Notices by Emeritus Prof Christopher May (chrismayla6@zirk.us)

@spacemanspiff @djsumdog
@decayablecoach

What I find puzzling is this:

You all seem still very angry, but your man won the US election & is in the White House doing things you clearly agree with, so why would you be worried (or offended) by anything anyone else says about him?

Of course, if you're just doing it for entertainment then so be it (everyone needs to get their fun where they can).

@spacemanspiff @Milnoc

Given the general move over the last 50 years (through the GATT & then the WTO to an environment patterned by free trade principles & actions) you would be right to presume that in the general case tariffs do often if not always rebound on the country using them.

We might draw a distinction between tariffs used as externally facing 'weapons' & those used as 'infant industry protection', of course.

Broadly speaking, Trump's tariffs look like the former not the latter

Bruce MaKinnon sums up the Court of the Tangerine Tyrant's tariff policy....

Just brilliant!

#USPol #politics #Tariffs

h/t @Milnoc

@djsumdog @spacemanspiff

Well, we'll find out; its you against mainstream economists, on who is impacted by limitations on international trade; my view is can go both ways (as suggested in my earlier reply), but we'll find out soon enough

@spacemanspiff @djsumdog

No I was right.... it is you who is the idiot!

Q. will Greenland be the litmus test for how Europe responds to Trump?

Nathalie Tocci, thinks it reveals that:

'Europeans are scared. They fear Trump & their fear is paralysing. It freezes their actions & quiets their rhetoric. The more Trump confirms their fears through his repeated threats, the less they are inclined to react. Trump presumably smells the fear & like all bullies revels in it, upping the ante'!

Time to toughen up?

#politics #security #Greenland

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jan/30/greenland-europe-donald-trump-us-threats

During my academic career (I taught thousands of under-graduate students from a variety of backgrounds), I saw a lot of 'artificial intelligence' usually coming from the mouths of over privileged white men, who thought eloquence was a reasonable substitute for actual knowing or analysing things.

So, forgive me if I am sceptical that AI is the answer for anything; what we need is real intelligence fostered in real people about real things... only then will we solve the world's problems!

#AI

The hypocrisy of fiscal economics:

When there is a crisis in the real economy, we are told austerity is needed to restore confidence & encourage growth - the neo-classical economic solution.

When there is a crisis in the financial serves sectors we are told what is needed is liquidity & stimulus to restore confidence & encourage growth - a (narrow form of) Keynsian response.

So its not so much Keynes has been rejected, but rather its only applicable when the rich are in trouble!

#economics

The return of cash continues... partly driven, possibly, by the cost of living crisis encouraging 'budgeting by envelope' - the distribution of cash to different envelopes for different uses (food, energy etc.).

Looks like the banks' attempts to promote the cashless society (to their advantage) may have stalled for a while, at least... well until they remove yet more ATMs from the UK, that is

#cash #banks

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2025/jan/07/cash-makes-surprise-comeback-amid-46-annual-rise-in-atm-withdrawals

If you're interested in investing you'll have read a lot about the exodus from the FTSE & moves to list shares in New York; another indicator of the UKs' decline?

Well not necessarily:

as Stuart Kirk (FT) observes:

'Forget liquidity & regulation & the like. The reason British companies are flocking to US exchanges is because they trade at higher earnings multiples &hence their senior executives (& their bankers) will be richer'!

So, not a good reason to change policy Rachel!

#investment

@HarriettMB

I fear you may be right; I have a growing suspicion that the real problem with the current Labour government is a form of naive parochialism; they seem unwilling (our perhaps unable) to look at the bigger picture rot see the threat(s) that this involves... (see my next post, on four years of Trump II)

I think @RichardJMurphy in absolutely right... what we really need is a society wide reset - out current ways & means are not working (which is especially obvious to the young);

we need to throw off the gerontacracy & the young need to develop a new vision & then remake society on that basis.

No-one says this will be easy, but it looks ever more necessary....

#politics

https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2024/12/27/do-we-need-to-start-again/

No-one with a mobile phone will be surprised that in a recent survey UK users had the worse mobile phone experience (particularly related to network coverage) of any country in the G7.

Its just one more example of how due to less effective regulation (and a lack of regulatory intent) large corporations have been able to deliver rubbish service to UK consumers.

The UK is reputedly referred to as 'Treasure Island' by corporations, because making money is so unconstrained

#regulation

h/t FT

For forty protestors in prison (nearly half on remand & therefore still formal innocent of any crime), this is very much not the season of goodwill....

The UK (as we know) leads the democratic world in locking up protestors; its not a good indicator of how we value democracy....

Protest is a vital part of democracy, cracking down on it in such a forceful manner tells us much about what the Govt. really thinks about dissent...

#democracy #protest #RuleOfLaw
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/20/record-number-of-protesters-will-be-in-uk-prisons-this-christmas

Those (not us) who thought they were escaping Twitter/X by joining BlueSky might usefully note that a third of the money raised so far to run it was raised as a cross investment from.... Twitter/X.

So while they might be 'safe' from Musk right now, behind the scenes he's hardly disconnected.... oh dear.

If you really want to be in the fediverse you need to be in the fediverse

#BlueSky #fediverse

Well. the UK is a world leader in environmental politics....

The problem is: we're world leaders in cracking down on & arresting climate activists & protestors. We may not be alone in using police power to stifle & constrain protests, but the UK seems to use such measure a lot more often....

The right to protest (such as it is) is becoming practically constrained, though not necessarily for all (see for instance the recent farms protect in London!)

#climate #politics
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/11/britain-leads-the-world-in-cracking-down-on-climate-activism-study-finds

A reminder that while the 'Bank of Mum & Dad' seems like benign help parents can give their children, its actually one of the key mechanisms (alongside under-taxed inheritance) that maintains inequality in the UK.

Now, over 50% of first time buyers rely on their parents to help them get on the wealth escalator that is the UK's dysfunctional housing market.

On an individual level parental help is clearly understandable, on a social level its actually a problem!

#housing #inequality

@PaniczGodek

No, you're right & that's why on the individual/family level is understandable behaviour - it points to a much larger problem in the UK housing market - the high prices (both of buying & renting) - there is not quick, easy solution, but we need to be working (as a society) to reduce the ration of house-prices to wages, or we are stuffed

How inequality stretches into retirement:

Of those able to pay into a defined contribution pension over half do not think they are saving enough; that will be an underestimate as people often underestimate how much they need to put in a pension for a 'comfortable' retirement.

And why don'e they pay more in? because they can't afford to!!!

Its no use lecturing people that they need to save more for their retirement, first you need to ensure they're paid more!!!

#pensions #inequality
h/t FT

Ben Jennings on the disconnect between the art world (and specifically high-end art auctions) and the world we all are experiencing right now....

#art #politics