BBC Blog Network

User Profile

Nullius123

Listed below are comments made by Nullius123 between Tuesday, 8th July 2008 and Friday, 24th April 2009.

«Newer
Older»

What spending would you cut? 11:12pm on 24 Apr 2009 As well as cuts, the government needs to find ways to *raise* cash - a lot of it. Why not kill a few birds with one stone and legalize cannabis? It would save a fortune in criminal justice spending - there's some serious savings - *and* raise a fortune in new taxes. The net benefit to the exchequer could be more than £2 billion a year (Miron 2005). It would also signal an end to the absurd and brutal war on drugs that shows no sign of being won despite more than *40* years of increasingly expensive effort.

Besides, even after years of scare stories - that cannabis sends you mad, that it's much stronger than it used to be, and all the rest - enough of us know someone who is a cannabis smoker (there are millions of us, after all) that no one seriously doubts that alcohol is a far more problematic drug.

Putting an end to the hypocrisy of current policy and regulating what is surely the biggest sector of the black market can only improve our view of politicians too. All it requires is a little political apostasy.
Talk is cheap 11:32pm on 14 Mar 2009 Horsham indeed. Stephanie you're a diamond.
Biggest game in town 2:11pm on 29 Jan 2009 The free ride enjoyed by the Americans thanks to the dollar's reserve status will certainly come to an end - the only question is when. Already it is hard to see how the US can possibly service their debt. Sooner or later people will not only stop buying dollars, they'll dump those they already have. That really will be an historic day.

ps - very happy to see you back Stephanie. Any chance you might make an appearance on Newsnight? They desperately need you.
Nationalisation and speculation: where will the dealers go? 4:33pm on 23 Dec 2008 The package you did on the exchange rate on Friday night - the one that seemed to be hurriedly edited and then had no discussion afterwards - it was a bit timid I think. The pound had a terrible week last week but picked up a little on Friday, so perhaps you felt the urgency had lessened and watered it down a bit. You certainly gave great prominence to the well-spoken older chappie who was trying to convince us that the euro is about to hit choppy water and sterling is the currency to be in. Glad I don't have him as my fund manager.

The pound is almost at parity with the euro and falling; it is still slipping against the dollar. It now looks very likely that it will fall below parity. People all over the country are quietly putting their cash into euro-denominated accounts, or buying gold, in order to protect the purchasing power of their savings. No one in their right mind would buy sterling or sterling denominated assets right now. Everyone is selling pounds. Consumer prices may dip in the new year in *some* sectors, but make no mistake, with a delinquent pound inflation is coming. Energy costs in particular - which have risen enormously in the last couple of years - will soon be going up even more.

Never mind the finer points of whether or not Britain should join the euro, there is a more fundamental issue - there is a real risk of a sterling collapse. Preventing *that* should be a top priority. The only feasible way to do that is to lock the pound to the euro somehow. The government must do this. It is too dangerous for us to retain an independent currency in these conditions.
Bank of England: wrong and powerless 2:12pm on 22 Dec 2008 John Gieve's remarks show how insular British thinking is in terms of international affairs. It seems some people at the helm of the nation's finances still think Great britain is a great power, and lines on maps still mean what they did a century ago. No wonder the crisis came as a shock to him.

Also, his excuse for not raising interest rates is pathetic - and Robert Peston is wrong to say that "The power to raise and lower interest rates isn't adequate for the task." It may have been, but the larger problem is that the Bank is clearly not as independent as we suppose. If they were, they would have one goal, and one alone - to protect the value of the currency. As it is, the BoE is leaned on by the government for political purposes.

Had we joined the euro, we would still be facing the recession, but as we are - outside the eurozone - we face two crises: the worldwide recession *and* a currency crisis. The BoE are now unable to raise rates (both because the government won't let them and because the markets would punish sterling), and yet given our astonishing levels of debt and financial isolation from Europe, the pound will decline all the same.

Doubtless people are asking to be paid in euros, putting their savings into euros, and, if they're brave, keeping their debts in sterling.
Spotting a sociopath 7:15pm on 26 Nov 2008 Super article Mark. In Britain people with antisocial personality disorder are usually referred to as "psychopaths". But psychopaths are not the only people with an empathy deficit. Those with "narcissistic personality disorder" (which is much more common than psychopathy - perhaps 5% of us) are also unable to feel guilt or regret or empathy - at least to some degree. But while narcissists are selfish, are content to use people, and seldom feel remorse, in psychopaths this deficit goes much further. The psychopath's emotional system is turned inside out - he isn't just unmoved by the suffering of others; he *enjoys* it - a psychopath feels good in situations where most of us would feel terrible.

John Seabrook had an excellent article on this in The New Yorker last week - see http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/10/081110fa_fact_seabrook
Obama - Tiger, Lewis and me 01:23am on 11 Nov 2008 So people of "mixed race" are the fastest growing group in the country. One the one hand I say good! - why shouldn't a nation change its complexion? But equally, the very concept of race is one we ought to ditch. Ask a geneticist and she'll tell you that the term is not really meaningful from a scientific point of view; peel off our skin and we really are much more alike than we think. In a sense, we're all mixed race.
Blow to carmakers 6:26pm on 25 Sep 2008 Three cheers for MM - one of the best journalists the BBC has ever had. He nicely combines sharp observation with a slice of sardonic humour - a skill that is both refreshing and reliable.

As for the car lobby - too bad for them. The playing field is level - no one has an advantage. The health of Europeans comes before car companies' profits. There is no good technical reason why we shouldn't all be driving fuel efficient cars.
Labour in "managed decline" 7:28pm on 25 Jul 2008 Perceptive and insightful stuff from Paul Mason - who is surely in the wrong job as economics editor. Where are you Stephanie? Evan?
It's the tabloids wot won't win it anymore 00:00am on 08 Jul 2008 Forgive me if this sounds tough, but I'm having trouble with Paul Mason as "Economics Editor" of Newsnight. PM has done some excellent reporting in recent years, but his stint as "Business Editor" or whatever he was called showed him up a bit, and trying to step into Stephanie Flanders's mighty shoes is clearly beyond him. I don't know whose idea this was - perhaps he was press-ganged - but I think it reflects poorly on the program.

«Newer
Older»

^ Back to top

BBC MMVI

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

BBC.co.uk

BBC Blog Network

Find and talk to the BBC's bloggers.

User Profile

Nullius123