capitalism goes much deeper: the influence big business has on governments (and the warped policies this leads to), increasing central control of the economy and the general move away from free markets.. I have some modest proposals on how to fix capitalism. (more…)
Two economists on labour and value
I came across two interesting quotes from two famous economists of the 18th and 19th centuries: (more…)
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How big business undermines the free market.
The FT has the best mainstream media take I have seen on something I have been saying for a long time. (more…)
Efficient markets, bamboozled journalists and stupid regulators
The media seems to have reached a consensus that the efficient markets hypothesis (EMH) has been discredited by the financial crises. I have been somewhat bemused by this, as I could not see the connection. (more…)
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