Bond films are boring because there’s no authentic jeopardy in them. Bond’s bullets never miss their target, the technology supplied to him by the British government always works (lol) and he can travel to any point on the planet and always get there bang on time for the next plot segment. Nothing ever goes wrong, … Continue reading Bond films are boring
Is time up for large campaigning NGOs?
I've been musing a lot over the last few months about what we loosely call "civil society" at a very turbulent and fast-changing time and I've begun to wonder whether the era of the large, Northern-based international campaigning NGO might be coming to an end. This isn’t a hard-and-fast view and I’m offering it as … Continue reading Is time up for large campaigning NGOs?
The lure of false certainty for analysts
When the media does a story about the economy or the financial markets, there's usually a quote from an analyst - a person employed by a bank or a fund to big up its reputation by issuing confident-sounding numbery reports about what's going on in the markets and what might happen next. Analysts of various … Continue reading The lure of false certainty for analysts
Who goes Nazi?
In 1941 the American journalist Dorothy Thompson published an essay in Harper’s Magazine called “Who Goes Nazi?” in which she imagines herself looking around a gathering of her acquaintances and privately asking that question. Thompson was an influential journalist of her time (she had met and interviewed Hitler and been deported from Germany) but the … Continue reading Who goes Nazi?
In the grey UK, Spring has finally sprung.
A long, damp winter is finally coming to an end. The daffodils have been out for some time and blackthorn is in flower in the hedges which line England's roads, spraying them white. I took this picture on a bike ride the Saturday before Easter on the edge of Gamlingay near Cambridge. That part of … Continue reading In the grey UK, Spring has finally sprung.
Mountain biking with Tom Cruise, sort of
So in the summer of 2022 I meant to ride my mountain bike through the French Alps. I got as far as Paris, fell sick in the heat, went home and ended up riding in England's Lake District instead. I was following this route, which is really best for people with very light mountain bikes … Continue reading Mountain biking with Tom Cruise, sort of
There’s no oil in Luxembourg: Siccar Point Energy and tax
So, Cambo. A big oilfield off Scotland which a private equity-backed firm called Siccar Point Energy wants to exploit in partnership with Shell, at a time when energy experts are warning that the world’s fossil fuel emissions need to be cut sharply and fast. Sky News reported this week that Siccar Point Energy “is not … Continue reading There’s no oil in Luxembourg: Siccar Point Energy and tax
Barclays Bank: still hooked on tax havens
Nearly two years ago I looked at some numbers published by Barclays Bank and optimistically concluded that the bank might be reining in its tax-haven habit. Unfortunately that’s turned out to be bollocks. I’d noted that Barclays had booked 15 per cent of its global profits for 2018 in the tax havens of Luxembourg, Jersey, … Continue reading Barclays Bank: still hooked on tax havens
Three mistakes I often make while bikepacking
Bikepacking, now in fashion, is good old cycle touring but with less riding on tarmac roads and more on bridleways, gravel roads and stony tracks. It can be anything from weekends out in the local countryside to month-long rides down the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico. The appeal of bikepacking in the British uplands … Continue reading Three mistakes I often make while bikepacking
The IMF takes a look in the mirror, sort of.
A recent working paper from researchers at the International Monetary Fund makes painful reading for anyone familiar with the IMF’s long history of trying to compel countries around the world to follow whatever economic ideas are fashionable in elite circles in the West. The paper analyses a list of key terms used in thousands of … Continue reading The IMF takes a look in the mirror, sort of.
