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Lib Dem peer calls for price controls

Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The 70s revival rolls on. Of all the issues vying for the attention of Lord Lester of Herne Hill, one crab has made it to the top of the barrel:

"To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will ensure that motorway service station cafés and shops do not charge excessive prices for basic food and drink".

Maybe he is bit worried about the clamp down on expenses, and wants to make sure that he is getting a cornish pasty or a BLT at a bargain price when he makes a call at Watford gap or wherever.

I suppose some credit is due to Lord Adonis for this restrained reply:

"Through the Highways Agency, the Government continue to have an involvement in MSAs in relation to road safety and traffic management but has no power to control pricing structures at MSAs as they are run as commercial operations by the private sector".

A simple 'For the love of God, get a grip man' would have worked too.

One might note that LL of HH is a soi-disant 'human rights lawyer', but presumably he does not consider the right of consenting parties to engage in economic acts as a human right.

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posted by Croydonian

Two-thirds of Britons in favour of forced labour

Monday, February 23, 2009
Shocked? I am. But a poll for Prospect suggests just that:

"Prospect asked about public support for a new mandatory period of civic service for young people in response to the recession...a clear majority—64 per cent—backed the idea".

'A new mandatory period of civic service', or steering clear of euphemisms, forced labour. This is so unbelievably wrong that my usual lack of faith in the Great British Public has proven to be overstated even at whatever low level I had set it to this morning.

Furthermore, and quite disgustingly, Prospect thinks that this is just dandy - "one bright light was a willingness to consider radical measures to get Britain out of the slump...even in gloomy times, you can’t beat a bit of boldness".

I will resist the temptation to haul out the Cambodia Year Zero analogies, but what, pray is the essential moral difference between universal compulsory labour for a certain age cohort and serfdom? One might note that Prospect's fellow travellers on the other side of the Pond went to the barricades (or Canada...) in order to resist a similar initiative in the 60s and 70s.

Quite apart from my very strong moral qualms about this, imagine the colossal waste of talent if would be first division footballers, accountants, architects and so forth are yanked out of productive employment and compelled to dig old ladies' gardens for a year.

In further evidence that the public has taken leave of its senses, "37 per cent agree...that 'there will be serious social unrest in British cities' requiring the army to restore order". At the time of the 1981 riots I asked my father when he thought martial law would be enacted, and his response was 'never'. He was right then, and would be right now.

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posted by Croydonian

How to turn a recession into a depression, pt II

Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Unheeded by most, Tony Woodley of the T&G Unite is still crying in the wilderness, and what a plan he has got:

"Our priority must be using that public money to save jobs and skills, not to fund redundancy".

By public money, he means money extorted from the productive parts of the economy, I think.

"We desperately need to see creative, strategic action to save jobs, such as job sharing and reduced hours in industries where demand has plummeted because of the crisis, with pay losses made up by the state".

That will be cheap, won't it?

"First of all, I want to see a properly-funded strategic plan for manufacturing, of the sort that is operating in France, Spain and Germany. This must be backed by a readiness to take control in sectors vital for the future of a high-skill high-tech industrial base"

Sounds like a scary combination of the 'commanding heights' and 'the white hot heat of the technological revolution', as 'orrible 'Arold had it. At least some of the people who gave us Concorde, British Leyland and pubs in Carlisle had some experience of commerce. I hate to think what great business operating decisions a selection of ex policy wonks and lawyers would come up with.

"We therefore urgently need targeted assistance for manufacturing".

Bring out your lame ducks. Intriguing that manufacturing is considered worthy of being hosed down with money, whereas other areas of work are not. Maybe they lack the dignity of labour...

"It should redirect money from the useless bankers and instead set up a national, state-owned people's bank - one that puts people, communities and our economy before profits for shareholders".

Just wait till The Man has instant access to your bank records as well as other private data. Scared? You should be. Doubtless the Apparat will make many excellent lending decisions based on moral character rather than creditworthiness. At the risk of jumping on a pseudo meme, 'Atlas Shrugged' is looking more like a work of economic history (bar the feeling of being hectored through a megaphone for hours on end) every day.

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posted by Croydonian

Coming next - an IMF bailout?

That's what some of our Hibernian neighbours are concerned about:

"The Taoiseach Brian Cowen has endorsed the warning of a senior trade union official that the State's borrowing figures are unsustainable and could possibly lead to the International Monetary Fund ordering mass dismissals of public sector workers in the future...Mr Murphy wrote to branch secretaries of his union warning that the IMF might take action if public borrowing was not curtailed. He said that the public deficit could reach €15.5 billion by 2011 unless changes were made in the tax regime and in public sector spending. If the IMF were to intervene, wrote Mr Murphy, it could lead to mass dismissals being forced upon the public service. He emphasised the need for a solution to the current serious situation".

Statistics UK, always supposing I can believe them, show a public sector deficit of £39.4 billion between April and November last year and a public sector net debt of 44.2% of GDP.

Back of an envelope calculations make our PSD around 50 billion euros, and our GDP is around 10 times that of Erin. If our PSD grows at the same rate as that of the Republic, we will have a PSD of 61 billion euros by 2011.

That seventies revival is looking more lifelike by the day.

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posted by Croydonian

The 70s revival - German branch

Thursday, October 30, 2008
Nationalisation, or rather strategic stakes, are all the rage on the other side of the Rhine, judging by a poll for Stern, summarised in English here. These are popular to stop Arabs sovereign wealth funds buying into e.on, Deutsche Bank etc. Anyway, 77% of Germans are fearfully protective of their energy companies, 64% of banks, insurers, 60% of airlines, transport firms, the post office etc.

This, however, is the really weird bit:

(click for heightened visibility)

As one might expect, the left parties - Die Linken (dark red), the Socialists (red) and the Greens (guess...) - are keenest on 'strategic stakes' overall, but the Christian Democrats (black) are the most enthusiastic about putting an arm around Siemens and the rest of the electrical / electronic industry, and the Free Democrats (yellow) are keener on wading into Commercial Property than the far left. The Greens fancy buying into the car industry, presumably to close it down.

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posted by Croydonian

The 70s revival continues

Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Anyone else remember the 'Social Contract'? Folk under 40 can skip this question

Here is how the '74 Labour party manifesto outlined it: "At the heart of this manifesto and our programme to save the nation lies the Social Contract between the Labour Government and the trade unions, an idea derided by our enemies, but certain to become widely accepted by those who genuinely believe in government by consent - that is, in the democratic process itself as opposed to the authoritarian and bureaucratic system of wage control imposed by the Heath Government and removed by Labour".

It was not a huge success.

So much for the brief excusion down Rue de Mémoire. Some bright spark at MSF cough Amicus, double cough, Unite The Union has hit on it as a grand term for something it has cooked up:

"Unite the union will today (Tuesday 28th October) launch a ‘Social Contract’ for the financial services industry. The principles which set out how the finance sector now needs to be reformed will be launched at a meeting of hundreds of senior workplace representatives from Unite and MPs in the House of Commons".

And what do they want, apart from featherbedding they richly deserve as knights of commerce?

This:

"The Unite Social Contract states:

1. Recognition of Unite as a key stakeholder in the future of the financial services industry. (B/S speak for undue power and influence)

2. To ensure the employment security of employees in the finance sector. (Jobs for life at the expense of the tax payer)

3. To protect and improve the terms and conditions of employees, including pension arrangements. (Guess who's paying... Does not apply to their class enemies, natch)

4. End the remuneration packages of senior executives which reward short-termism and irresponsible risk taking. (As opposed to responsible risk taking, obviously. Isn't hindsight just dandy? Nice bit of class warfare there)

5. Overhaul of the regulatory structures of the financial services sector to include trade union involvement in order to enhance the accountability of finance institutions. (What about including banking professionals in trade union structures, or is this new syndicalism a one way street?)

So, nothing very self-denying there, but note the high quality footnote:

"Finance workers will protest to demand changes to the structure of the finance services sector. With a life size ‘Social Contract' and wearing t-shirts stating: "STOP BANKERS GREED".

I do believe we have an irregular verb:

I yearn for social justice, you fancy a pay-rise, he is greedy

Improvements to that off the cuff effort are welcome

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posted by Croydonian