Monthly Archives: February 2009

Gordon’s big speech

Addressing both houses of Congress is a big f-off deal. Roland Burris will be there, people.  It doesn’t get any bigger than that. So, I should imagine that somewhere this weekend, speechwriters and aides are frantically pulling together the final … Continued

Guest post – So what now on the economy?

Yesterday I posted about my worry the political debate about the economy was being carried out at far too low a level. I felt we were stuck between discussion of individual policy steps and an equally vague liquidationist rhetoric. This generated lots of interesting comments, … Continued

India is still growing

Indian GDP growth is slowing but still up 5.3% year on year. Looks like the troubling lack of  foreign direct investment and subsequent low export led growth that I spent a long time worrying about for my day job is working out OK. Could India … Continued

Longwinded.

I’ve recently been upbraided for being a bit longwinded.  I am. I go on far too blimming long. I would benefit massively from an editor. But I don’t gots one. On that note, my Friday morning thoughts, briefly expressed: When tempted by … Continued

I read the reform report…

…On policing today. They didn’t explain why, if the problem with policing is that police forces are too big and too distant from their communities to do their job properly, the only organisation that can competently deal with serious crime … Continued

Economy of action

I’ve spent the last few days trying with relatively little success to get a better understanding of the meaning of the disastrous economic data we’re seeing all around the world. The terrible Japanese export numbers, the awful US unemployment numbers … Continued

On being on the Today programme.

Given the fact, that my readership stats have jumped fivefold this morning already,  most of you will know that I did a little bit about blogging on the radio this morning.  Why you? I hear you cry. Well, I’m not just … Continued

Orwell Prize longlisting

The good people at the Orwell trust have very kindly included me on their longlist of twelve blogs that are in contention for the first ever Orwell Blog prize. I even got a badge! Hooray for me and good luck … Continued

About the sad death of Ivan Cameron. I am always quiet when friends of mine have lost loved ones. Their loss and grief is always so stark against any diluted emotion I can express. This is even more true when … Continued

Phrases you should employ

The internet has provided the world with a wonderful source of stupid acronyms, neolgisms and abbreviations. However. I realise that many of us political types are not cool enough to hang at 4chan, so we sometimes get a bit behind … Continued