The Office for National Statistics has in the last month revised its productivity calculations. According to BBC Radio 4’s More or Less programme (23 Sept 2026), the result of the recalculation is that while the UK’s productivity annual increase dropped from roughly 2% to 1.3% after the financial crisis of 2008, this is a better […]
Nick Wilkins
Existential dangers of AI
Well then, we’ve now been told there’s a one in ten chance that AI could kill us all within the next decade. The maths of this is interesting to say the least, though the credibility of predictive stats is not just an issue with this particular statement. The reason for saying that the probability of […]
Provident Funds
At the heart of the Campaign for Asset Based Taxation is the belief that a country’s taxation system should be targeted at the protection of Wealth, all of which has roots in True assets. The proposals are two-pronged: In essence they are two separate ideas, though the vision of how the CHAD proposals could be […]
Thinking by proxy
Real damage to our thinking happens when we allow errors to go unnoticed. It’s not dissimilar from a technical flaw that a musician or sportsperson might develop. For a while, the flaw is easily absorbed and they can function at a high level. But after a while a ceiling is reached and it becomes obvious […]
Capital and Wealth
The primary objective of economics should be the maximisation of wealth, however it is not monetary wealth that we are talking about here. Wealth is (physical and psychological) wellness coupled with access to “true” capital, the latter, again, not being defined in financial terms. Different categories of “true” capital are abundant in progressive economic literature. […]
The Potency of Left Field ideas
Being ironic doesn’t mean you are only joking. There’s a logic in her proposal that holds up. If women out on their own are in danger from men then it surely follows that men’s liberties should be curtailed, not women’s?
What we value
Back in December this blog issued two warnings about borrowing to finance the Covid support measures: That deferring tax raises until the point of return risked a sluggish recovery The “we can’t afford pay rises” narrative was likely to be trotted out again as an excuse for further austerity. Arguably, last week’s budget partly recognised […]
Unsustainable response
Back in November, Rishi Sunak commented on Radio 4’s Today programme that the current projections for UK borrowing are “obviously not sustainable”. The question that nobody seems prepared to put to him is why there is no attempt made to balance the books? It’s as if the consensus on the need to spend and the […]
The Balancing Act fallacy
Speaking to Andrew Marr on 4th October, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: “And, you know, we’ve got to continue to bear down on this virus, whilst protecting the economy. That’s the balance we’ve got to strike.” Few will take him to task for saying this, as it is a sentiment that is widely held. […]
Eat out to help out
So here we have it, UK’s much-praised Chancellor is urging us to “eat out to help out”. Recognition of the absurdity of this formula requires a certain naivety, we being so brainwashed into thinking economic orthodoxy to be a law of nature. We need to see the world more like the boy in Andersen’s “Emperor’s […]