Great Expectations

Pip thinks he'll be rich
Meets unsuitable girlfriend
Has to get a job.

A Christmas Carol

Ebenezer Scrooge
Has his Christmas ruined by
Ghosts who drive him mad

Nicholas Nickelby

At Dotheboys Hall
Progressive teaching techniques
Fail to raise standards

David CopperfieldMister Micawber ( Read more... )

I had a conversation yesterday about Jeremy Corbyn's proposal for a "People's QE". Why is it, they asked me, that when the Bank of England does QE the government says it's the right thing to do, but when Jeremy Corbyn suggests it it's wrong and dangerous ( Read more... )

For the last six months or so, I've been involved in a social experiment. Well, actually, that's a lie. I've been involved in writing joke news pieces for popular* satirical site Newsthump, and when I say "Social experiment", I really mean "trolling lefties for money", which is rather what I expect it to be like when I die and go to heaven ( Read more... )

Every year or so I do a long post about economics, outlining where I think we are and where we're going. However, I've not got much to say about the subject at the moment, as my position hasn't changed much since the post I did last year - we're in the rocky foothills of the biggest sustained period of economic growth in human history, there will ( Read more... )

In 1925, Leon Trotsky wrote a pamphlet titled “Where is Britain going”. As a historical document it’s an interesting read, considering how much of it came true. Obviously, he thought the dire predictions he made would be a bad thing if they came true and the whole thing was a bit of a warning to the revolutionary forces which would soon sweep the ( Read more... )

Blade Runner, 2019:


( Read more... )

There's a saying on the internet that "information wants to be free". It suggests that information - especially confidential information - is like a caged animal or a dammed stream and wants nothing more than to find a way out of it's confines to it's natural free state on the internet. It's usually used to justify confidential information being ( Read more... )

Well, it's over and I think most people were surprised by the result, even me ( Read more... )

Ed Miliband has announced that he will carve his five election pledges into an 8'x6' block and have it placed in the Downing Street Garden if he becomes Prime Minister ( Read more... )

In 1550bc, Hyksos King Apophis declared war on Pharaoh Seknenre because his pet Hippos were too noisy.