Tim Worstall

Silly statistics

Tim Worstall — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:09:30 +0000

The average British household spends £470 a year on fruit and vegetables and £147 on unhealthy snack food. But London households spend, on average, £523 on fruit and veg and £124 on unhealthy snacks. Those in the North-east have the least healthy shopping baskets, according to price-comparison website mysupermarket.co.uk. They spend £403 on fruit and veg – [...]

Well done Ken

Tim Worstall — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:45:06 +0000

It is important to understand what is leading this economic downturn. Its driving force is a collapse in private investment in the US and all major economies. I’m not sure that I agree but what do you propose to do about the problem you have identified? Introduction of a more progressive system of taxation Lessee, the wealthier you [...]

Any banking experts out there?

Tim Worstall — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:59:36 +0000

I’ve asked this before but still lacking an answer, will ask again. Just in case there’s a banking tax expert who reads this. I’ve got wandering around the back of my mind the thought that Gordon Brown changed the way that bank provisions (for loan losses) were taxed at some point. He thought they were over-provisioning and thus [...]

Doomed, doomed I tell ‘ee

Tim Worstall — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:52:45 +0000

It is of course one of my pet peeves, repeated to the point of nauseam, that jobs are a cost of an enterprise, of an adventure. Despite being one of my pet peeves, it is also true that jobs are a cost of an enterprise. Europe’s digital economy has tremendous potential – the roll out and [...]

Get a grip dear

Tim Worstall — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:18:23 +0000

Drunken teenager phones through a prank bomb hoax to the White House switchboard. Yes, very naughty. However: In a statement read to the court the operator said she had been “emotionally and psychologically affected” by the call which had triggered memories of September 11 2001. Are you sure you’re in the [...]

This seems a little odd

Tim Worstall — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:15:29 +0000

They claim the “Use of Mathematics” qualification, which shows students how to solve realistic problems, lacks academic rigour. … It is designed to give teenagers a grounding in the use of maths in everyday situations. Trial exam papers include questions on issues such as population growth, road distances, income, the weight of babies and even seed germination. Someone, [...]

Oh dear God Almighty, the stupid, stupid fuckers….

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:21:38 +0000

The government is to single out Nick Griffin and Andrew Brons, the British National party’s two newly elected representatives in the European parliament, for special treatment, denying them some of the access and information afforded to all the other 70 UK MEPs. Under new guidelines drafted in Whitehall and in the Foreign Office following the June [...]

Eh?

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:54:39 +0000

Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has said his committee needs to come up with $600 billion in new taxes to deliver on President Barack Obama’s goal of sweeping changes to the nation’s health care system to bring down costs…. Sorry? It costs $600 billion to reduce costs? Where’s Alice with those pills when you need her?

The Swedish secret

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:47:13 +0000

Now Sweden’s corporate tax is lower than many other countries.

Dr. Caroline Lucas meets

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:04:58 +0000

Opportunity costs. Dr Lucas will highlight the need for improved dialogue in situations where there are pressures for conflicting environmental goods, such as the need to exploit renewable energy opportunities while also seeking to protect the UK’s rural landscapes. Head explodey type stuff.

Interesting meaning of the word “makes”

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:58:33 +0000

The Johnnie Walker brand makes Diageo £1bn per year. Hmm. Guinness brewer Diageo today revealed its profits took a minor fall as it admitted entering a challenging period. Profits before tax for the last 12 months stood at £2.093 billion, down £2 million on the previous year. Gosh. The Johnnie Walker brand makes half of the company’s profits, does it? Or [...]

Regional variations in life span

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:06:05 +0000

No, I know, this isn’t all of the story but it is at least part of it. The places where people live long lives seem to be those places which people go to when they retire. Thus it isn’t that thy are places which make people live long lives: it’s that those living long lives go [...]

Death by alcohol

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:50:45 +0000

The number of people dying from alcohol-related causes rose by nearly 40 per cent from 5,287 in 1999 to 7,341 last year, figures obtained by the Conservative MP James Brokenshire, a shadow Home Office minister, show. Mhm, Hmm. Number of deaths each year in the UK, around 600,000. Alcohol mortality has thus risen from just under 1% [...]

Woo Hoo!

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:46:40 +0000

Something for the rich at last from this government! Students could avoid paying tuition fees if they waive their right to grants and loans… So if you’ve enough family spondoolicks that you don’t need a loan or a grant then you don’t have to pay fees either! Way to go!

Willy Hutton identifies the problem

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:44:25 +0000

Overleveraged hedge funds began the crisis, No, they didn’t. Therefore your analysis is wrong and so must be all of your suggestions about how to stop it happening again. Goodbye Willy.

I didn’t know this.

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:38:02 +0000

Well, I did know this: Sugar’s oft-repeated views on how he tears up the CVs of women who look a bit fertile. But not this: The latest controversy is a sex discrimination case brought by an employee, Brid Johal, who says she was passed over for promotion while on maternity leave. Is anyone actually surprised at what Sugar is [...]

Note to Guardian sub editors

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:32:21 +0000

(Yes, The Guardian does still have subs and yes, they write headlines and intro straps.) Black Lace had a reputation for producing edgy, well-written erotica for women. The demand is there, so why is it closing? It’s closing because sales are falling: proof perfect that the demand isn’t in fact there.

Just a thought

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:24:35 +0000

On teen pregnancy rates. Hackney, one of London’s most deprived boroughs, saw a 25% drop in its teen pregnancy rate; Blackburn, also with high levels of deprivation, saw a comparable improvement. Have they controlled for a change in the local population? This is very much a question, not an assertion, for I don’t really know. But anecdotally I’m [...]

Electronic scrap recycling

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:11:50 +0000

Organised crime has moved into the recycling industry - a development that has become clear over the past few months after a series of raids to enforce the EU’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive . In a raid at the start of June, police and officials from the Environment Agency targeted two east London [...]

I dunno really

Tim Worstall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:26:28 +0000

Mr Djanogly, a millionaire, claimed up to £640 a month to pay a number of students. The currently employed student, a Pole identified as Miss G, lives at Mr Djanogly’s designated main home in London and attends language school lessons. The MP said his expense claims [...]