tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post788790259919180388..comments2024-03-28T04:29:22.717+00:00Comments on mainly macro: The bankruptcy of the centre right: Brexit editionMainly Macrohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09984575852247982901noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-35729823756772595732018-06-28T18:23:42.587+00:002018-06-28T18:23:42.587+00:00He was not a Senator. He was a member of the Hous...He was not a Senator. He was a member of the House of Representatives.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-84113576846106189022018-06-22T15:00:11.654+00:002018-06-22T15:00:11.654+00:00I have only the stamina to correct your NATO misun...I have only the stamina to correct your NATO misunderstandings. This article pretty much summarizes how NATO is not committing enough to NATO and how Trump has continuously misrepresented (in truth, he simply hasn't committed any energy toward understanding the facts... a very common problem on the right, it seems) the Direct and Indirect spending for NATO: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2017/05/31/trump-on-nato-funding-still-misleading-after-months-of-fact-checks/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5ad946499ab8). Also, this article covers a litany of on-the-record statements from Trump where he has continued to challenge the purpose of NATO, considering it potentially "obsolete" and that some members should be kicked out if they don't meet the voluntary defense spending amounts (the Indirect funding) (which can in no way be ignored by honest people who want to characterize Trump as just concerned about funding): https://www.factcheck.org/2016/05/whats-trumps-position-on-nato/timm0https://www.blogger.com/profile/05827706730229287713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-26730125916231847142018-06-22T09:09:44.664+00:002018-06-22T09:09:44.664+00:00Both parties are involved -- If Brown had done a b...Both parties are involved -- If Brown had done a bigger stimulus and concentrated on getting unemployment all the way back down by 2010, instead of getting the deficit down, he could have stopped the Tories getting elected.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-39376052919425059192018-06-22T04:23:29.919+00:002018-06-22T04:23:29.919+00:00He is a Representative, not a Senator.He is a Representative, not a Senator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-51809051691891974172018-06-21T14:37:07.669+00:002018-06-21T14:37:07.669+00:00If rejoining means joining the euro then we must n...If rejoining means joining the euro then we must never rejoin. In which case, if Article 50 cannot be rescinded then we are indeed out of the EU for good, deal or no deal.<br /><br />Doubtless powerful Remainers will want to build common structures between the UK and EU in future. But they would not concede something to us which they would not under Cameron or May.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-37813875218147055312018-06-21T14:34:41.789+00:002018-06-21T14:34:41.789+00:00Indeed, and I think would be doing us more of a se...Indeed, and I think would be doing us more of a service (since as economic policy blogs go this one is popular) and so would other Remainers if they did more to publicise the no-deal cliff edge problems to get the government to act on them i.e. agricultural tariffs in Ireland and freight traffic at ports in GB and the systems for custom declarations. This country *should* be able to prepare for this in time, even if there is only 1 year left, and certainly should have been able to do it in 2.<br /><br />Remainer talk of "racism", a second referendum, Legatum, dark money etc has its place but it's a SMALL place. The main thing is if we can prevent people suffering avoidably in the near future. Engaging in unrealistic moaning after both Article 50 and a general election has brought us closer to sudden disruption and a recession.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-70612112877986815572018-06-20T20:59:17.577+00:002018-06-20T20:59:17.577+00:00You give took much credit to "the fairness do...You give took much credit to "the fairness doctrine".<br /><br />The right-wing invented free lunch political-economics that promised increased benefits from cutting costs, in every area. A denial of zero sum.<br /><br />On human rights, eliminating zero sum means society is better, freer, when Christian radicals can dictate to Christians, Muslims, Jews, agnostics what to believe and how to behave, because Christian radicals are merely exercising their religious liberty.<br /><br />Likewise, cutting costs, of living, energy, food, health care, goods, services, labor, makes everyone better off by putting more money in everyone's pockets, thus growing GDP faster. As if cutting labor costs, and all costs but monopoly and rent profits are labor costs, means more money in worker pockets.<br /><br />Conservatives invented a message that justifies rent seeking and monopoly profits as being the free lunch they claimed socialist or communism promised.<br /><br />The problem with tax and spend, it hits zero sum. When conservatives wanted more military spending to profit their businesses, they had to find the way to hike taxes to pay for it. When taxing workers not in the military supply chain, they demand spending to their benefit, so higher taxes mean less of an increase in military spending, or much higher taxes to pay for much higher spending over all.<br /><br />So, free lunch economics argues that the entire economy can be substitutes for lower cost goods and services to grow the quantity of everything consumed. Ie, lower food prices will increase the food per person consumed enough to raise total food spending. Cut cookie costs by 50% and 125% more cookies will be consumed. Cut gasoline costs by 50%, and everyone will drive 150% more miles per day, 200% more miles if cars become more fuel efficient.<br /><br />Electronics costing less led to increased total consumer costs by cutting consumer spending on other things, like paper and pencil and typewriters and typists and secretaries and manual machine operators and newspapers and books, plus a bit of added income from more people working more hours. But you can pay for increased consumption from lower costs AND PRICES by cutting consumption of lots of other goods and services for every single part of the economy. Cutting costs in every part of the economy requires cutting the size of the economy.<br /><br />Zero sum.<br /><br />Tanstaafl.mulphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14149487211960071193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-25474984827449085632018-06-20T03:18:24.291+00:002018-06-20T03:18:24.291+00:00I know it's the world cup but "rapid righ...I know it's the world cup but "rapid right wing press" might need a "b" instead of a "p"Richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18102851803188749990noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-5699535213212351212018-06-19T00:28:07.170+00:002018-06-19T00:28:07.170+00:00Let’s be clear the only thing that will bring a Ri...Let’s be clear the only thing that will bring a Right Wing Armageddon to this country is the thwarting of the result of the referendum. The Maastricht treaty was pushed through without any democratic mandate and people have patiently waited for 25 years to have their say on this and they voted in good faith on the understanding that the outcome would be valid for ‘a generation’. <br /> <br />The strength of this country is its tolerance. The Remainers should gracefully accept that they lost the vote and they should try and suggest a constructive path forward in the Brexit negotiations. The alternative is a breakdown in the social contract and permanent social strife. The idea that we can reverse the result of the Referendum and return to business as usual is unrealistic and laughable. We do not wish to see this country descend into the acute partisanship that characterises the US. There is only one way to avoid this and that is for the Remainers to accept the outcome of the democratic vote. <br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-53434292304582463942018-06-18T17:12:22.817+00:002018-06-18T17:12:22.817+00:00Perhaps they are not merely after No Deal by defau...Perhaps they are not merely after No Deal by default by running out the clock, but by presenting us as unreliable and unrealistic and untrustworthy negotiators they are attempting to poison the well so much that the EU will not only not allow anything other than No Deal now, but refuse to let us back in if we realise our mistake in the future and ask to be readmitted.<br /><br />After all, after passing up an opportunity to join right at the beginning, it took us 3 attempts to get in last time...<br /><br />(They're sure as hell not going to allow us any opt-outs next time...)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-45290209327711480542018-06-18T12:34:18.650+00:002018-06-18T12:34:18.650+00:00The rapid right wing press pretend...
should like...The rapid right wing press pretend...<br /><br />should likely be <br /><br />The rabid right wing press pretend.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-5841738521251637632018-06-18T11:36:10.415+00:002018-06-18T11:36:10.415+00:00Typos:
- and even imply you [are] a traitor.
- The...Typos:<br />- and even imply you [are] a traitor.<br />- The rapid right wing press -> rabid<br />-- <br />rpsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-30504327227543355382018-06-18T10:56:02.019+00:002018-06-18T10:56:02.019+00:00"The story of neoliberal overreach is in part..."The story of neoliberal overreach is in part about how centre-right politicians set in place or promoted causes or institutions that would allow for the ascendency of the hard-right and then eventually their own demise. In the US this stretches from repealing the fairness doctrine, which led to hard-right talk radio and then Fox News, to increasing the role of money in elections and finally allowing Trump to win the presidency. In the UK it involved promoting austerity and an immigration target that was bound to fail, both of which directly led to Brexit."<br /><br />This is excellent.Alexhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17153530634675543954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-42091246322473629622018-06-18T10:00:02.392+00:002018-06-18T10:00:02.392+00:00I'm glad you're shifting on the threat of ...I'm glad you're shifting on the threat of "no deal" which I've brought up in comments a couple of times before.<br /><br />For a deal to be passed it requires a united majority in the Commons. Since many Leavers have mutually-incompatible goals for a deal that is not guaranteed. The danger of a cliff edge can also be ignored by some of them since the predictions of disaster on the day of a "Leave" vote did not come to pass and market fundamentalists may assume the economy will easily adjust to a hard Brexit.<br /><br />I wish you had taken this up ages ago since a priority has to be preparation for no deal, such as getting ports working smoothly and customs checks in Northern Ireland, where the Republic's new computer system can handle the tenfold increase in customs declarations but the UK's new system will not be ready.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-30528422075004044182018-06-18T09:54:45.712+00:002018-06-18T09:54:45.712+00:00Amazed that you're doubling down on the "...Amazed that you're doubling down on the "newspapers culpable for murder" line after your "Parliament should start directing Brexit" post. This really is shameful.<br /><br />While the Tory Brexiters are of course right-wing on economics or nationalism or both, it's strange to criticise the referendum as being a concession to the hard right when the idea of a referendum was popular with the public of all shades. You don't have to be a Brexiter to see your rhetoric in this and various other posts as hysterical, you made a comparison with Russian revolutionaries before while calling the papers "rabid".<br /><br />And you don't have to be an admirer of Russia -- Putin is evil -- to be aware that Trump is not pro-Russian and does not "prefer" Russia to his Western allies. They're his allies, and Russia is not! He is providing arms to Ukraine as well as fighting Russia in Syria. Do you not remember his first missile strike in Syria which had the liberal and Democratic talking heads calling Trump "presidential"?<br /><br />Yes, he complained during his campaign about NATO countries not spending enough, but when asked if he would punish them for this he said no. It's weird when people try and paint this as a LACK of commitment to NATO by Trump when in fact it's a lack of commitment to NATO by Europe. It isn't necessary to make things up to attack Trump when there are plenty of real things about him to complain about. In your case I'll assume it's ignorance rather than malice but it's something to think about when you condemn conservative media and not the liberal equivalent.<br /><br />On that note, while the BBC has indeed given tons of coverage to Leavers it's not like they haven't been covering Brexit doomsday scenarios too. There was lately a report on Newsnight about dissident republican terrorists in Northern Ireland. It's weird when the second-biggest republican group has actually called a ceasefire in recent months, which they would not have done if they thought Brexit was an opportunity for attacks or for recruitment. The terrorism threat level in NI has always (since the system was introduced) been "severe", from 2016 the NI-related terrorism threat in GB was "substantial" but was downgraded to "moderate" in March!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-71680984503054633972018-06-17T22:36:09.050+00:002018-06-17T22:36:09.050+00:00No comments have been accepted on this blog since ...No comments have been accepted on this blog since June 2. Is this because the general public have no interest in this blog or because the blogger has no interest in processing comments from the general public?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-87273419818756627632018-06-17T07:03:33.829+00:002018-06-17T07:03:33.829+00:00I understand wanting to control the comment proces...I understand wanting to control the comment process however the absence of comment due to a uncommon process of commenting detracts, I feel, from the, dare I say brilliant, insightful posts.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15412877505641062520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-7002348687422205252018-06-16T18:31:18.186+00:002018-06-16T18:31:18.186+00:00Great post as always, thank you.
I think there is...Great post as always, thank you.<br /><br />I think there is a typo where "The rapid right wing press" should read "rabid". Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-66995759003328032502018-06-16T12:55:27.278+00:002018-06-16T12:55:27.278+00:00Typos:
and even imply you [are] a traitor
The rap...Typos:<br />and even imply you [are] a traitor<br /><br />The rapid right wing press -> rabid ?<br /><br />BTW, Hitler was helped into power by the conservative right wingers who thought they could control him. Some of them were later arrested/executed (see Franz von Papen wikipedia page).<br />-- <br />rpsAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-67297616578613073142018-06-16T11:26:41.297+00:002018-06-16T11:26:41.297+00:00What you are portraying here (and numerous times b...What you are portraying here (and numerous times before) is a political structure in crisis and this has little to do with Brexit or austerity; it is a wholly manipulated edifice based on lies and deceit.<br /><br />The irony is that the only thing that might change that is a profound shock; let us say a "no deal Brexit". However you effectively argue for a "business as usual" solution (continued membership of the EU; ease up on austerity) which is likely to keep, and indeed, reinforce the current arrangements. When I studied politics at Oxford I had an American tutor and he said that in the UK the system was about the suppression of conflict in order to preserve the power structure and he was right. Although you might never acknowledge it it actually needs episodes like Brexit to disturb the water and, far from being the disaster that you portray it as, is actually a good thing.Robert Joneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03593742130088640939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2546602206734889307.post-56951235630848264062018-06-16T10:08:16.307+00:002018-06-16T10:08:16.307+00:00Could it be that they in fact do want a no-deal sc...Could it be that they in fact do want a no-deal scenario with ensuing chaos? It would lay the groundwork for a right wing coup, potentially.fjlm44https://www.blogger.com/profile/08264427331374493074noreply@blogger.com