tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45499284065518068542026-03-27T11:58:47.251-07:00Deciding with data not dogmaQPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-78448538779903684552013-03-20T15:02:00.000-07:002013-03-20T15:02:11.113-07:00

In the Budget today George Osborne announced a new scheme to 'help' house buyers. Here is the flyer (or infographic as they call it)... ...which I have annotated for clarity.

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-61974035767354744352012-05-02T23:52:00.001-07:002012-05-02T23:52:51.370-07:00

The words of Mervyn King again  speaking in the Today programme lecture last night. on the financial crisis. History provides evidence that this statement is a physical impossibility and the same will be confirmed eventually with the current depression. His comment illustrates how he completely misses the underlying causes. Relying on inflation measures missed the enormous expansion in

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-90680516710888703832012-02-06T13:10:00.000-08:002012-02-06T13:18:06.405-08:00

Towards the end of last year I noticed that picking out my customary Yorkie bar from the vending machine was easier than normal and its consumption was far less satisfying. I also spotted that they were no longer using the catch phrase "Its not for girls". More recently I was pleased to pick up some 'old stock' Yorkies approaching their use-by-date from my local Coop and I was able to do a direct

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-24193783414397852212012-01-02T14:45:00.000-08:002012-01-02T14:45:50.756-08:00

I was rather critical of Mervyn King and the BoE's inability to spot the enormous credit bubble developing in the run up to the current financial crisis. However, I have just been directed to this publication from last year that appears to make a less orthodox economic assessment of the run-up to the crisis "the Great Moderation".  Although, yes the horse had long since bolted. I

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-2061473100827378832011-12-28T10:42:00.000-08:002011-12-29T04:14:58.722-08:00

Despite a totally stagnant housing market across most of the UK, Savilles estate agents have reported that top-end London property prices have increased 18.6% in 2011. This increase is ascribed to international buyers sinking money into UK real-estate as a tax-efficient safe-haven while other investments look increasingly volatile. By assigning property to an off-shore company, it

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-44103464718672291502011-12-05T14:33:00.000-08:002011-12-05T14:33:11.608-08:00

A quote from Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England, in 2004 agreeing with Alan Greenspan the Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Perhaps he should have looked at the plot below which I put together with data from the Bank of England's website. The peak in the rate of change of mortgage lending occurred around the same time as the words were being uttered. As far as the central bankers were

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-84226310635921738712011-11-19T01:41:00.000-08:002011-11-19T01:41:19.567-08:00

News is filtering out of the government's overdue housing strategy paper and it looks set to be a major shot in the arm for those at the top of the housing "ladder". The government appears to be siding more with the CBI's recommendations rather than those of the Intergenerational Foundation. However the proposal that both reports recommend, namely the removal of Stamp Duty, looks

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-75481066725770955702011-10-31T00:37:00.000-07:002011-10-31T00:37:33.813-07:00

Interesting little story in the Guardian suggesting that the Prince of Wales has been exercising a constitutionally enshrined political veto over any government policy that could be seen to affect the Duchy of Cornwall. Through the Duchy, the Prince is one of the largest landowners in the UK and as such, gains much of his income from land rents. To hear that he has been vetting

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-9936020059251606232011-10-22T12:28:00.000-07:002011-10-22T12:28:28.608-07:00

As reported in the FT, with the recent hikes in electricity and gas costs, the Queen is now approaching "fuel poverty", defined as spending 10% or more of your income on energy supply. For the coming financial year the royal household is forecast to spend 8.2% of it's income from the government on energy bills and this assumes no further price rises. This inevitably leads to a debate

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-77373322974031498092011-10-16T07:23:00.000-07:002011-10-16T07:23:13.204-07:00

Friday saw the opening of the European Parliament's new visitor centre in Brussels, the "Parliamentarium" At a cost of 21 million Euro,  reportedly 30% over budget and 3 years late. It consists of a number of interactive 3D audio-visual installations "reflecting the desire of the Parliament to reach out to citizens and become more transparent to the outside world".

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-91476005907729503462011-10-06T02:29:00.000-07:002011-10-06T02:29:03.996-07:00

From David Cameron's speech to the consevative party conference 2011: "The answer is straightforward, but uncomfortable. This was no normal recession; we’re in a debt crisis. It was caused by too much borrowing, by individuals, businesses, banks, and most of all, governments. When you’re in a debt crisis, some of the normal things that government can do, to deal with a normal

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-76496074023187855102011-10-02T08:02:00.000-07:002011-10-02T13:42:10.360-07:00

How are my local services funded? Surely by my council tax? Wrong. This is a common misconception but Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Local Government and Communities,  demonstrates that it is simply not the case, with his announcement of an extra £250 million from central government to fund the most important of local services (in his opinion), weekly rubbish collections. 

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-40746221044024912852011-09-26T12:33:00.000-07:002011-09-26T23:59:58.044-07:00

Over at Mark Wadsworth a post cites an article in the The Daily Mail which reports that, for buy-to-let landlords the best returns can be gained from cheaper houses let to housing benefit claimants. It should then not be a surprise that, along with the big increase in number of bought-to-let properties, we have seen a dramatic escalation in housing benefit payments going to

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-22709002218438250722011-09-21T12:57:00.000-07:002011-09-22T05:52:09.806-07:00

The Independent reported that approximately 40% of GB driving licence holders who had amassed 12 or more points over three years, and were thus liable for a ban, successfully argued that they would suffer "exceptional hardship" if their licence to drive were to be temporarily removed. I wonder how the approximately 10 million adults in Great Britain without a diving licence survive in

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-2585677834691393892011-09-18T14:30:00.000-07:002011-09-18T14:30:05.010-07:00

I was asked to add wage information in comparison to UK house prices. I couldn't find good historical wage data from ONS but I picked up this unverified dataset from the FT. For added interest I have included UK average rent data. House price and wages have been normalised to 100 at 1952, rent data is normalised to house prices at 1994. So the vertical scale is arbitrary, the plot compares

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-22261117792766823272011-09-18T04:00:00.000-07:002011-09-18T04:01:16.463-07:00

The LibDems have announced 2000 new tax inspectors to clamp down on tax evasion. Given that it is claimed the UK has one of the most complicated tax systems in the world, as a more efficient (and liberal) alternative, why not make the tax system simpler?

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4549928406551806854.post-7002061880116078072011-09-15T13:32:00.000-07:002011-09-15T13:36:17.190-07:00

Numerous reports recently have highlighted the issue of affordable housing the UK, the most recent coming vociferously from the National Housing Federation. The most obvious indicator for a lack affordability is the rate that house prices have gone up over the past half century. House price data from Nationwide, RPI data from ONS This plot shows UK average house price since 1952 with data from

QPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10219456239998875311noreply@blogger.com1