“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt Oxfam has just published a new report on inequality. And it has some shocking statistics: the richest […]
Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future. attributed to Niels Bohr The Prime Minister has promised to unleash the potential of Britain as soon as Brexit is ‘done’ on 31 January. Many people outside the Cabinet are sceptical of the benefits of Brexit and extremely concerned about the costs. What will […]
“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” ― Upton Sinclair According to NASA, 97% of scientists who have studied climate change agree that the world faces a potential disaster, as do the majority of the public worldwide. The Paris Accord seemed […]
A moment’s thought would have shown him. But a moment is a long time, and thought is a painful process. A E Housman The UK’s two main opposition parties are in disarray. Not only have they badly lost an election, they have lost their way. They are faced with choosing new leaders and a […]
The old sometimes give the impression that the reason millennials struggle to buy a house is that they drink too many lattes and eat too many crushed avocados. The young sometimes suggest that the reason for their struggles is that baby boomers have taken everything for themselves. Neither of these perspectives is correct. Millennials are […]
Dear Friends, Happy New Year! What a year 2019 turned out to be! In the UK, after 10 years of austerity, we have a new government, most of whose members were described as, “extreme right-wing” by the former Conservative Chancellor, Philip Hammond. In the US, the president has been impeached, and the question of […]
Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. Laozi The 99% movement is new: at the end of June, 2019, there was nothing. But we have been quite busy in the 6 months […]
Post-truth (adjective): relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion thyan appeals to emotion and personal belief. In 2016, Oxford Dictionaries made post-truth its word of the year, citing increased use during the UK’s referendum on EU membership and the American presidential election campaign. Since then, […]
Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less. Marie Curie The general election is over, and the Conservative party now has what the Financial Times described as a ‘stonking’ majority. Emotions are running high both among the […]
This is a transcript of my speech to the Gladstone Club on Monday, 9 December, 2019 Good evening. In three days, we go to the polls in probably the most important election of our lifetimes. And here we all are, talking about economic policymaking. Do you ever feel your life is not going according to […]
