The Future Now

Michael Jackson

Difficult to remain completely untouched by the death of Michael Jackson.  A deeply troubled soul of course, but a great performer with a wonderful voice who also made a serious contribution to the world of contemporary dance.

Richard Williams sums it up especially well in this piece for the Guardian.

The lessons of Boris

Johann Hari has this excellent piece in today's Independent.  It's an accurate assessment of the pluses and minuses of the Boris Johnson's first year as Mayor of London.  His conclusion: not withstanding some surprising policy initiatives on the part of the mop-haired one, Johnson remains a largely unreconstructed right winger.  Hari suggests we should be very worried about the prospect of David Cameron winning the next election.

Goodwin's Pension

As you can probably imagine I have little time for Sir Fred Goodwin and his ilk.  People like Goodwin reconfigured the banking system for the benefit of a wealthy elite of which they were proud to be part.  Ridiculous pension arrangements were part and parcel of the system by which these people made their undeserved fortunes.

But they could not have done it without the acquiescence of government, and in Britain for the last twelve years that government has been a Labour government.

For John Prescott to absolve Gordon Brown of all responsibility, as he did on the Today programme this morning is, quite frankly, and to use language with which Prescott would himself be comfortable, taking the piss. 

Bankers and politicians thought they could get away with it.  The former because many among their number feel themselves entitled to obscene remuneration for running business which produce nothing of tangible value.  The latter because, for reasons which they really ought to explain, they refuse to challenge the wealth, power and privilege of a tiny minority. In their failure to do so they prove themselves totally lacking in democratic credentials.

If there are no legal means by which Goodwin can be forced to return his pension pot, then perhaps we taxpayers might be reimbursed through a charge on the future earnings of everyone who has served in this government over the last decade.

A new model of the economy

I have a new piece up at Comment is Free this afternoon.  It takes a look at possible long term solutions to the financial crisis through the ideas outlined in an excellent new book by Brian Hodgkinson.  As the Guardian summarises in its standfirst:

Left and right, economists have been suffering from a shortage of new ideas. But that may be about to change.

I think this book could make a major contribution to building a more just and equitable society.  I recommend it wholeheartedly, and am pleased to report that the publishers, Shepheard-Walwyn are making it available to readers of this blog at a considerable discount.

Click here to take advantage of this offer.

Cake and eat it capitalism

This piece by Larry Elliott in yesterday's Guardian on the nationalisation of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae perfectly describes the hypocrisy of the current economic system, and those who support it.

As Elliot says,

If ever there was a time to bring in controls on the ability of banks to create unlimited amounts of credit, to restrict the more toxic forms of derivatives, to rein in the activities of hedge funds, to insist that remuneration structures are not biased in favour of reckless speculation, and to use anti-trust law to break up the power of the big institutions then this, surely, is it.

But as he correctly points out, no one, from Gordon Brown to Barack Obama is making the right noises.  Surely we can't let the interests of elite wealth and privilege off the hook again, while taxpayers pick up the tab?

ps: for anyone who, like me, intensely dislikes the use of ghastly American nicknames to describe some of the largest financial institutions in the world, their real names are: the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie) and Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie).

Ending educational apartheid

On the day the government proposed a below inflation pay increase for teachers in the state sector, Anthony Seldon, as far as I am aware the only educationalist in this country with any vision, has the text of a stimulating speech reproduced in today's Independent.  The debate over the future of education in the UK has barely begun.

American barbarism

I think there's far too much America bashing on this side of the pond, but occasionally one hears a story which forces the conclusion that aspects of American society and culture are quite beyond the pail for a nation which claims to be civilised and an example to the rest of the world.  One such tale was recounted on Radio Four's Saturday Live this morning, where Fi Glover interviewed Nick Yarris, who spent 22 years on death row for a crime he didn't commit.

Unlike some survivors of death row injustices, Yarris is articulate and passionate, and now gives public talks for Reprieve, the anti-death penalty organisation founded by the remarkable human rights lawyer, Clive Stafford-Smith.  If you missed it, the interview is well worth a listen.

An eminently sensible Tory

Zac Goldsmith was on Newsnight tonight discussing the government's plans to use nuclear energy to address climate change.  He was debating with Tom Burke who was rational and practical, Sir Bernard Ingham, Margaret Thatcher's former press secretary who was, almost literally, barking, and some guy representing the electricity producers, who did his job perfectly well, but added little to the debate.

Goldsmith was superb, as he usually is.  Surely if the Conservative party has a future he, and others like him (if there are any), rather than David Cameron and George Osborne, are it.

Goldsmith is standing against Susan Kramer at Richmond in the next general election.  It's weird to think that if I lived in Richmond, I'd be struggling to decide whether to vote for a Lib-Dem or a Tory.  The world is definitely changing.