"In Britain new migrants from the EU contribute more to the exchequer than they take out." - The Economist, today.
In my latest piece on TalkMarkets, I ask some questions about that assertion. Can anyone help with facts?
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Saturday, July 02, 2016
Friday, July 01, 2016
Friday Night Is Music Night: Smooth Soothe
JD pours oil on troubled waters:
After the sound and the fury of the Brexit vote it is time to wind down into tranquility with some peaceful contemplative music-
Ljerka - Li Žilavec is a mezzo-soprano from Croatia and has a beautifully pure voice, here singing "Do not dry the ocean of my love." The photo is of Paramahansa Yogananda who wrote the words and music.
...and Snatam Kuar with a musical interpretation of the words of Francis of Assisi:
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
After the sound and the fury of the Brexit vote it is time to wind down into tranquility with some peaceful contemplative music-
Ljerka - Li Žilavec is a mezzo-soprano from Croatia and has a beautifully pure voice, here singing "Do not dry the ocean of my love." The photo is of Paramahansa Yogananda who wrote the words and music.
...and Snatam Kuar with a musical interpretation of the words of Francis of Assisi:
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Monday, June 27, 2016
EU: IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT US!
***(Snowflake warning: may contain more than 20 words, also some facts. Worse still, contains no swearing. Find a safe space to calm.)***
Farage is poor at publicity stunts - his recent Cap'n Bird's-Eye sail down the Thames was pirate-raided by a well-heeled tax exile (and an expensively-shod woman). Of course, the media can "help" him be poor at that, and the level of collusion between them and Cap'n Bob (plus Cameron by cellphone) has yet to be coldly dissected.
Besides, what difference does it make? Before, during and after the vote nearly everyone on social media appears to have been howling with their hands over their ears.
But here's a rationality test - for anyone who can receive as well as transmit, how about actually listening to the points made by the same "cheeky chappy" in the EU Parliament a few days ago - the EU failed to listen all the way back to 1999.
The other point I'd make is that there may soon be no EU to go back to, and that won't be just because of the UK (we flatter ourselves). For example we'll be lucky if the Greek Left doesn't get their country to flee to Russia to save it from the prolonged cruelty of their treatment at the EU's hands. Maybe that's why Putin is being so restrained in what he says, and why unlike Obama he kept his nose out of our business.
Italy is going to get interesting too, and we should remember (as after our vote, how can we forget?) that opposition to the grandiose project comes from the Left as well as the Right. Look for example at Democrazia Verde - both sovereignist AND "green".
Hear a punchily-delivered but fact-filled argument from Italian economic journalist Paolo Barnard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYzlcfhJn1Q
- better than most of what we've heard from either side in the UK.
[Btw I see Soros made another billion out of the Referendum from his betting - while simultaneously publicly saying we should Remain. He delighted in telling us it would be bad for us:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-latest-george-soros-wins-big-prediction-black-friday-a7102481.html
- but Paolo Barnard's latest article begs to differ (Google translation)...
"And note: after Black Monday in 1987, in two years everything was in place as before .
"Just to inform.
"And ah! Brexit gave a slap than 3,900 billion dollars a multi-billion dollar portfolio of the world. Not bad."
http://paolobarnard.info/intervento_mostra_go.php?id=1531 ]
The word that rang like a bell in Farage's speechlet below was "hubris." But also listen to what he says after that about cooperation and trade.
It's not the end of the world.
P.S. The Parliamentary Labour Party hates Corbyn like a wedgie - but Craig Murray thinks the Blairites are trying to get rid of him before the Chilcot Report is published:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/06/still-iraq-war-stupid/
Well, if you got this far you can't be a snowflake, you must be a hailstone.
So - here's Nigel:
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Farage is poor at publicity stunts - his recent Cap'n Bird's-Eye sail down the Thames was pirate-raided by a well-heeled tax exile (and an expensively-shod woman). Of course, the media can "help" him be poor at that, and the level of collusion between them and Cap'n Bob (plus Cameron by cellphone) has yet to be coldly dissected.
Besides, what difference does it make? Before, during and after the vote nearly everyone on social media appears to have been howling with their hands over their ears.
But here's a rationality test - for anyone who can receive as well as transmit, how about actually listening to the points made by the same "cheeky chappy" in the EU Parliament a few days ago - the EU failed to listen all the way back to 1999.
The other point I'd make is that there may soon be no EU to go back to, and that won't be just because of the UK (we flatter ourselves). For example we'll be lucky if the Greek Left doesn't get their country to flee to Russia to save it from the prolonged cruelty of their treatment at the EU's hands. Maybe that's why Putin is being so restrained in what he says, and why unlike Obama he kept his nose out of our business.
Italy is going to get interesting too, and we should remember (as after our vote, how can we forget?) that opposition to the grandiose project comes from the Left as well as the Right. Look for example at Democrazia Verde - both sovereignist AND "green".
Hear a punchily-delivered but fact-filled argument from Italian economic journalist Paolo Barnard:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYzlcfhJn1Q
- better than most of what we've heard from either side in the UK.
[Btw I see Soros made another billion out of the Referendum from his betting - while simultaneously publicly saying we should Remain. He delighted in telling us it would be bad for us:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/brexit-latest-george-soros-wins-big-prediction-black-friday-a7102481.html
- but Paolo Barnard's latest article begs to differ (Google translation)...
"And note: after Black Monday in 1987, in two years everything was in place as before .
"Just to inform.
"And ah! Brexit gave a slap than 3,900 billion dollars a multi-billion dollar portfolio of the world. Not bad."
http://paolobarnard.info/intervento_mostra_go.php?id=1531 ]
The word that rang like a bell in Farage's speechlet below was "hubris." But also listen to what he says after that about cooperation and trade.
It's not the end of the world.
P.S. The Parliamentary Labour Party hates Corbyn like a wedgie - but Craig Murray thinks the Blairites are trying to get rid of him before the Chilcot Report is published:
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2016/06/still-iraq-war-stupid/
Well, if you got this far you can't be a snowflake, you must be a hailstone.
So - here's Nigel:
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Next, electoral reform
Some are trying to get up a petition to invalidate the 2016 EU Referendum and set minimum thresholds of 75% voter turnout and 60% of votes cast.
This would have invalidated the original (EC) 1975 Referendum, where only 67.23% of eligible voters took part. If the proposed principle is to hold, we should already have been out of the EC/EU for over 40 years.
Requiring that level of turnout would also have invalidated the last 5 General Elections:
But there is one vote that we might reconsider: the 2011 Alternative Vote Referendum. The turnout in this was 42.2%, the lowest in national votes by a long way. The media campaign leading up to it was heavily biased and the two largest political parties solidly against AV.
Let's look at the implications for parties and MPs.
52% of EU Referendum voters have just chosen "Leave" but the BBC says:
- 80% of the ruling Conservative Cabinet are "Remain"
- Of those MPs who declared their position (537 out of 650), 71% (379) are "Remain"
As with the EU, the democratic deficit is structural: in the last two General Elections, two-thirds of MPs got their seats on the basis of a minority of votes cast. The way we elect our Members of Parliament is so skewed that no-one should be surprised at how badly Westminster is disconnected from the people.
There is no point in freeing ourselves from EU control if Parliament remains unreformed. If we're going to re-run a referendum, let it be the one on AV.
More here:
http://theylaughedatnoah.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/voting-reform-av-first-past-post.html
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
This would have invalidated the original (EC) 1975 Referendum, where only 67.23% of eligible voters took part. If the proposed principle is to hold, we should already have been out of the EC/EU for over 40 years.
Requiring that level of turnout would also have invalidated the last 5 General Elections:
But there is one vote that we might reconsider: the 2011 Alternative Vote Referendum. The turnout in this was 42.2%, the lowest in national votes by a long way. The media campaign leading up to it was heavily biased and the two largest political parties solidly against AV.
Let's look at the implications for parties and MPs.
52% of EU Referendum voters have just chosen "Leave" but the BBC says:
- 80% of the ruling Conservative Cabinet are "Remain"
- Of those MPs who declared their position (537 out of 650), 71% (379) are "Remain"
As with the EU, the democratic deficit is structural: in the last two General Elections, two-thirds of MPs got their seats on the basis of a minority of votes cast. The way we elect our Members of Parliament is so skewed that no-one should be surprised at how badly Westminster is disconnected from the people.
There is no point in freeing ourselves from EU control if Parliament remains unreformed. If we're going to re-run a referendum, let it be the one on AV.
More here:
http://theylaughedatnoah.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/voting-reform-av-first-past-post.html
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Friday, June 24, 2016
Friday Night Is Music Night - Macaronic Musical Styles
JD writes:
Music 'fans' can be somewhat tribal in their loyalties and often react badly when one of their 'heroes' tries something new - Bob Dylan being jeered and booed at the Newport Folk Festival when he used an electric guitar is the most obvious example of it.
Musicians, on the other hand, will listen to all kinds of music and love good music wherever it comes from. Willie Nelson in the fourth video here explains it well.
And when different genres meet the results are sometimes alarming and sometimes charming but there are no boundaries in music.
Pavarotti meets the Godfather of Soul-
Jimmy Page collides with Chopin
Two sisters-
a Highwayman meets a crooner
Menuhin and Grapelli
Hope you enjoy these, selected from countless examples.
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Music 'fans' can be somewhat tribal in their loyalties and often react badly when one of their 'heroes' tries something new - Bob Dylan being jeered and booed at the Newport Folk Festival when he used an electric guitar is the most obvious example of it.
Musicians, on the other hand, will listen to all kinds of music and love good music wherever it comes from. Willie Nelson in the fourth video here explains it well.
And when different genres meet the results are sometimes alarming and sometimes charming but there are no boundaries in music.
Pavarotti meets the Godfather of Soul-
Jimmy Page collides with Chopin
Two sisters-
a Highwayman meets a crooner
Menuhin and Grapelli
Hope you enjoy these, selected from countless examples.
READER: PLEASE CLICK THE REACTION BELOW - THANKS!
All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
ESSAY COMPETITION
You are a speechwriter for Prime Minister David Cameron. Write a TV broadcast to the nation in which you explain that the EU referendum vote was so close that you can't justify disconnecting from the EU.
You will remind the viewers that referendums are merely advisory and that the PM has a duty to represent not the wishes of the people, but their best long-term interests.
You will reassure them that they are not losing their national identity, but weaving it into the great fabric of a united Europe.
References to cricket and warm beer are optional, to ladies cycling to Evensong inadvisable, and kittens strictly forbidden.
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
You will remind the viewers that referendums are merely advisory and that the PM has a duty to represent not the wishes of the people, but their best long-term interests.
You will reassure them that they are not losing their national identity, but weaving it into the great fabric of a united Europe.
References to cricket and warm beer are optional, to ladies cycling to Evensong inadvisable, and kittens strictly forbidden.
READER: PLEASE CLICK THE REACTION BELOW - THANKS!
All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
Tuesday, June 21, 2016
Forty years on
Haven't the time to watch the whole thing today, but the clip I've seen of Peter Shore is most impressive. In comparison our modern politicians on both sides seem so lightweight, such charlatans and rabble-rousers.
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All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
READER: PLEASE CLICK THE REACTION BELOW - THANKS!
All original material is copyright of its author. Fair use permitted. Contact via comment. Unless indicated otherwise, all internet links accessed at time of writing. Nothing here should be taken as personal advice, financial or otherwise. No liability is accepted for third-party content, whether incorporated in or linked to this blog; or for unintentional error and inaccuracy. The blog author may have, or intend to change, a personal position in any stock or other kind of investment mentioned.
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