jump to navigation

What you want to say – 13th July 2016 July 13, 2016

Posted by WorldbyStorm in Uncategorized.
trackback

As always, following on Dr. X’s suggestion, it’s all yours, “announcements, general discussion, whatever you choose”, feel free.

Comments»

1. Tomboktu - July 13, 2016

A nerdy request.

The Kaldor-Hicks principle is used to justify cost-benefit analysis in policy making. (In particular, it ‘justifies’ not considering the distributive effects of a particular policy or spending proposal, on the basis that the winners will compensate those who will not gain.)

I recall reading somewhere years ago that either Kaldor or Hicks had said that the criteria for the theorem he had proved did not exist in the real world. I can’t find it, now and wonder of any CLRers can point me to a source on that specific point?

Like

Reply
Gewerkschaftler - July 13, 2016

I searched, but I did not find. Plenty of criticism but not by Hicks or Kaldor.

Sorry.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
Tomboktu - July 13, 2016

Thanks for looking.

Like

Reply
2. Gewerkschaftler - July 13, 2016

It’s amazing how much the practices of capitalist lobbying have changed since the now nine years long crisis in the finance ‘sector’.

As you’re probably aware, Italian banks fraudulently sold their own bonds to small depositors as being as safe as deposits. Now, according the EU rules being given a hard-line interpretation by the usual Brussels/Berlin/Frankfurt suspects, these banks may be forced to bail-in these small bond holders and depositors. Of course Renzi wants to avoid this outcome.

But Deutsche Bank is weighing-in to talk up the risk to them from Italian bank failures. Before it became standard practice to shovel resources into banks the standard line would have been “there might be problems in Italy but DB is as solid as a rock.”

Instead they’re getting their lobbying in early for a special handout to shield them from the consequences of their idiotic investments from either the ECB or the German state. Or both, considering they’re already benefiting from the €60bn+ per month handout from the ECB. It’s corporate welfare gone mad, I tell you!

It’s also an illustration of just how the international banking sector has become entirely parasitical on governments and central banks. In the era a continuing near-zero interest rates they have no business model. And there’s no sign of that changing in the near future.

Another canary that just keeled over last week was the issuing of 50-year Swiss bonds with negative yields. This means that the Swiss state thinks it can sell instruments on the following basis:

We’re assuming it’s more than evens that on any investment over the next 50 years will loose you money. So buy our bonds, pay us for the privilege and you’ll get most of your money back in 50 years!

That kind of pitch has previously never been made outside of world war conditions.

Like

Reply
3. Joe - July 13, 2016

For the day after the day that was in it. The Twelfth seems to have gone off relatively peacefully this year. Heartening to see Gerry Kelly on the telly (rhymes nicely, that) last night, sounding very hopeful that the flashpoint in Nth Belfast (Ardoyne shops) can be sorted out. Lots of talk that the residents groups and the Orange Order very nearly sorted it before this year’s marches and that there’s every chance they’ll have an agreement for this time next year.
Compared with the shenanigans down the recent years, this year was a picnic. Things are looking up.

Like

Reply
Joe - July 13, 2016

And even better is a story in today’s online Indo. Apparently, a ruck was organised on social media. It took place over the Southside on Ballinteer Road, I think, last weekend. Football yobs. Running at each other, throwing stuff, flares all that kind of thing. Happens now and then, I understand, a sort of harmless young lout culture.
But the really great thing about this one is that it was apparently arranged between fans of an LOI club (Rovers, I presume) and fans of Linfield FC. Down from the north came the young west Belfast yobs to throw fireworks and flares and run up and down pretending to fight the young south Dublin yobs.
Hopefully, an invitation will be extended to the SRFC boys to return the favour down the Malone Road or some place.
Normalisation, cross cultural exchange. There must be funding under the GFA to promote this kind of thing. Football unites the world.

Liked by 1 person

Reply
gendjinn - July 13, 2016

It was really quiet, it helped that Brexit banished the usual two weeks of pre-march speculation aka tension heightening. Hopefully a corner has been turned. A corner that Brexit doesn’t unturn.

Like

Reply
4. Michael Carley - July 13, 2016

Boris Johnson is Foreign Secretary.

Like

Reply
sonofstan - July 13, 2016

What a carve up

Like

Reply
WorldbyStorm - July 13, 2016

Carnival of the absurd

Like

Reply
5. roddy - July 13, 2016

Joe,”west Belfast yobs” would not be Linfield fans ,i CAN ASSURE YOU!

Like

Reply
6. gendjinn - July 13, 2016

Dan Martin is 3rd in the Tour de France and ITV is still calling him Irish.

Like

Reply
Jolly Red Giant - July 18, 2016

Wait until he wins something.

Like

Reply
CMK - July 18, 2016

Well, he was born and raised in Birmingham and has a pronounced English accent.

Raced for the UK as a junior and only switched over to Ireland in his early twenties.

He has won a few high profile races already and is always described as ‘Irish’ by UK pundits.

He’s fortunate in that cycling is dominated by English riders nowadays, particularly the Tour De France which looks like it will be won for the fourth year out of five by an English rider.

I can remember when Stephen Roche won the Tour and the Channel 4 commentator repeatedly described him as ‘the first BRITISH or Irish rider to win…..’!!!!

Martin is looking good for a top five placing, or better.

Like

Reply
gendjinn - July 18, 2016

Murray Walker was a devil for that. One formula 1 race Jordan’s team were British or Irish depending on whether they were leading the race or in second place. As they switched back and forth.

You’d have to laugh if it weren’t for the fact the cultural expropriation of all that is good and successful from Ireland as British reinforces the Shakespearian myth of the Irish as bawdy, brawling and treacherous.

Like

Reply
7. roddy - July 15, 2016

Reports of a military coup in Turkey.

Like

Reply
8. sonofstan - July 18, 2016

Marina Hyde in her report on Cameron’s last PMQ, spoke of the ‘thousand yard stare of british repression’, the ability to look past the disaster at your feet and make unfunny jokes instead. Brexit seems to have settled ini people’s minds as ‘the thing that happened before the Tory election and the labour squabble’ and the last thing anyone wants to try and deal with. The fact that it will dictate everything for the next few years is being repressed as hard as only the Brits can; and the inability to deal with it will mean it will return again and again, ever more noxiously.

Like

Reply

Leave a comment