It’s a sad reflection of our politicians that many of them appear to be economically illiterate and unable to challenge or debate with WAG over its economic and business policies, a situation which is worrying enough in good economic times, but in bad economic times it really highlights the yawning knowledge gaps of our AM’s on these matters. What’s worse it seems that business journalists who could make up for some of the lack of knowledge of our politicians by asking some of the difficult questions and reporting more widely on the welsh economy are falling short as well, take the latest unemployment figures.
Welsh unemployment dropped for the second month in a row, it’s a welcome boost with over 100,000 people still out of work and no immediate sign of overseas investment or sustainable growth but where was the context in the reporting of yesterday figures from the Office for National Statistics?. The headlines screamed a drop in unemployment and the stories that accompanied them were about little else. Despite the ever decreasing welsh media good reporting is still needed so readers and watchers are as well informed as they can be about the economic situation across Wales as it affect everyone’s daily lives.
I’m sure part of the reason why some of the following issues didn’t make it into the reports was editorial, but the media should have at least mentioned some of the following to give a less distorted view of the economic crisis.
Which areas are of Wales are suffering the most and why?
Where in Wales jobs are being created and in what sectors ?
How Wales stands after the second drop in unemployment in relation to other UK regions for good or bad?
What else is on offer from Local Authorities, Training providers, Colleges and Job Centres beside ProAct and ReAct to help companies and employees through the recession?
The worrying trend in Youth Unemployment and the impact that it will have in the medium and long term in these young people don’t get a foot on the employment ladder soon.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Welsh Icons website
Not sure how long this site WELSH ICONS has been going but its got some great stuff about all aspects of Wales from food and drink to songs, politics, famous welsh people and a whole lot more, its worth a read.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The Conservatives and possible 20% VAT
It’s one thing for the Conservatives to slap down the press over the prospect of VAT rising to 20% and try to pull the wool over voters eyes about their intentions but with 1 in 10 UK high street shops standing empty and retailers continuing to struggle and recent calls for the 2.5% VAT reduction introduced last November to be extended to help ease the pain for retailers and consumers, a VAT rise seems even more at odds with the current climate. It also raises the prospect that the Conservatives are more interested in balancing the books than getting the economy back on its feet.
The point is also made over at Liberal Conspiracy
(Adam) Smith thought increasing taxes on “necessities” would be counterproductive. Not just for the poor, who are hit with higher effective prices, but for the better-off, who suffer from the economic stagnation higher indirect taxes on necessities produces.
Yet that seems not in fact to be the case. Here we come to a fascinating passage from the Wealth of Nations that all in favour of increased rates of VAT should take note of:
By necessaries I understand, not only the commodities which are indispensably necessary for the support of life, but whatever the custom of the country renders it indecent for creditable people, even of the lowest order, to be without. A linen shirt, for example, is, strictly speaking, not a necessary of life. The Greeks and Romans lived, I suppose, very comfortably, though they had no linen. But in present times…a creditable day-labourer would be ashamed to appear in public without a linen shirt, the want of which would be supposed to denote that disgraceful degree of poverty, which it is presumed, no body can well fall into without extreme bad conduct.
For human beings embedded in the context of society, the idea of a “necessary” good extends beyond mere food and shelter. There are some things people must have, without which their lives go intolerably worse. And those things should not be taxed.
The present VAT regime exempts most food and drink, children’s clothes and other things deemed necessities. Yet many things are not exempt nor receiving the 5% reduced rate: adult clothing is a fitting example, given our context.
Raising the VAT rate to 20% would increase the cost of many goods which are necessities to poorer people and middle income households struggling with recession in the wider, socialised context that Smith was pointing to.
Regardless of what Tory policy-makers think about the (de)merits of regressive taxation in terms of equality of the popular tax burden, they should carefully consider Smith’s contention: that increasing taxes on the necessities of life will be counterproductive and damage the interests of everybody, wherever they happen to stand on the income scale.
The point is also made over at Liberal Conspiracy
(Adam) Smith thought increasing taxes on “necessities” would be counterproductive. Not just for the poor, who are hit with higher effective prices, but for the better-off, who suffer from the economic stagnation higher indirect taxes on necessities produces.
Yet that seems not in fact to be the case. Here we come to a fascinating passage from the Wealth of Nations that all in favour of increased rates of VAT should take note of:
By necessaries I understand, not only the commodities which are indispensably necessary for the support of life, but whatever the custom of the country renders it indecent for creditable people, even of the lowest order, to be without. A linen shirt, for example, is, strictly speaking, not a necessary of life. The Greeks and Romans lived, I suppose, very comfortably, though they had no linen. But in present times…a creditable day-labourer would be ashamed to appear in public without a linen shirt, the want of which would be supposed to denote that disgraceful degree of poverty, which it is presumed, no body can well fall into without extreme bad conduct.
For human beings embedded in the context of society, the idea of a “necessary” good extends beyond mere food and shelter. There are some things people must have, without which their lives go intolerably worse. And those things should not be taxed.
The present VAT regime exempts most food and drink, children’s clothes and other things deemed necessities. Yet many things are not exempt nor receiving the 5% reduced rate: adult clothing is a fitting example, given our context.
Raising the VAT rate to 20% would increase the cost of many goods which are necessities to poorer people and middle income households struggling with recession in the wider, socialised context that Smith was pointing to.
Regardless of what Tory policy-makers think about the (de)merits of regressive taxation in terms of equality of the popular tax burden, they should carefully consider Smith’s contention: that increasing taxes on the necessities of life will be counterproductive and damage the interests of everybody, wherever they happen to stand on the income scale.
Monday, August 10, 2009
A renewed interest in Welsh History is a good thing
I suppose its part of the legacy of not having much Welsh history taught in schools and a politics dominated by one main strand of political thinking among other things that people aren’t fully aware of recent and not so recent Welsh historical and political events, myself included.
However recently there seem to be some renewed interest in some of the less well known and in some case less palatable parts of our history. Whether it has something to do with the tenth anniversary of devolution and the 40th anniversary of Prince Charles investiture coming together im not sure, but the article by David Williamson on photos of the Free Wales Army on display in Southampton as part of a Hidden Britain series and the recent ITV and BBC Wales programmes on the Princes of Wales Investiture in 1969 and the role of Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC) in the spate of bombing leading up to Investiture Day have shed light on events that many weren’t aware and certainly made me think.
As one of the contributors said on the ITV Wales Prince and the Plotters programme how did these events influence what followed in Welsh politics over the coming decades, something our politicians probably don’t like to think about.
On the broader point whatever side of the political spectrum you are on history is important in day to day politics and for the wider political understanding among the population and in these days when so many are disconnected from politics it could be a way to reconnect. Now I’m not saying we have to teach Plaid Cymru’s version of history but it’s worth thinking about adding more contemporary Welsh history to the curriculum because much of what I learnt about Wales I learnt after I left as the history subjects I was taught were Crime and Punishment, the American Civil War and Japan’s Economic Rise after World War 2 as they were part of the National Curriculum.
However recently there seem to be some renewed interest in some of the less well known and in some case less palatable parts of our history. Whether it has something to do with the tenth anniversary of devolution and the 40th anniversary of Prince Charles investiture coming together im not sure, but the article by David Williamson on photos of the Free Wales Army on display in Southampton as part of a Hidden Britain series and the recent ITV and BBC Wales programmes on the Princes of Wales Investiture in 1969 and the role of Mudiad Amddiffyn Cymru (MAC) in the spate of bombing leading up to Investiture Day have shed light on events that many weren’t aware and certainly made me think.
As one of the contributors said on the ITV Wales Prince and the Plotters programme how did these events influence what followed in Welsh politics over the coming decades, something our politicians probably don’t like to think about.
On the broader point whatever side of the political spectrum you are on history is important in day to day politics and for the wider political understanding among the population and in these days when so many are disconnected from politics it could be a way to reconnect. Now I’m not saying we have to teach Plaid Cymru’s version of history but it’s worth thinking about adding more contemporary Welsh history to the curriculum because much of what I learnt about Wales I learnt after I left as the history subjects I was taught were Crime and Punishment, the American Civil War and Japan’s Economic Rise after World War 2 as they were part of the National Curriculum.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
What happened to Nick Bourne’s Policy Speeches?
It’s been a quiet time for Conservative Assembly leader Nick Bourne of late after the expense row at the beginning of the year, he has had a good time of it of late when the Conservative topped the European poll and its seems from outside at least he is in control and looking forward to a Tory Government at Westminster.
But back in January at the height of the ‘iPod gate’ when there were several calls for Nick Bourne’s resignation as Assembly Party leader he announced that he would be making a series of key policy speeches setting out his Welsh Conservative view of the future to deflect some of the flack.
The reason I mention it now as I was told that one of those speeches was to be given at the National Eisteddfod which concluded yesterday but I didn’t see any coverage of a speech from Nick Bourne in the Daily Post or Western Mail maybe i’m wrong.
This is from the South Wales Evening Post back in January 2009
ASSEMBLY Tory leader Nick Bourne attempted to get his leadership back on track today — after the debacle over his taxpayer-funded iPod — by setting out his plans for the year ahead.
He made clear to his critics he had no intention of standing down as opposition leader, saying he wanted to "set a clear Welsh Conservative agenda during 2009
Mr Bourne announced he would be making a series of speeches on key policy areas, such as the economy and public services, in the coming weeks.
And he said he was going into the new year with the support of Tory AMs.
"It's done very much with the support of the team," he said.
"We are a very strong, united team."
So what happened to those planned speeches i wonder, may Nick was hoping people would forget that he said anything in the first place?
But back in January at the height of the ‘iPod gate’ when there were several calls for Nick Bourne’s resignation as Assembly Party leader he announced that he would be making a series of key policy speeches setting out his Welsh Conservative view of the future to deflect some of the flack.
The reason I mention it now as I was told that one of those speeches was to be given at the National Eisteddfod which concluded yesterday but I didn’t see any coverage of a speech from Nick Bourne in the Daily Post or Western Mail maybe i’m wrong.
This is from the South Wales Evening Post back in January 2009
ASSEMBLY Tory leader Nick Bourne attempted to get his leadership back on track today — after the debacle over his taxpayer-funded iPod — by setting out his plans for the year ahead.
He made clear to his critics he had no intention of standing down as opposition leader, saying he wanted to "set a clear Welsh Conservative agenda during 2009
Mr Bourne announced he would be making a series of speeches on key policy areas, such as the economy and public services, in the coming weeks.
And he said he was going into the new year with the support of Tory AMs.
"It's done very much with the support of the team," he said.
"We are a very strong, united team."
So what happened to those planned speeches i wonder, may Nick was hoping people would forget that he said anything in the first place?
Making History American Style
It’s been quite a week in America with former President Clinton’s extraordinary trip to North Korea to bring back two American Journalists who were sentenced to 12 years hard labour for allegedly crossing the border.
But the following day something of more significance took place in Washington as America continued to make history following the election of the first black President last year. After weeks of hearings on Capital Hill the US Senate approved the nomination of the first Hispanic Supreme Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the highest court in the land and she was sworn in yesterday by Chief Justice John Roberts (who did a better job than when he swore Barack Obama in as President in January)
According to the reports Sonia Sotomayor is only the third women to serve on the Supreme Court, is a graduate of Yale University and was nominated by the first President Bush to become a district Judge and then by and President Clinton onto the Circuit Court before being picked by President Obama for the Supreme Court.
But the following day something of more significance took place in Washington as America continued to make history following the election of the first black President last year. After weeks of hearings on Capital Hill the US Senate approved the nomination of the first Hispanic Supreme Court Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the highest court in the land and she was sworn in yesterday by Chief Justice John Roberts (who did a better job than when he swore Barack Obama in as President in January)
According to the reports Sonia Sotomayor is only the third women to serve on the Supreme Court, is a graduate of Yale University and was nominated by the first President Bush to become a district Judge and then by and President Clinton onto the Circuit Court before being picked by President Obama for the Supreme Court.
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