Happy Birthday, England!

Posted on April 23, 2024 by davidsberry

Today is St George’s Day’ But it is a sad fact that few other countries ignore their national day as pointedly as the English. Greeks are fierce in celebrating March 26th the anniversary of liberation from Turkish rule; Americans make 4th of July into a fireworks-charged celebration; ten days later the French mark Bastille Day; an amazing number of non-Irish don the green with the Irish themselves to celebrate St Paddy. 

Why not the English?

More malicious commentators (such as this blog) argue that it’s their own fault. By having a history whose glory was founded on empire, the passage of that empire over half a century ago has failed to find a cohesive substitute. The Commonwealth may remain a force for good, but it does pivot around England as top dog, the way the empire did. The attempt to find a role within Europe shattered on NBoris and his Brexit buddies. The “special relationship” with the USA is as delusional as the “Auld Alliance” with France was for Scotland half a millennium ago..

England’s identity problem dates from over 300 years ago. After a troublesome century that included a civil war, five enforced changes of Head of State, a plantation of Ireland, Jacobite rebellion and sundry religious wars and persecution, the English parliament was understandably looking for peace and stability. After the disastrous Darien expedition of the late 17th century had drained much of Scotland capital, it was a matter of opportunity and expediency to pay the largely aristocratic members of the Scottish parliament to vote themselves out of existence in 1707.

“The Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland are hereby united into one Kingdom by the name of Great Britain”—Union with Scotland Act, 1706

But, instead of acknowledging the equal nature of two states coming together in a union, the terms were to add 45 Scottish seats to the existing 513 English  in the House of Commons and 16 Scottish peers (but no clergy) to the Hours of Lords. Virtually nothing else changed; it remained the English parliament in all but name.

This attitude was compounded by two further Jacobite rebellions and ongoing unrest in Ireland that convinced many people that England was the civilised core, while little distinguished the rest of Britain from colonies like Virginia or Jamaica—except that they were more trouble and less profitable. The result was a couple of centuries of “Scottish cringe”, during which Scottish nobility learned cut-glass accents to fit in “down South’, and generations of Scottish schoolkids had their ears boxed for daring to speak the vernacular.

That said, when Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution elevated Scots from peripheral poverty to globe-spanning riches in the Union which had swept French ambition aside over the next hundred years bore fruit. Both countries shared the spoils of the Pax Britannica, dominating the world over the following century. Nobody took umbrage at the backsliding restoration of “England” as ruler of the pink-painted fifth of the globe. But as the pink was painted out, the word “British” lost its lustre too.

“England expects every man to do his duty.”—Admiral Nelson at Trafalgar, October 1805

Nelson’s final signal gave scant national offense to 40 Scots among the battle-hardened tars below decks on HMS Victory. But the implication they might not do their duty did.

The first half of the 19th century was the era of integration as Scots tried to rebrand themselves as “North British”. Walter Scott orchestrated George IV’s garish tartan visit; streets were named after Melbourne, Pitt and Palmerston; Victoria fell in love with Deeside. But the once-wild Scots making themselves appear harmless just reinforced pseudo-colonial attitudes in London where “England” remained in common usage when referring to the United Kingdom.

This is hardly surprising. Much of the burgeoning wealth and power concentrated there. Blake’s “Jerusalem” became a stirring anthem for the UK as a whole. It was more than the Greenwich meridian that made London the centre of the world. Other countries refer to the UK as Angleterre…Inglaterra…Anglia. The parliament at Westminster remains de facto the English parliament, dominated by 533 English MPs. Should the other 59 Scottish, 40 Welsh and 18 Irish sever to find common cause, it could be massively outvoted.

The monolithic two-party system at Westminster rather clouds this issue, but since the Irish were hived off in 1922, we have lived a century where London remained the centre of its shrinking imperial world, with England its bailiwick.  Whether discussing immigration or train strikes, water companies or Brexit, the debates are actually bout England but treated as if they were about Britain.

It is not just government that operates like this. BBC’s Radio 4 is supposedly UK-wide, but sounds like English National Radio. Cricket is treated as a major sport, with the Middlesex CC’s 160-year tenure of Lords treated as a national event. After the Jubilee and Elizabeth lines came Crossrail and now a debate about Heathrow’s third runway. Are any of these really UK issues?

The confusion arises because of deft consensus among all parties that “Britain” is the only word to be used. Yet the elephant in the room is the lopsided setup of the British state. Of the UK’s 67 million people, 56 million live in England. The other 11 million have three parliaments discussing their needs. But 84% of the British population has no such parliament, dedicated to their needs. Yet the UK parliament must find time between helping Ukraine, pacifying Gaza, dealing with global warming, etc. to worry about social crises, or declining education— issues immediately relevant to England. No wonder its eye drifts off the ball and the English feel hard-done-by.

No wonder England is now confused and anguishing about its identity. Sassenachs should be out celebrating your Englishness today. Tomorrow, berate your MP for doing two jobs badly. Tell him/her: England should have its own parliament—just like the Scots.

“There is no separate Parliament for England and it’s because devolution was more a case of making a bad arrangement less worse than trying to do it properly.”—Stephen Mawhinney

#1109—1,005 words

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Car-Borne Capture

Posted on April 20, 2024 by davidsberry

The Scottish Green Party are hopping mad that the Scottish Government, in which they are a partner, have abandoned their goal of reaching a 75% cut in carbon emissions by 2030. The move was triggered by a damning report from an independent committee tasked with tracking such things.

“The 2030 target is no longer credible because of inadequate action in areas including home heating, transport and farming.”—UK Climate Change Committee (CCC), March 2024

“We accept the CCC’s recent re-articulation that this parliament’s interim 2030 target is out of reach.”—Màiri McAllan Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy, April 18th 2024

The move is a significant climbdown from a government which was one of the first in the world to declare a climate emergency.

Màiri McAllan was elected to the Scottish Parliament in 2021 representing Clydesdale. She was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Net Zero and Just Transition in March 2023, then as Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero and Energy two months ago.In her role, the Scottish Government says she is supported by three colleagues:

  • Gillian Martin as Minister for Energy, Just Transition and Fair Work
  • Lorna Slater as Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity
  • Patrick Harvie Minister for Zero Carbon Buildings, Active Travel and Tenants’ Rights

Readers may be bewildered by this proliferation of titles that weave ministerial responsibilities across what might seem logical boundaries. But First Minister Yousaf has taken what was once a penetrable structure under six Cabinet Secretaries and exploded them into no fewer 28 ministerial posts.

The cross-cutting thinking that seems to be behind these interwoven titles appear to have run foul of the politician’s foibles of ambition, mistrust, and empire-building. The result is an absence of joined-up thinking and a corresponding dearth of real action. Addressing climate change requires a spectrum of co-operation right across government. This does not appear to be happening.

Consider transportation as an example. The Greens and several councils have a hostile attitude to motorists, praise public transport and subsidise a myriad of train services, bus routes and ferries. But in the 17 years since the SNP formed the Scottish Government, there have been nine Transport Ministers and a dearth of joined-up thinking.

Transport is Scotland’s biggest contributor to climate change, emitting over a quarter of all our greenhouse gas emissions. Within this, the largest share of transport emissions comes from cars, accounting for 38%. While car use in thinly populated rural areas may remain essential, countering overwhelming use of private cars in cities means making public transport an easy and cheap way to move around. Following sterling examples set by Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Munich, etc. would render carbon targets achievable.

Meantime, despite Newspeak press releases emanating from a long succession of transport ministers the level of transport cohesion in any of Scotland’s six main cities is risible.

  1. Edinburgh The second-most popular tourist destination in the UK boasts the most tourists passing through its main station: Waverley. Most of the city’s 50+ bus routes pass nearby. But they are scattered over a dozen nearby stops accessed through one of the five exits from the station. Accessing the tram involves five escalators and a 300m walk. So does the airport bus since it was thrown off Waverley Bridge and taxis banished to the nether regions of New Street. In the station itself, there is no information to find them. Visitors from Europe think all this rather third-world.
  2. Glasgow Whether at Central or Queen Street, bus information on buses on adjacent streets does not exist, nor does the obvious need for a link over the half mile between the two. And, through Queen Street boasts a subway access, Central has none.
  3. Dundee Since the area was revamped, the station sits on an island surrounded by multi-lane traffic. It is easier and more obvious to get to the V&A Dundee than to find local buses on Marketgate, in the city centre, 1/2km away across two main roads.
  4. Perth has the magnificent ex-Caledonian station. This is 100m from the bus station. Trouble is, both are a half-mile along South Street to the city’s heart St John’s Square
  5. Aberdeen also has a fine station and, like Perth, is close to the bus station. But it is located 300m south of Union Street, where the local buses run. There is a way to get there, involving a car park, a stairway, and a mall, but it is kept “secret”.
  6. Inverness also has a nearby long-distance bus station. But the way to get there involves Platform 7, a gap in a fence and another car park. Tourists never find it.

But the bitter icing on this almost inedible cake is the lack of integration among modes of transport. Our European neighbours cracked this one half a century ago when Munich rolled all its transport under a single ticket in time for the 1972 Olympics. Even London got its act together a quarter century ago with the Oyster card.

But Scotland? Well, there is the National Entitlement Cards. A significant slice of the population uses these to access public transport. As a result, all buses and train stations have had to be equipped with readers.

But they are available only to under-26’s, pensioners, and those with disabilities. These are not the people driving private cars who need to be lured onto public transport. So, rather than dreaming up idealistic wheezes like container recycling or 75% carbon reduction, what if the Scottish Government were to threaten the Transport Minster with her jotters if she didn’t roll out a Scottish Oyster in two years and properly integrate train and bus within four?

#1109—946 words

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Beyond Culloden

Posted on April 16, 2024 by davidsberry

“How can I be a traitor when England is foreign to me?”

—William Wallace

Exactly 278 years ago today the last battle fought on the British mainland saw Jacobite forces under Charles Edward Stuart suffer defeat at the hands of a British army under the command of Prince William Augustus, the Duke of Cumberland. It took place on Drumossie Moor, east of Inverness. What led up to 16 April 1746 was tragic, but what followed even more so.

Ever since the two kingdoms each coalesced over a thousand years ago, the relationship between Scotland and England had been fraught. After subduing Wales, Edward I almost succeeded in subjugating Scotland tooo. But, after reasserting independence at Bannockburn in 1314, the border rolled back and forth in a succession of raids and warfare for three centuries.

Peace came (in theory) with the 1603 Union of the Crowns. But the the Reformation in the previous century had divided Scots more than the English. Their austere brand of Calvinism in the English-speaking Lowlands underscored a cultural divide with Gaelic-speaking Highlanders.

These differences were subsumed by dissatisfaction with an autocratic Stuart dynasty that culminated in the English Civil War. The collapse of the Commonwealth soon after Cromwell’s death briefly restored control to mor incorrigible Stuarts until the “Glorious Revolution” set the staunchly Protestant William of Orange on the throne. This set the scene for a series of Jacobite rebellions, the most famous of which, was “The’45”, which came closest to succeeding.

Under “Bonnie Prince Charlie”, an army of mostly Catholic Jacobite highlanders reached Derby, causing government panic, a burning of papers and possible evacuation. But Jacobite nerve broke, and the retreat North led to Culloden. Most accounts end with the battle, with the 2,000 Jacobite, and 300 government casualties. However, the real tragedy was the aftermath; the demise of a culture that had evolved from Ulster to Dalriada to the Lords of the Isles.

The morning after the battle, Cumberland issued a declaration to his troops claiming the rebels had been instructed to give no quarter. This was untrue. Over the next two days, the moor was searched and wounded rebels were put to death. Prisoners were taken south to England to stand trial for high treason, many being crammed into hulks on the Thames to await trial. High-ranking “rebel lords” were executed on Tower Hill.

To address the religious disparity the British government enacted laws to further integrate the Highlands, with the Protestant, English-speaking bulk of Britain. Episcopalian ministers were drafted North to extract oaths of allegiance to the Hanoverian dynasty, rather than any “King over the Water”. Those Lords who had remained loyal to the government were compensated for any loss.

But no matter how repressed and abused the Highlanders may have been in retribution, the most longstanding action that doomed the Highland culture was depriving them of their livelihood. Their wealth was measured in beasts, primarily the shaggy, long-horned highland cattle that survived the poor pasture and harsh winters. In the months that followed, over 20,000 head of livestock, sheep, and goats were driven South and sold at auction. None of the proceeds came back to their original owners. A 1746 Act even banned the wearing of tartan, although most highlanders had little else to wear.

This impoverished not just the clans, but the clan chiefs themselves. Those clan chiefs who had been “out” supporting the Jacobite rebellion were stripped of their estates. These were then sold and the profits used to further trade and agricultural improvements, mostly elsewhere.

But the harshest regime on these forfeit estates came not from the new owners, but from factors (professional managers) sent to manage them. Many were lowlanders with neither sympathy, nor understanding for the people put in their charge. Through diligent cultivation and hard work, clans could eke a living from their unpromising glens. But the factors wanted more. In increasing numbers, they evicted tenants and replaced them with more profitable “four-footed clansmen”: sheep.

Men enlisted in the much-feared highland regiments that fought in the Napoleonic Wars. Families gathered at the coast, making what living they could from fishing and gathering kelp. Most gave up this hardscrabble existence and took their chances in the colonies, large groups settling in Nova Scotia, Patagonia, Georgia, Australia, where some Gaelic remains spoken to this day.

There is little doubt that the feudal system of Highland clans would have had to adapt to modern life at some point. But the brutality of the Highland Clearances that followed on from Culloden meant that little survives that is authentic. Sir Walter Scott bears much of the blame. When George IV was the first British monarch to visit Scotland in two centuries, he made a pageant using the trappings of the now-harmless highlanders. Tailors have had a field day ever since inventing tartans no genuine teuchter would recognise. The Great Pipes were dragooned into military marching bands and the great pibroch laments forgotten.

Worst of all, the largely English regiments sent along General Wade’s new military roads that linked Forts William, Augustus and George with the civilised South found impoverished people speaking incoherently put the officers in mind of any other colony where the Raj was busy: making the world England”.

It is the origin of the disparaging way some people speak of the mean-minded tightness of the Scots and the London-centric superiority of the English upper classes—so much so that, within 50 years of Culloden the remaining Scots nobility—including Highland chiefs—were all speaking cut-glass Oxford English and indistinguishable from their southern peers.

However, the attempt to roll Scotland into a homogenous state by calling emerging companies “North British” and the streets of Edinburgh after prominent Englishmen rather foundered on the reluctance of the English to consider themselves “South British” or name anything in the imperial capital after anyone from the colonies. Althugh the 1707 Union was billed as a merger of equals. But the fact that only 59 of the 650 seats in the Commons come from Scotland means its voice is drowned out. The impotence of having 76%of those 59 being held by parties seeking independence makes a travesty of a union of equals and is an affront to democracy.

All of which goes a long way to explain the current independence movement, pushing towards 50% of those living in Scotland and why unionism languishes in a minority.

#1108—1,080 words

Memorial at Culloden is an Unwitting Metaphor of Cultural Attitudes After the Battle
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Greek Dra(ch)mas

Posted on April 5, 2024 by davidsberry

Many British feel dismissive toward the economies of “sun holiday” countries like Greece. There, food and wine are cheap and siestas hamper productivity. It is true that Greece has had a chequered financial past. This included periods of right-wing military dictatorship (1967 1974) and experimental socialism, when the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK)won a landslide victory in 1981.

We all know about the serious Greek debt crisis originating from heavy government spending. This escalated over the years, due to a slowdown in global economic growth. However, when Greece became the 10th member of the European Union (EU) in 1981, the country’s economy and finances were still in good shape.

Prior to 1999, the country continued to have a respectable debt-to-GDP ratio of less than 60%, plus a budget deficit below 3% of GDP. In 2001, Greece forsook the drachma and joined the Eurozone, adopting the € (Euro) as its common currency.  

Their policies took advantage of Greek membership of the Eurozone, calculating that they could increase government expenditure on benefits and early pensions without worrying about devaluation of the currency, as the larger Eurozone members would sustain its value. This fiscal profligacy, was seen as wasteful and excessive expenditure, as it caused deficits and debt levels to explode.

The fiscal jig was up for Greece shortly after the financial crisis of 2007-2008, as investors and creditors focused on the colossal sovereign debt loads. With default a real possibility, investors began demanding much higher yields for sovereign debt issued by Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, and Spain (the so-called “PIIGS”) to counter this added risk.

The final nail in the coffin came in 2009, when a new Greek government led by Papandreou’s son George came into power and revealed that the fiscal deficit was 12.7%, more than twice the previously disclosed figure, throwing the Greek the debt crisis into a higher gear.

Up until then, the sovereign debt risk for those countries had been camouflaged by their wealthy neighbours in the north, such as Germany. By January 2012, however, the yield spread between 10-year Greek and German sovereign bonds widened by a whopping 3,300 basis points. As Greece’s economy contracted in the aftermath of the crisis, the debt-to-GDP ratio skyrocketed, peaking at 180% in 2011.

Alexis Tsipras, a self-identified democratic socialist, had become leader of the restyled Syriza socialist party in 2008. On his promise to ease the stringent conditions placed on Greece by the EU to deal with its debt, Syriza went on to win both the 2015 and 2019 elections.

A decade later Greece’s economy still had not fully recovered, due to disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. While the last official round of financial bailout support had been made to Greece in 2018.

Nonetheless, the austerity measures imposed worked. In 2023, Greece’s debt-to-GDP ratio was down to 160.2%, and it still had until the year 2060 to fully pay off those debts. And, despite this burden, Greece has achieved a high standard of living, ranking 32 out of all countries, according to the World Bank.

As of 2024, Greece now has a GDP-per-capita around $24,500,.

Greece is expected to enjoy economic growth once again in 2024. Strong tourism activity, against a backdrop of high inflation, is boosting tax revenue. The sharp drop in the unemployment rate below 10%, the drastic improvement in public finances and the decline in public and private debt testify to Greece experiencing solid recovery. This is confirmed by the rise in equity and bond markets, and by the sharp tightening of spreads between Greek sovereign debt and the German Bund. 

The rebound in post-COVID activity has enabled the Greek government to combine economic growth and fiscal consolidation. As a result, the country has weathered the successive shocks in Europe in recent years very well. In the third quarter of 2023, real GDP was more than 6% above 2019, which is double the figure for the Eurozone (3.0%). 

In 2024, economic activity is expected to benefit from the recent labour market recovery and the fall in inflation, which, after peaking at 12% in summer 2022, fell back to 3.5% in December 2023. Short- and medium-term trends thus remain encouraging and growth is expected to stay above 2% in 2024, according to the European Commission’s forecast.

The improvement in public accounts is one of the most noteworthy underlying dynamics in Greece. After posting a primary deficit of 10% of GDP at the height of the Eurozone crisis, Greece recorded a primary budget surplus of 0.1% in 2022. This surplus widened in 2023—from €3.7 billion to €6.3 billion. Despite rising interest rates, the turnaround in the government accounts will reduce public debt. The Greek government also intends to use some of its cash reserves to repay in advance nearly €16 billion of its debt to the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which will help accelerate debt reduction.

After retaining an absolute majority in the Greek Parliament, Kyriákos Mitsotákis and his New Democracy party emerged strengthened from the 2023 elections. He intends to continue the privatisation programme aiming to reduce government debt. Despite falling sharply over the past two years, Greece’s debt ratio is still the highest in Europe. His measures, aimed at rebalancing the public accounts and liberalising the economy, have reassured markets and reduced the risk premium on Greek sovereign bonds. The spread between Greek and German rates has narrowed to just 100 basis points.

For comparison, the UK (pop. 66.96 million) has a GDP of £3,089 billion, a sovereign debt of £2,654 billion, growing at a rate of £156 billion each year. This contrast with Greece (pop. 10,46 million), with a GDP of £174.1 billion has sovereign debt of £312.8 billion, being reduced at a rate of £5.4 billion each year.

Put another way, every Brit’s debt of £40,212 is rising by £2,364 each year, while every Greek’s debt is a quarter less at £29,882, and falling by £516 each year.

#1107—981 words

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Free-for-All Freeports

Posted on April 1, 2024 by davidsberry

Whatever their political preferences, most people in Britain accept that the economy is underperforming and that living standards have not materially improved in over a decade. A major policy initiative from Westminster to address this, and thereby level up the worsening disparity of wealth across Britain was to introduce Freeports and Special Economic zones (SEZs). There are currently 12 Freeports, two of which (Cromarty and Forth) are in Scotland, plus 74 SEZs, eight of which lie in Scotland. SEZs are smaller and generally focussed on a particular industry. We will therefore focus on the larger, broader freeports.

The intent of these, as the UK Ship of State charts a fresh new course, is that our economy might prosper from mercantile individualism away from former friends across Europe. Their founding principle is to foster enterprise and investment by removing business disincentives. Each freeport will have access to £25m in seed capital. To quote the UK Government:

“Freeports are new hubs for global trade, investment, and innovation within the UK that create favourable opportunities for businesses growth.”

—UK Department for Business & Trade

Their advantages include a reduction in regulation, avoidance of customs restrictions, access to public seed money and lighter tax burdens. The tax reliefs available in Freeports located in Scotland:

  • Land and Buildings Transaction Tax relief 
  • Enhanced capital allowances for investment in both plant & machinery and structures & buildings 
  • Five years of non-domestic rates relief
  • Employer National Insurance contributions relief

Given the general animosity between Holyrood and Westminster, many would think the Scottish Government might oppose the introduction of freeports and SEZs on their bailiwick. Not a bit of it.

“I very much welcome the resumption of joint working between the Scottish and UK Governments, on a partnership basis, to tailor the UK’s freeports programme to the Scottish policy context.”

—Kate Forbes, Cabinet Sec for Finance & the Economy, letter to Michael Gove, 15 February 2022

With little fanfare and scant media interest, these plans have been forging ahead under the enthusiastic guidance of Michael Gove, who regards them as a major vessel to carry his levelling-up brief to successful completion.

“Freeports have attracted £2.9bn of investment and created 6,000 jobs since they were established in 2022. All this investment is from the private sector.”

—Levelling-up Secretary speaking to the Business & Trade Committee, 10 Ja. 2024

However, there would appear to be a reef or two not marked on government charts, but recognised as such by those concerned about cavalier use of public money and especially the independistas who want to jump ship from the British state.

Even the more astute observers of UK politics may now think that our only view of Brexit is in the rear-view mirror. For good or ill, Britain left the EU three years ago and even most remailers consider the matter done and dusted. Certainly, that is what the UK Government and hard-line Brexiteers, such as Jacob Ress-Mogg, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage, would have us all believe.

Those reefs in the water ahead deriving from freeports are fourfold:

  1. Autonomy: These freeports are being constructed as states within a state, where many laws and regulations will not apply
  2. Governance: will be in the hands of private corporations, some with little or no transparency and Democratic involvement is minimal
  3. Future Impact: Their setup is likely to scupper any attempt by an independent Scotland, or even the UK, seeking to re-enter the EU
  4. Precedent: attempts to establish freeports have, to date, not been encouraging

Regarding autonomy, freeports make UK jurisdictions start to look like a Russian doll. Each of Scotland’s two freeports (Cromarty and Forth) stretch over a radius of 45 km from their centres. Business and trade laws may well differ from each other and from the rest of the country. This may include control of trade unions, or health and safety.

Freeport governance operates under a ‘Governmental Authority’. The Scottish Government has approved exclusive Labour representation on Forth—Cllrs Cammy Day (Edinburgh), Alan Nimmo (Falkirk) and Altary Craig (Fife). This partial oversight of such bodies sits poorly against democratic principles. Secrecy allows controlling firms to onshore their tax avoidance. Forth. Ports controls five other ports in the UK. It is a subsidiary of Otterports, already registered in the Cayman Islands to minimise tax.

Of more importance to future Scottish independence, freeports may scupper any hope of re-joining the EU. Although freeports exist in the EU, they are exclusively publicly owned. Those in the UK are not, which contradicts EU law and would invalidate any attempt to join. On 31st December, this was exacerbated by Jacob Rees-Mogg’s Retained EU Law (REUL) bill, which came into effect. It scrapped 600 EU laws in food safety, employment rights and environment, making any future harmonisation problematic, at best.

The precedence for these freeports does not auger well. Thatcher tried to set up 11 in the 1980s but was thwarted by the EU law requiring public ownership, mentioned above. Professor Paul Romer of Stanford (mentor to Rishi Sunak) tried to set up a freeport along these lines in Honduras, Central America. It was struck down by their Supreme Court as violating the sovereignty of the people in the zone chosen. The Honduran government is now being sued for $11 billion—one third of the entire GDP.

Worst of all is the precedent set by the UK Government’s flagship freeport on Tesside. Ben Houchen, the Tory metro mayor of Tees Valley, is accused of presiding over a redevelopment deal that left the taxpayer seriously out of pocket. Teesworks is the company developing the freeport was handed 110 acres of public land for £1 an acre. This tripled Teesworks’ profits. Teesworks is 90% owned by “friends and close associates” of Houchen’s, after the public body, South Tees Development Corporation, handed 40% of shares over for free. Far from the “£25m in seed capital” Teessport has already swallowed £500 million in public funds…and counting.

Gove has, under pressure, finally accepted the need for an inquiry into all this but has refused to say when it will report.

“It’s disappointing to hear that this report is being delayed. People deserve answers to these questions in full and as soon as possible.”

— Cllr. Chris McEwan, Labour candidate for Tees Valley Mayor

The whole point of Brexit was to set up an equivalent to “Singapore on Thames”. This is what the UK did in Hong Kong in 19th century—make up the rules to achieve maximum gain from the natives. Only, the natives living and working around Cromarty or Forth may well suffer similar degraded conditions and absence of any voice. Exit from the EU has allowed a “flexible” (i.e. Wild West) approach to employment conditions and scrutiny of practices.

“EU freeports are unsuitable for the UK economy.”

—UK Govt. REUL report, January 2024

Post-Brexit, things defaulted to WTO rules, freeing government to provide State Aid to any company they chose. This creates a non-level playing field and distorts markets, which is anathema to the EU, as it disrupts the integrity of their Single Market.

“The freeports being set up are future-proofed.”

—UK Govt. REUL report, January 2024

This last statement is delusional. As the UK has no constitution, no government can bind a future government, which may rescind or modify laws or regulations already made. This also applies to an independent Scotland.

See the TNT Show, with John Drummond interviewing David Powell on this matter at:

#1106—1,239 words

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Their Flimsy Fiscal Condescension

Posted on March 29, 2024 by davidsberry

“The UK’s public spending works fairly for Scotland and allows the whole country to pool and share its resources.”

—UK Government’s Delivering for Scotland

Really?

According to UK Government figures, Scotland runs a 9% deficit of £19.1 billion. This is based on their figures of £87.5 billion in tax revenue, £106.6bn in outlays.

On the other hand, according to The London Economic, Scotland’s annual tax contributions to the UK Treasury have increased by £14.2 billion over the last decade, with income tax, capital gains tax and taxes on productions driving this increase. Scottish public sector generated an annual revenue of £73.3 billion during the last financial year. This is a 24%increase versus a decade ago, equating to an increased contribution of £14.2 billion to the UK economy. The figure is lower than the UK government figure above because it does not include revenue from North Sea oil and gas.

Also, the UK government figure for outlays includes several items of questionable value to the people of Scotland. These include Scotland’s 8.5% share of the £21bn development of Trident and almost all its £3bn annual running costs—a total of £4.8bn, which docks a quarter off Scotland’s supposed “deficit” for starters. Kick in the £4.5bn squandered on cost-of-living handouts and the Scottish deficit drops to 4.8%, rather less then the 5.2% deficit the UK is currently running.

“Every time we present a progressive budget, Douglas Ross (Scottish Tory leader) stands up and predicts some kind of mass exodus from Scotland.”

—Humza Yousaf, FM, Budget Debate, 21st December 2023

The bottom line is Scotland now accounts for 8%of total UK contributions, far more per head than the 3.5% from Wales and the 2.1% from Northern Ireland. 

Both income tax (+71%) and capital gains tax (+70%) have seen the largest increase of all taxes on income and wealth over the last decade, with corporation tax (excluding North Sea Oil) also up 17%. This also does not include Scotland’s 90% share of the £2.6bn in windfall tax that the UK government received in fiscal 2022/23. Only public corporation contributions have seen any decline (-30%). 

Taxes on productions have also climbed by 35%, with taxes on environmental levies driving this increase, up 368% in the last decade. This last is particularly odious because the levies favour generation close to the many English conurbations and penalise those generated in the many sparsely populated stretches of Scotland.

Taxes on land and building transactions have increased by 197%, with taxes from EU Emissions Trading Scheme auction receipts seeing the third largest increase at 190%.

“Scotland’s economic contribution to the UK stretches far beyond North Sea Oil and, in fact, there has been significant increases across many areas of the Scottish economy in the last decade.”

—Bradley Post, MD of RIFT

No wonder any mention of Scottish independence triggers desperate chills among unionists: the above gives over fourteen billion reasons why they’re so keen to cling to Scotland as part of the UK.

#1105—501 words

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Orban’s Heritage?

Posted on March 23, 2024 by davidsberry

On March 8th, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán visited Donald Trump at his palatial Mar-a-Lago retreat, where media reported much bonhomie and mutual respect. Almost unreported was Orbán’s visit to Washington, where he met Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation at its headquarters and spoke privately to an audience of right-wing politicians, analysts and public personalities. To more liberal observers, it was nothing short of shocking that Orbán declined to meet with officials in Biden’s administration yet met with such a right-wing think tank instead.

Since Roberts’s appointment as head of Heritage in 2021, this formerly mainstream conservative organisation has swung to the position that its role is “institutionalising Trumpism. Roberts has been vocal about his admiration for Orbán, tweeting that it was an honour to meet him. The admiration appears to be mutual.

“Hungary is the place where we didn’t just talk about defeating the progressives and liberals and causing a conservative Christian political turn, but we actually did it.”

—Viktor Orbán, addressing the CPAC in 2023

Roberts is quoted as saying that Orbán’s statement was true and should be celebrated. He has called modern Hungary “not just a model for conservative statecraft but the model.

Last year, under Roberts’ direction, Heritage joined the Hungarian Danube Institute in a formal partnership. The Hungarian think tank is overseen by a foundation that is directly funded by the Hungarian government. It is effectively a state-funded front for pushing pro-Orbán rhetoric. The Danube Institute has given grants to far-right figures in the US. 

The American public have no idea how much funding may be flowing  The tight cooperation between Heritage and Orbán is behind something called Project 2025, the plan Heritage has led, along with dozens of other right-wing organisations, to map out a future right-wing presidency. directly from Orbán’s regime to the Heritage Foundation.

In Hungary, Orbán has changed the political landscape by:

  • undermining democracy
  • filling the Civil Service with loyalists
  • attacking immigrants, women, and minorities
  • taking over businesses for friends and family
  • moving his country away from rules-based international order 

In an interview this January, Roberts said Project 2025 was designed to jump-start a right-wing takeover of the US government. 

“The Trump administration, with the best of intentions, simply got a slow start. Heritage and our allies in Project 2025 believe that must never be repeated.”

—Kevin Roberts, president, Heritage Foundation

Project 2025 stands on four principles that it says the country must embrace. In their vision, the US must:

  1. restore the family as the centrepiece of American life
  2. dismantle the administrative state
  3. return self-governance to the American people”
  4. defend our nation’s sovereignty, borders, & bounty against global threats s
  5. secure our God-given individual rights to live freely

In almost 1,000 pages, the document explains what these policies mean for ordinary Americans. But more objective explanations might observe:

  1. “Restoring the family” means eliminating any words associated with sexual orientation, abortion, reproductive health, or reproductive rights; it means celebrating overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision
  2. “Dismantling the administrative state” means civil employees who thwarted Trump’s agenda 2016-2020 should be fired and replaced with loyalists who will carry out a right-wing president’s demands.
  3. “Defending our nation’s sovereignty” means ending the rules-based international order hammered out in the years after WWII. This means deserting the UN, NATO or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
  4. “Securing our God-given individual rights to live freely” reeks of religious rule but ultimately focuses on standing against “government control of the economy”—the idea that regulation of business and taxes hampered economic liberty. This ideology mat have moved as much as $50 trillion from the bottom 90% to the top 1% in the US since 1981.

Purging the civil service is a hallmark of dictators, whose loyalists then take over media, education, courts, and the military. 

“With the government firmly in the hands of a dictator’s loyalists, things like water or schools or Social Security cheques depend on your declaration of loyalty, and there is no recourse. You cannot escape to the bar or the bowling alley, since everything you say is monitored. Even courageous people restrain themselves to protect their children.”

—Timothy Snyder, scholar of authoritarianism.

That Trump, Heritage and Orbán have all stood firmly against aid to Ukraine in its struggle to fight off Putin shows a penchant for dictatorship. Plan 2025 is the blueprint for a small, self-selecting elite to take over America, using money as a weapon. 

As the thin end of the wedge in all this, Republican-dominated state legislatures have already attacked voting rights, banned abortion without exceptions and defined a fertilised human egg as a person; They have banned books, attacked public education and gutted business regulation.

America’s Founding Fathers were clear about the relationship between rights and government, in a vision quite different to Project 2025. “\ 

“Governments are instituted among Men. Such governments are not legitimate unless they derive power from the consent of the governed.”

—Declaration of Independence, 1776

#1104—814 words

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Insatiable Social Care

Posted on March 17, 2024 by davidsberry

A year ago, the IK government published their flagship policy “Next Steps to Put People at the Heart of Care”. It is full of noble intent that: “everyone who needs care in England will have outstanding, quality care that empowers them to lead fulfilling lives and have the greatest possible independence”, or “care workers will develop their skills and their careers, and will be recognised for those skills.” All excellent stuff. But om the midst of all this is an asmission from the Minister that:

“For decades adult social care has not had the attention, resource or support from government that it deserves.”

—Helen Whately MP, Minister for Health & Social Care

At present, social care is funded by government for people assessed as having significant care needs and limited financial means (assets below £14,250). People with assets of more than £23,250 pay for all their social care – and there is no limit to what they might pay. Every part of England is now covered by an integrated care board (ICB), as it has been in Scotland for a decade, were each of the 32 councils operates a joint board. 

Allocation of £2.1 billion in funding for England was specifically earmarked for supporting and improving adult social care and discharge, but has yet to achieve much.

According to The Health Foundation. one in seven people aged 65 and over face care costs over £100,000. Government only covers the costs of care for people with the highest needs and lowest means. Everyone else must pay for care themselves, get help from friends or family, or go without. 

  1. Providing basic protection for all against some care costs, with a Scottish-style model of ‘free personal care’ in England, could cost an extra £7bn by 2035/36 
  2. Protecting people with the greatest lifetime care needs against catastrophic costs, by introducing a Dilnot-style ‘cap’ set at £86,000, could cost an extra £3.5bn by 2035/36 
  3. Introducing an NHS-style model of universal and comprehensive care could cost an extra £17bn by 2035/36. 

Successive governments have ditched or delayed plans to reform funding for social care, leaving people suffering unnecessarily. Tony Blair promised reform in 1997. A decade ago, the coalition government legislated for a Dilnot-style cap on care costs but its introduction was later delayed. In 2021, Boris Johnson announced that the cap would finally be implemented. But, in a case of history repeating itself, the government has since delayed the cap until 2025 – after the next election. Ultimately, progress will not happen without political will and leadership. 

According to The Health Foundation wid package of investment and reform in social care is desperately needed. 

“Despite the pressing need for change, successive governments have failed to reform the funding of social care, leaving a catalogue of broken promises, delays and abandoned manifesto commitments whilst people continue to suffer under a care cost lottery.”

— Charles Tallack, Director of Data Analytics, The Health Foundation

It may be because of eye-watering budget numbers involved that successive UK governments have balked at facing the issue. The common view among those working in social care is that they are underpaid for the work they do. The average social care salary in the UK starts around  £19,000, rising to £31,000, according to the government. That averages £12,38 an hour—not much more than minimum wage.

Currently, integration of Social Care with Health is proving to be something of a window-dressing sham on either side of the Border.

Each NHS trust has paid lip service to it, especially in efforts to reduce bed-blocking, But as as cash-strapped councils have sold off care homes to raise funds, the private care providers that dominate the segment have been motivated more by profit.

This alone provides a clue why true integration will be not just thorny, but also expensive. An indication where all this might lead can be found in the US, where the profit motive has long been king in both the health and social care sectors.

According to the Genworth Cost of Care Survey 2023 of care in the US, the most substantial cost increases occurred in home health aide and homemaker services costs. Inflation and the shortage of skilled care workers are the core drivers of increases in the costs of care services.

“Understanding long-term care options and the costs associated with care are critical first steps toward being prepared for whatever you want your aging journey to look like,” 

—Jamala Arland, President and CEO, Genworth

Their 2023 survey found that the costs of long-term care services have increased since 2022 as follows:

  • Assisted living facility rates increased by 1.4% to an annual median cost of $64,200 (£50,156).
  • The cost of a home health aide, which includes “hands-on” personal assistance with activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating, increased 10.0% to an annual median cost of $75,500 (£58,984).
  • Homemaker services, which include assistance with “hands-off” tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and running errands increased 7.1% to an annual median cost of $68,600 (£53,593).
  • The annual median cost of a private room in a nursing home increased 4.9% to $116,800 (£91,328).

Staff trainings and cost are the top barriers that impact a provider’s ability to recriot and train staff.

In the UK, the annual average cost of residential care is £39,480, and receiving nursing care in a care home costs on average £49,920. The US figures for these are already 27% and 84% more, respectively. These differentials do not arise, as might ne expected, from higher wages paid in the US, which are comparable to those in the UK.

The conclusion appears to be that, if the grafting of the public NHS onto a probate system is even feasible, the progit priority of care companies will drive the cost of social care toward that of the US. That will pose the dilemma of whether we are prepared to shoulder the costs. These will be high, whether paid in taxes or directly from your own wallet.

#1103—990 words

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Affordable Husting

Posted on March 6, 2024 by davidsberry

“A social contract where the tax contribution is based on the ability to pay, and strong public services are understood as enabling a strong society and a growing economy.”

—Shona Robison MSP, Foreword to the Scottish Budget 2024-25

This worthy statement, and many others like it, suffuse the 1,512-word Foreword to the Scottish Budget 2024-2025. Though there was much anguish over how to stretch limited funds over many conflicting priorities, the fact of the matter is that Ms Robson had a total of £59.7 billion in public funds to distribute. That amounts to £11,371 for every man, woman and child in Scotland.

As you might expect, the usual suspects among political opponents were quick to rubbish choices made.

“A chaotic and incompetent Budget, based on the fiscally illiterate assumption that income tax can be used to plug the holes.”

—Michael Marra, Labour finance spokesman

“This Budget does nothing” to boost jobs, investment or economic growth.”

—Liz Smith,  Conservative finance spokesperson

While these might be dismissed as the usual parliamentary knockabout, a number of other voices have been raised in criticism, especially those attending the Housing Festival, held at the SECC in Glasgow this week.

“This deeply disappointing and disjointed Budget risks bringing to a screeching halt – and if anything, throwing into reverse – action to tackle poverty.”

—Jamie Livingstone, Chair of Oxfam Scotland

“The Budget will only serve to deepen the housing inequality being felt across the country and risks losing the significant socio-economic benefits that come through increased home building.”

—Fiona Kell, Director of Policy at Homes for Scotland

For it seems the most intense debate around the budget is to do with affordable housing and a 26% cut in funding to support it. On March 3rd, Shona Robison asserted the Scottish Government had built 117,000 new homes since 2007. The Scottish Government’s commitment is, working with partners, to deliver 110,000 affordable homes by 2032. Of this total, the target is that 70% (77,000) will be available for social rent and 10% will be in remote, rural and island communities.

Last year, according to the Scottish Government’s Affordable Housing Supply Programme (AHSP), a total of £752 million was available for deployment in 2023 to 2024 to address Scotland’s shortage of affordable housing.

“The Scottish Government’s ambition is that everyone in Scotland should have access to a warm, safe, affordable and energy efficient home that meets their needs, in a community they feel part of and proud of.”

—Housing to 2040(March 2021)

Lofty words. But, compared to that 2023-24 programme, the revised budget of £556 million, approved at the end of February, represents a serious decrease of 26%. These new “savings” of £196m are split between a £74.7m reduction on capital and a £121.4m reduction in financial transactions. These cuts to ‘financial transactions’ (65%) are greater than the cuts to capital (14%), which means the non-social housing part of the new supply programme takes the brunt. The budget also scrapped the fuel insecurity fund, used to support social tenants unable to meet their energy costs.

Ominously, Cabinet Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville confirmed the target to build 110,000 homes by 2032, but said this was ‘at risk’. By way of explanation, the Scottish government said the cuts were necessary because the UK government did not “inflation-proof” its capital budget, resulting in a real-terms cut of 10% in capital funding to Scotland.

But why a 10% cut in real terms of funding coming from Westminster should translate into a 26% cut in the AHSP budget is not clear. In fact, examination of other parts of the budget raise questions as to the real policy priorities being pursued. For example over the last two budgets:

  • Tacking Child Poverty within Social Justice has risen from £45.7 million to £111.4 million—a rise of 144%.
  • Social Justice itself has grown to £7.6 billion from £5.6 billion, a 35%.  Increase
  • Most of this went raising Social Security Assistance by a whopping 56%, from £3.9 to £6.2 billion.
  • NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care. Was already at £17.4 billion and was raised this year to £19.6 billion, an increase of 13%.

Nobody claims that such increases are unjustified, nor that the beneficiaries are undeserving. But one of the tough jobs of government is setting priorities. Some funding has come from cutting  the Wellbeing, Economy, Fair Work and Energy budget by 7% from £1.4 to £1.2 billion, with the biggest loser being Enterprise, Trade and Investment, dropping a quarter from £467 to £349 million. And, over these three years, another £137 million is being poured into the fiscal swamp that is Ferguson Marine.

Given just the above figures for Social Justice, plus NHS Recovery & Social Care have received a £4.2 billion uplift over two years between them, it seems hard to justify the removal of £196 million—just 4% of that total—from as crucial a policy area as affordable housing.

The resulting problem is both acute and urgent. It is not helped by the government definition that includes housing for affordable home ownership and mid-market rental, as well as social rental. The stark reality is that Scotland is failing to provide housing for the less well off and vulnerable, despite the Scottish Government warm words on the matter.

Government statistics released last week revealed 30,724 live applications were recorded in September last year – an increase from the previous high of 30,129 in June last year. The number of unresolved applications had increased by 10%. Over the same period, 9,860 children were recorded in temporary accommodation in Scotland—an 8% increase.

“It is deeply worrying to see a rise in rough sleeping.”

—Matt Downie, Chief Executive of Crisis

The burden of all this falls on councils, who are increasingly hampered in their ability to do much about it. Humza Yousaf’s decision to freeze council tax without consulting councils has exacerbated local government finances and, thereby, both homelessness and social housing services.

During the Housing Festival the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) called for action from the Scottish government to address what it sees as a worsening situation across the country. This is reflected in three local authorities: Argyll and Bute, Edinburgh and Glasgow already having declared housing emergencies in their respective areas, with more councils, including Fife, expected to follow.

“The cuts come at a time when multiple local authorities have declared housing emergencies and recent independent research has shown that there are 693,000 Scottish households facing at least one form of housing need.”

Research published by Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and Save the Children last year showed that up to 60,000 people in Scotland are kept out of poverty each year because they live in a social home. However, taking East Lothian as an example, its 25% population growth (90,100 to 112,300) since its formation in in 1996 sits badly against the fall of 56% in its housing stock—from a peak of almost 20,000 to 8,906. Their waiting list is pushing 5,000. Other councils tell similar stories.

“This is a hammer blow for tackling homelessness and poverty across Scotland and will have long-lasting consequences for the nearly 250,000 people throughout Scotland stuck on a waiting list for a social home.”

—Sally Thomas, SFHA Chief Executive

A cynical observer might say that the Scottish Government is hanging councils out to dry while they hold hustings camouflaged as voter bribes to ensure they hold on to power. But even a sympathetic observer must wonder why the affordable housing budget could not have been secured as a relatively small part of the budget with a big and long-lasting impact.

Housing Minister Paul McLennan was scheduled to hold a Q&A session with delegates to the Housing Festival, but it appears this was altered at short notice to giving a speech. Given the above, this may have been an example of discretion being the better part of valour.

“80% of adults in Scotland say the country is currently experiencing a housing crisis as the Scottish Government faces increasing calls to reverse its huge cut to the affordable housing budget.”

—Scottish Federation of Housing Assoc. 8th Feb. 2024

#1102—1,314 words

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Channelling Carnegie

Posted on March 2, 2024 by davidsberry

Next week, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will stand up in parliament and present the last Tory budget before the general election. To satisfy the unruly Tory right and many of their wealthy supporters, it is widely expected to contain tax cuts, even if the actual tax burden remains at record highs.

“There is plenty of scope to cut tax rates in the budget. Debt interest charges are about to tumble as inflation falls. Abolish UK Government Investments and cut nationalised industry losses.”

—John Redwood MP on “X”, Feb. 29th 2024

The trouble with this low-tax shibboleth is that high expectations of public services and other commitments make implementation difficult without driving debt further towards the £3 trillion mark. Debt interest repayments alone now total £83 billion a year—twice the entire UK defence budget.

The “supply side” mantra of lowering taxes to stimulate the economy has a terrible track record. That this does not work in reality has its more egregious example a century ago, during the spectacular, but “Wild West” growth of America’s industrial might.

Ford in autos; Rockefeller in oil; Vanderbilt in railroads; Carnegie in steel—a century ago, they each amassed personal fortunes to become America’s “robber barons”. All of them held it as self-evident that the wealth they gathered from and spent for public purposes benefitted the general masses. It was clearly of more value to the less wealthy than if scattered among them in more trifling amounts.

“Wealth, passing through the hands of the few, can be made a much more potent force for the elevation of our race than if distributed in small sums to the people themselves. Even the poorest can be made to see this.”

—Andrew Carnegie

At least Carnegie practiced what he preached, building the great Carnegie Hall on 7th Avenue  in New York City, and a lass well know one in his home town of Dunfermline.

His philosophy, if not his philanthropy, was trotted out again in the 1980s by Ronald Reagan. The economy did indeed boom, but only for the richer part of the population. “Joe Sixpack”—the auto worker pulling down $20 an hour in Detroit, or the steel worker earning similar in Pittsburgh found themselves living in what became known as “The Rust Belt”.

Less than 40 years later, along came Donald Trump, peddling the same snake oil. In 2017 Trump slashed the top corporate tax rate from 35% to 21% and reined in taxation for foreign profits. So far, it deprived the US Treasury of some $2 trillion in revenues since 2017. A report from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) looked at the first five years the law was in effect. It found most profitable corporations paid “considerably less than 21%’ because of loopholes. In fact, between 2018 and 2022:

  • 342 companies studied paid an average effective tax rate of 14%.
  • 87 (24%) of them paid effective tax rates of under 10%.
  • 55 (16%) of them, mostly major corporations, paid less than 5%. These included T-Mobile, DISH Network, Netflix, General Motors, AT&T, Bank of America, Citigroup, FedEx, Molson, Coors and Nike.
  • 23 (7%) of them, all profitable, paid no federal tax at all over the entire five-year period.

Today in the USA, Republicans want to extend the Trump tax cuts after their scheduled end in 2025, a plan that would cost $4 trillion over a decade even without the deeper cuts to the corporate tax rate Trump wants if re-elected. In contrast, his opponent Joe Biden h called for higher taxes on the wealthy and corporations, which would generate more than $2 trillion. 

Curtailing revenue and focusing only on spending cuts reflect a society like the one those late-nineteenth-century industrialists embraced. It is a similar philosophy that tax-cutting Tories are espousing, in which a few wealthy leaders get to decide how to direct the nation’s wealth.

“I agree with the Chancellor who said he wanted the rich to stay here and to spend their money here.”

—John Redwood MP on “X”, Feb. 29th 2024

“Keep the non-dom tax status. Non-doms are good for the British economy.”

—Jacob Rees-Mogg MP on GB News, Feb. 29th 2024

A study by the Policy Institute for King’s College, London found that Britons are particularly concerned about inequalities between more and less deprived areas (56%). Their concern is significantly higher than the European average (39%).

The Equality Trust’s cost of inequality report on 23 OECD countries showed the UK spends more than anywhere else in Europe subsidising the cost of structural inequality in favour of the rich. Inequalities of income, wealth and power, when compared with the top five most equal countries are estimated to cost the UK £128.4bn a year in damage to the economy, communities and individuals

Next week, when the Chancellor breezily announces tax cuts for the rich, claiming it will boost the economy and do wonders for levelling up, put on your most sceptical face and keep a tight grip on your wallet because “trickle-down economics” is a ruse invented by the rich to keep them that way.

“I mean the truth is, I’ve never had it so good in terms of taxes. I am paying the lowest tax rate that I’ve ever paid in my life.”

—Warren Buffet (a.k.a. “The Sage of Omaha”, net worth now $117 billion)

#1101—885 words

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