This week the FT launches a series of editorials focussing on #taxation reform in the UK.... the lead article gives a hefty hint that tax simplification will be at the heart of their position over the coming days.
Given the complexity of the UK's tax code(s) this seems eminently sensible, the more complex a system (whatever the value of the individual measures) the more likely the opportunities for the rich to game the system... as we can see in the UK.
This week sees the final opening of the new Vaccine Development & Evaluation Centre at Porton Down.
For an investment of £65mn the Govt. hopes to be able to develop a #vaccine response to any #pathogen, such as a new wave of #Coronavirus, within 100 days; whatever we think about #Tories past efforts as disease control, this seems like a sensible & timely #investment.
But, its proximity to a defence facility (working on similar issues but for defence) will set the #socialmedia rumours flying!
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Only if one accepts that 'black led' events were more prone to violence.... given the range of events ending in violence that are not this doesn't seem a likely viable justification...
Its going to come to no surprise that in #London over the last six years the only events where the Metropolitan #Police sought (and gained) clearance for the (potential) use of baton rounds on crowds were those events which were 'black-led'.
Now to be fair they have not actually been used, but the policing of black-led events included the deployment of what are sometimes called #rubberbullets;
Its hard to see how this isn't further proof of institutional #racism (?)
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/aug/06/met-police-baton-rounds-black-led-events-foi-reveals
Phillip Stephens (FT) on our current plight:
'The state does not have all the answers. And the #market has a pivotal place in the efficient allocation of resources. But a fundamental shift of mindset is needed.... Britain has come full circle. It is once again the sick man of Europe; it’s no accident that Europe’s more successful economies have chosen not to privatise their #water industries. Blowing up the economic relationship with the EU through Brexit has accelerated our decline'!
Yup!
nostr:npub1g0tuf634rz4suczwj7kgnecr6cyt0eu9xmp3sp0fku68mqehq4msp3tvm4 it would be interesting to see the same data split by gender. How much of this effect is simple misogyny? Without separating that known factor it's hard to get a handle on how big this effect is.
It would also be interesting to cross-reference socio-economic background and how health inequality in childhood affects eventual adult height.
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Yes, I'd agree these extra contextual issues would help make more sense of this one dimension of pay differentials.... especially the Q. of childhood legacy & #inequality
nostr:npub1g0tuf634rz4suczwj7kgnecr6cyt0eu9xmp3sp0fku68mqehq4msp3tvm4 I read some article >20 years ago about earnings and height, and am fairly sure they only looked at men. Maybe analysing data for women was too complicated. Or maybe not...
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More likely, not deemed necessary by male researchers?
nostr:npub1g0tuf634rz4suczwj7kgnecr6cyt0eu9xmp3sp0fku68mqehq4msp3tvm4 Ha. I'm not even on that scale. Is the chart specifically for men?
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Interesting Q. the FT/Lex article had a picture of a women at its head, indicating the scale was for both genders, but my guess would be (especially given the break point in height) it may be male only... and the article mentions female CEOs but does not directly relate that to actual data....
Just in case you're looking for a new #inequality to get annoyed about, FT/Lex have this chart showing relative earnings by height...
Yup, people over 6' do earn more... and of course, we might want to equate height with class.
As we've always known the shorties have been prejudiced against!
(for those of you who prefer metric measurements, 70 inches [5'10"] = 178cm)
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Welcome to American healthcare
Medical debt and Medical bankruptcy await.
#SaveTheNHS
#ToriesUnfitToGovern
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Which reminds me of the old joke about #breakingbad...
In the UK version, Walter White gets his cancer diagnosis, and after a (now longer) wait he receives his treatment & enters remission... end of series at episode one!
nostr:npub1g0tuf634rz4suczwj7kgnecr6cyt0eu9xmp3sp0fku68mqehq4msp3tvm4 I was really astounded when I heard about that. I don't think it had ever really been highlighted before but as soon as it was widely known, there was no way it was going to continue.
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Interestingly it has come up before in previous cases, but this time it seemed (for whatever the reason) to quickly ignite as a political issue
nostr:npub1g0tuf634rz4suczwj7kgnecr6cyt0eu9xmp3sp0fku68mqehq4msp3tvm4 What would happen in the hypothetical situation the compensation is less than the costs? They get billed for incarceration?
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That would have been the case, I assume....
Here's a little bit of good news:
After the uproar about recently freed & wrongly convicted Andrew Malkinson being charged for food & lodgings for the two decades he was wrongly imprisoned, guidance (put in place in 2006) that such costs should be deducted from compensation for miscarriages of justice, has been removed.
Those successfully securing release & gaining compensation will now not also have to pay for the privilege of being banged up while innocent.
Good sense prevails (finally!)
Its hardly surprising that the #NHScrisis has led to the targeting of those on waiting lists by #BuyNowPayLater firms aiming to 'help' them get private #healthcare;
this #Tory made crisis is enriching #finaincialservcies & other Tory chums, while degrading our #health & #wellbeing.
The strategic defunding of the #NHS is intended to expand the market for private healthcare... who have been preparing by expanding capacity & poaching NHS staff.
#SaveOurNHS
In Q1/23 #tesla's best selling model outsold the ubiquitous #Toyota Corolla....
John Naughton (in the Observer) makes the point that this might be more important than the normal fare of the market share column(s) of the motoring press...
If he's right & Toyotia is Nokia, to Tesla's #Apple, #electriccars being phones in this metaphor, then this might lead to some optimism for the supporters of the transition to #electricvehicles.
nostr:npub1g0tuf634rz4suczwj7kgnecr6cyt0eu9xmp3sp0fku68mqehq4msp3tvm4 my problem with the popular "doomsday" narrative of AI is that it's extremely human-centric. It projects very human wants on non-human entities, and like much pop-scifi it tries not to think too deeply about a completely different mode of living/experience. Would AI on board autonomous robots potentially be dangerous? Of course! Because they will want to dominate the world like a 2 bit dictator in a Tom Clancy novel? Probably not.
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Ha ha, yes I would broadly agree... my tongue was firmly in my cheek when I wrote that post earlier this morning.... that said, equally I'm not sure we can be too relaxed about the consequences for AI+robot... but, yes, I was kidding (mostly)
Meanwhile in #Massachusetts, #BostonDynamics have deployed their latest four-legged #robot....
no, of course there's no danger on theses robots being equipped with #artificialintelligence....
no, no possibility whatever of them forming a global web (let's call is #SkyNet) & then deploying Terminators to rule the world....
what are you thinking?
of course, we're safe from domination by the robots, you've watched too many #scifi #movies
There are all sorts of problems with the methods for collecting & assessing the data, but that hasn't stopped the boom in #carbon emission auditing... and where there's a boom, the #capitalist sees a profit.
Just to reassure you that #capitalism's key attribute is the ability to find a way to make anything, including the #climatecrisis, a potential #business opportunity.... mind you what that actual data is like is another issue altogether!
nostr:npub1g0tuf634rz4suczwj7kgnecr6cyt0eu9xmp3sp0fku68mqehq4msp3tvm4 I went sideways with this, but it got me thinking, why is there no fiduciary responsibility to redirect the excesses of CEO salaries and bonuses to shareholders?
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That's a really good Q.; my guess would be that it would be argued that the 'best interests' of investors are effectively best served when the CEO & executives are 'properly paid.... and so provided the shareholders vote for the remuneration package at the AGM, then that circle would appear to have been closed.... the issue of course is defining 'excess'....