tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post3741956631978449461..comments2024-03-05T10:52:24.691+00:00Comments on Mark Wadsworth: David Willetts stumbling vaguely in the right directionMark Wadsworthhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-48740227548544987292018-03-06T19:49:18.411+00:002018-03-06T19:49:18.411+00:00MW, good examples. Glad to hear that Bolesy is sta...MW, good examples. Glad to hear that Bolesy is staying true to the cause.<br /><br />DBC, yes, the UK is far more elitist than other countries, what's new? Good for Willetts though.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-28979022584122170382018-03-06T10:33:52.153+00:002018-03-06T10:33:52.153+00:00As a bit of a side issue, Willetts appeared on Pes...As a bit of a side issue, Willetts appeared on Peston with a gigantic chart showing that Oxford and Cambridge remained the only English Universities for centuries while in other European countries "provincial towns" developed their own universities at a steady rate.<br />Elsewhere he has talked of "the dominance of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge achieved by systematically extinguishing other attempts at creating universities for 600 years."( 23. xi.17).It is no wonder that the British ruling class retains medieval attitudes and thought patterns from a time when all wealth was in land.DBC Reedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17891849727783879145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-79525380205551342672018-03-06T08:41:22.794+00:002018-03-06T08:41:22.794+00:00Well fuck me, I have no idea what's going on a...Well fuck me, I have no idea what's going on anymore. Day one. I cannot tell the difference between a Willett's quote and a Wadsworth.The Old widow is no more. Day two. Caroline Lucas asks Nick Boles on tv last night to accept the need for LVT. She asks in big, bright, bold L.V.T letters, and he says, yes 'I already do accept it. I have written about it'!Day three. I read John Redwood's latest blog entry. Redwood, in all but name says, Yes, I accept the MMT argument.Osborne was a dick all along.No official at the Treasury worries about finding the pounds on a computer screen. Indeed, it turns out that Redwood even knows Steve Keen's one and only issue with American MMT ers, that the balance of trade deficit is still a central concern for the British Guv, indeed country, outside the American Empire. http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2018/03/05/the-twin-deficits/.MikeWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15455583313857077618noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-60396910574339420242018-03-05T18:57:34.522+00:002018-03-05T18:57:34.522+00:00MW, ta. He's not quoting me, we all say that.
...MW, ta. He's not quoting me, we all say that.<br /><br />G, it's all just waffle. She subscribes to the 'build more and house prices will fall' which is observably not true. In the event, taxing land is always better than subsidising it. They can cut their tax bills by building faster, and as we know, a tax cut = a subsidy, so that covers both points.Mark Wadsworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07733511175178098449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-24611793592846235092018-03-05T17:37:40.363+00:002018-03-05T17:37:40.363+00:00No comment on the story on BBC news at breakfast t...No comment on the story on BBC news at breakfast time - therefore probably not true - that Theresa May is proposing to take action to prevent housebuilders who don't build enough houses from being able to buy land in the future? It struck me as oddly self-defeating - why penalise people who do actually build houses, albeit not fast enough. Wouldn't it be better to subsidise them to build faster? Or penalise them for holding land idle?Graemehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11007306140530173428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1141932539860553199.post-5988914587693063222018-03-05T15:00:41.699+00:002018-03-05T15:00:41.699+00:00You beat me to it Mark. I was going to post his sp...You beat me to it Mark. I was going to post his speech, as outlined by the Guardian. You may be pleased to find here Willetts now virtually quoting you word for word. <br /><br />'The idea of controversial new bands for council tax has never been attempted, however, because of the numbers of people living in homes that have risen dramatically in value while their incomes have not. <br /><br />'However, Willetts points out there could be ways to help “asset-rich, low income older families”, for example through deferred payments.' <br /><br />Well I never!MikeWhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15455583313857077618noreply@blogger.com