Since every country regulates its banking in its own way, financial stability varies immensely from country to country. Some places value stability more than growth, and ask more of their banks. Others relax regulation in order to encourage the financial sector, which delivers growth at the risk of increased instability, bailouts and banking collapses. Comparing [...]
Archive | November, 2011
What we learned this week
An MP singing the praises of tax havens… care to guess which constituency he represents? The City of London of course. Shame on you Mark Field. Would you live on an eco-estate built by Ikea, currently underway in East London? The financial crisis has many victims, but the economics profession is not among them. So [...]
Stop burning our trees – what’s this about?
UPDATE: We’ve had a few answers to this little investigation and I’ve written a follow up post here. —————————————— Walking down the street this week in London, I was overtaken by a bus with a large advert down the side that caught my eye. It had a picture of a little pine tree with a [...]
Book review: Whoops! by John Lanchester
Here’s a book that’s been much recommended to me, that I’ve finally got round to. Whoops! Why everyone owes everyone and no one can pay by John Lanchester a layman’s guide to the financial crisis, and it’s not just understandable, it’s also entertaining. Quite a tall order for a book on financial collapse, I’m sure [...]
Land grabs: the unintended consequences of biofuels
Access to land is one of the oldest sources of conflict. It’s written deep into Britain’s history through the enclosure acts and the seizing of the commons – a process that shaped the landscape, drove people into the cities, and through the industrial revolution, changed the world forever. It’s an injustice that’s never been corrected, [...]
Fire your bank on November 5th
In Britain, the 5th of November is Guy Fawkes Night, which commemorates the failure of a plot to blow up the House of Parliament in 1605. It’s traditionally celebrated with fireworks, bonfires, and the burning in effigy of the aforementioned and rather unfortunate Mr Fawkes. Fawke’s other legacy is the Guy Fawke’s Mask, as drawn [...]
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