Category Archives: Economics

Football Review: England vs Tunisia 18th June 2018

Posted on June 19, 2018 by odeboyz

The bookmaker Paddy Power is offering odds of 250-1 on England winning the World Cup: 250-1 for new customers.1 The form-book is the FIFA world rankings: England at 12th with Tunisia lagging at 21st. Sure enough the form came through … Continue reading →

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Why the poor have bad diets

Posted on June 5, 2018 by odeboyz

When we walked through the door at midnight at the end of a shift, we kicked off our boots and collapsed onto our beds with a bag of McDonalds and a can of beer. We did not – and nor … Continue reading →

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Surveillance made easy: a wordless poem

Posted on May 29, 2018 by odeboyz

    Chris

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Every Immigrant is Undesirable: British policy 1905-2018

Posted on May 18, 2018 by odeboyz

British immigration policy isn’t driven by humanitarian principles. Anti-immigrant legislation began in 1905 with the Aliens Act. Mass immigration from Eastern Europe was halted in 1905 because most were destitute and wealth was the sole criterion used for desirability. Nazi … Continue reading →

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David versus Goliath: the Campaign against Barclays Bank 1969-87

Posted on April 20, 2018 by odeboyz

In the period 1959-69 there were boycotts of South African goods and sport. Boycotts included not buying South African fruit or playing international cricket. Universities boycotted academic jobs and conferences1. The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM) failed to galvanise the British public … Continue reading →

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Conservative economics and delusions

Posted on March 20, 2018 by odeboyz

For the last 30 years, the right has gotten most of what it wanted – lower taxes, weaker unions and less regulation. And yet macroeconomic performance – as measured by GDP growth per head – hasn’t improved. Their response to … Continue reading →

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Book Review : Paul Murray ~ The Mark and the Void

Posted on March 20, 2018 by odeboyz

Paul Murray has written a beautiful satire on the 2008 financial crash. He sets his book in Dublin, which was a ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy, which seemed to reinvent banking and economics. Another example of millenial insanity was Iceland, which has … Continue reading →

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Competitive Advantage and Drugs in Sport

Posted on January 26, 2018 by odeboyz

Sporting bodies uniformally prohibit non-medical drug use. Why? Drugs are prohibited because they enhance performance. Drugs, in brief, hold a unique place amongst all the other competitive advantages. Elite athletes have many advantages apart from drug use. Drug use however … Continue reading →

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The economics of human organs as ‘spare parts’

Posted on January 19, 2018 by odeboyz

“… consider the idea of establishing a market for human organs. For example, the buying and selling of kidneys is currently illegal in the United States and United Kingdom. But demand for kidneys outstrips the supply of kidneys. More people … Continue reading →

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The right to bear arms in the USA 1791-2017

Posted on January 12, 2018 by odeboyz

A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the People to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. The second amendment 15th December 1791 Americans have a constitutional right to bear … Continue reading →

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