China and Liverpool The news that the Chinese state investment arm, CIC, is funding a bid for Liverpool F.C. is at some level the most important piece of news today, notwithstanding floods and other human suffering. This is because as it emerges as one of the the world’s financial mega powers, the concept of Communist State Capitalism […]
Social Housing David Cameron has floated an idea that council house tenancies should no longer be for life. On the face of it this makes sense, but as Simon Hughes has pointed out, there is a lot more to this than a soundbite in the ear. Without exploring the complexities of the nature of public […]
The President There is something entirely unreal about the Pakistani President travelling around Europe mostly on a private visit, with an official meeting here and an official dinner there, when his country struggles with its greatest environmental disaster for eighty years. This tells us something, although I am not sure what. What it may tell […]
Banks and Lending I am beginning to suspect something. There is a mis-match between the exhortations of politicians to banks to lend, the banks’ excuses, anecdotal evidence of businesses starved of funds and general reports of improvements in the economy overall. This may be (or may not be, this is a rather early day shot) because […]
Banks in Profit This week the Banks will be announcing their first half profits which are predicted to be much higher than more recent figures. HSBC, which did not directly involve itself in taxpayer loans, though benefited indirectly from the whole industry wide rescue package, is first up with a big jump. This has provoked the […]
Home Truths Whatever the hoohaa over Cameron and Pakistan the essential truth remains and we have to face it. It is not unusual for intellgence services to be split on ideological issues. We had some problems of our own during the cold war and there is powerful evidence of large scale betrayal during WWII of […]