NOT THE TIMES NEWSPAPER

GREECE, CYPRUS, PORTUGAL -
CASE FOR RE-INTRODUCING
ORIGINAL CURRENCIES


The divergence between the weak and
stronger economies of the EU's single
currency continues to grow. Until the
inevitable fiscal and political union occurs,
should weight be given to the
re-introduction of the original currencies
in these countries. They would function
in tandem with the euro, allowing Greece,
Cyprus and Portugal to become more
competitive.

In the 1990s, Argentina experienced similar

problems to those of Greece and other weak
members of the eurozone. In that country the
peso was fixed and freely convertible with
the US dollar from 1991 to 2001. After a
period of deceptive success, sustained by
massive foreign loans, the currency
collapsed, resulting in civil unrest and a
surge in poverty. The decoupling of
the peso from the dollar allowed Argentina
to return to growth.

In finding a solution to Greece's economic

problems and those of the eurozone's
other weak economies, we should remember
that from 1979 to 1999 economies, now part
of the eurozone, functioned within a dual
currency system - the ECU which was the
common currency and a domestic one in
each case. The system was stable and
satisfactory, allowing countries to exchange
using a common currency, while checking in
each country uncontrolled expenditures
abroad and the flight from the domestic
currency.

A move to reintroduce a dual-currency
system would boost competitiveness,
generate growth and reduce sovereign debt.

NOT THE TIMES NEWSPAPER

MISSING, PRESUMED LOST - THE IRON

CHANCELLOR RETURNS


This week will see the former boom-and-bust, Iron
Chancellor make one of his rare visits to Westminister -
having perhaps visited on two other occasions to
represent his constituents since 2010. He will be
paying his respects at the funeral on Wednesday of
Baroness Thatcher, the Iron Lady.

Iron being the chosen metaphor for expressing the personal
attributes of both, we should perhaps question whether the
quality of metal used in fashioning the former was equal to
to the latter.

Were forty-eight consecutive quarters of  'endogenous'
growth, based on reckless spending and near national
bankruptcy equal to the iron resolve of our greatest
peacetime Prime Minister, who saved Britain from
socialism and changed the geo-political map of
much of the world?

What is also fascinating to ponder is the fact that both
Gordon Brown and Adam Smith, author of The Wealth of
Nations, were born in Kilcaldy. Therein lies a paradox:
the one invented free-market liberalism, while the other
did everything he could to destroy it. Our children will
be paying the price for generations to come.

PRESS FREEDOM

The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. Nowhere

is this more pertinent than freedom of expression in

a free and democratic societ.It is a right over which
the the deliberations of the Privy Council cast an

ominous shadow.
 

Freedom of expression is embedded in the First

 Amendment of the US Constitution. The incredulity

of those in the United States and beyond will only

grow as what lies behind the Royal Charter, in  

whatever form, is revealed.

The view that a Royal Charter would avoid the

illiberal pitfalls of statutory regulation is founded

more in hope than than expection. Even with the

supposed safeguards included in the somewhat

ambiguous aim of the Charter, that of not creating

a regulator, but instead establishing the body that

will oversee one, it is difficult not to be fearful that

this will  curtail the ability of the press to expose

and hold to account.

 

At the Leveson Inquiry, Rupert Murdoch predicted

that in a digital age printed newspapers could

disappear within ten years. Lord Mandelson

suggested that the Inquiry's remit tended to have

an historical, rather than contemporary,

significance, with the printed media migrating

increasingly online, beyond the control of any

regulator. 

The majority of the press was not involved in the

hacking scandal and those who were are or are

likely to be serving prison sentences. Driven by

the interests of the Hacked-Off lobby group, with

the press excluded from any negotiations, a

powerful marker has been put down which will

surely affect the ability of newspapers to do what

they have been doing since the abolition of the

Star Chamber in 1641.

Certain commentators have alluded to the

Jesuitical control of press freedom in

dictatorships. The enactment of the Royal Charter

would render the Government similarly responsible

for controlling freedom of expression by

extrapolating from particular instances of press

intrusion value judgements with regard to wider

press coverage, especially in investigative

journalism.These are features of a totalitarian

state.

Had the Royal Charter been in existence, it is

unlikely that press coverage of the illegal invasion

of Iraq, the unexplained death of Dr David Kelly,

extraordinary rendition and MPs' expenses would

ever have seen the light of day.   

.

NOT THE TIMES NEWSPAPER

THE NHS - INFINITE DEMAND,

FINITE RESOURCES

 

When the National Health Service came into
existence in 1948, Lord Beveridge could not
have envisaged how in the world in which
we now live, the NHS's culture of healthcare
for all would attract such global interest.

Communicating the NHS's world-class

expertise and humanitarian ethos to the

billions watching the Olympics' opening

ceremony last summer, director Danny

Boyle, brilliantly articulated the third most

important concern of everyone on the

planet - healthcare.

Boyle's stunning visual representation of the

ideals of the NHS has brought a flood of

inquiries from around the world. Possible

partners are asking if the UK would be 

interested in the commercial possibilities

of capitalising on the brand through joint-

ventures.

The use of such marketing terminology tells
us something of the link between state and
private provision. Potential purchasers of
the NHS's global expertise are mindful of
the reality that funding infinite demand for
healthcare from finite resources is an
impossibility. They know that a
combination of public and insurance-funded

private provision has to be the answer.

Without universal health insurance, delivering

high-quality healthcare to ageing populations

is unworkable. Beveridge's prediction that

healthcare expenditure would reduce as the

population became more heathly with
improved medical care, has always been a
false premise, given scientific advances and
increasing longevity.

If, through a similarly realistic and open

approach to how healthcare is delivered in  

other countries, the finances and standards of

provision within the NHS would be
transformed - helped by the inflow of billions

from marketing this priceless expertise

 

 

         THE EU - LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE

 

When David Cameron and Angela Merkel meet en famille

this week-end, perhaps they should consider matters other

than the redundant question of re-structuring the EU to

allow subsidiarity in key areas for its members. The

German Chancellor is quite clear that she wants more

rather than less Europe, so any significant changes are

not going to happen. Likewise, any such move

transferring sovereign powers back to Westminister is 

a dead duck. More specifically, they should be 

addressing the economic inconsistencies of the deeply

flawed EU project.

The asymmetrical, opaque and unaccountable financing of

the EU budget - not signed off for the past eighteen years - 

involves Germany and Britain providing the majority of

money transfers to the seventeen recipient member states.

Little wonder there is no shortage of other countries wishing

to join a club where they will continue to be paid substantial

and increasing sums for being members.

From a UK perspective with the national debt predicted to

continue rising until 2017/18, the Prime Minister, should

revue the cumulative £100bn cost of the UK's EU

membership, to which has to be added the aggregate sum

of £320bn for the implemention of red tape.This, of course,

pales into insignificance when compared with Germany's

contribution. But how long can this last when Germany,

along with the other twenty-six other member states, is

running a negative debt to GDP ratio and experiencing

nil growth.

The answer lies in the European Central Bank's continuing

to print money, until rising inflation heaps further misery

on harsh austerity. And herein lies an economically suicidal

madness. The European Central Bank bales out Greece

and Cyprus which are heavily indebted to Germany. So,

who provides the money for the bail-outs? You've guessed

it - the Bundesbank. 

By 'more Europe', Angela Merkel means a politically and

economically integrated  federal Europe, precisely

what the EU founding fathers always wanted. It was

their intention that it would be controlled by a German-

French axis. However, now that the French economy is

almost on life-support, that leaves Germany, the EU's

paymaster calling the tune.   

David Cameron knows that any re-casting of the UK's

relationship with Europe will be extremely difficult.

Britain makes a growing and unrealistic contribution to

the EU budget - funded by borrowed money. It has a large

and increasing trade deficit and declining exports to the

EU,  while those to rest of the world are increasing. Now

is the time for the Prime Minister to let the people decide

in his promised referendum,.not in the next parliament,

but at the 2015 General Election.  

 

 

NOT THE TIMES NEWSPAPER

GENDER QUOTAS, AN UNWISE

EXPERIMENT

The ongoing debate about the under-

representation of women in Britain's 
boardrooms should be re-framed to consider
the low female presence in science and
engineering, where the UK's economic future
lies. Addressing the imbalance requires a
cultural shift in education, not EU-imposed
gender quotas, which would give rise to
tokenism. 

Only one fifth of female students take physics
at 'A' level and one third mathematics. This is
reflected in those studying the subjects at
university. It is, therefore, unlikely that many
women will be qualified to rise to the levels
of seniority in advanced engineering demanded
across the piece by EU proposals to change
the gender balance in Britain's board-rooms.

Commentators and Government ministers

refer to the glass ceiling. They say that while

women have made headway in being

promoted in FTSE 100 companies, this has

been mainly at a non-executive, rather than

the more demanding operational level.

In order to change the gender balance at

the top, girls should be encouraged to make

different choices in the subjects they study

at school. Create the necessary pipeline

from which women will emerge to take up

senior positions on merit. Failure to accept

this reality with talk of glass ceilings and

EU-imposed gender balance is vacuous

and will not improve Britain's eonomic

performance.

 

NOT THE TIMES NEWSPAPER

THE BBC, A ONCE GREAT INSTITUTION

THAT HAS LOST ITS WAY

Tony Hall, the newly-appointed BBC Director General,
can think what he likes but a gagging order will prevent
him criticising the vaguely Orwellian way in which the
corporation is funded and how it operates. 

In the past year alone, some three thousand people a
week are reported to have come before the courts for
the non-payment of the TV licence fee. The penalty can 
be a fine of £1,000 and possibly imprisonment. Some
will, of course, refuse to pay because they feel that the
BBC is merely the propaganda arm of the Labour Party
and some will simply not have the money. Then there
will be those who look at the TV schedules - eighteen
repeats today alone - and come to the conclusion that
the £3.56bn the BBC receives annually from the licence
fee represents increasingly poor value for money.

We need only look at the still unfolding Savile scandal
to realise that the corporation's travails are a powerful
metaphor for incompetence, profligacy, corruption and
worse. It is a great institution that has lost its way. The
BBC appears to have all but abandoned its role, as Lord
Reith intended :an impartial public-service broadcaster,
educating and enriching the fabric of our changing
society. Instead, it has become a number of
disfunctional and unaccountable fiefdoms,
contemptuous of any criticism with regard to how it
spends public money in competing with the commercial
media in a pointless ratings' war.

The recent appointment from a shortlist of one of 
former Labour cabinet minister, James Purnell, as
head of digital and strategy, underlines the BBC's
admitted left-wing bias. Westminster watchers will
remember that he was responsible for Labour's last
election campaign. His undoubted talents will, no
doubt, be used in attempting to secure victory for Ed
Miliband in 2015.

Mr Purnell's annual salary of £295,000 will come
from the BBC's compulsory levy on over two
thousand licence-fee payers. This does not take into a
ccount a generous, two-year salary pay-off, should he
decide to leave for whatever reason.

As we have seen from other examples, this is only the
tip of the iceberg with the upper echelons of a
self-serving senior management safeguarding its own
interests, not those of the licence-fee paying public, a t
ime of real austerity.