Interesting article in The Economist about Gordon Brown’s recent budget, which included some dubious tax policy:
First, the main corporation-tax rate, which has been held at 30% since 1999, will be lowered in 2008 to 28%. Second, and even more startling, the basic rate of personal-income tax will be cut at the same time from 22% [...]
Archive for the 'Old Europe' Category
Gordon Brown and Taxation
Published by March 23rd, 2007 in Economics, Old Europe and Policy. 0 CommentsFederalism in the EU, 2007, Part II
Published by January 2nd, 2007 in Economics, International Affairs, New Europe and Old Europe. 0 CommentsMerging new members in the European Union starts a host of “problems” for the Western countries of the EU. Better put, merging New Europe into the EU continues to daunt many left-wingers in the federation because they do not fully understand the consequences of their actions. Their ideal EU still rests upon the notion of [...]
Jospin Reconsidered
Published by December 14th, 2006 in Economics, Old Europe and Policy. 0 CommentsJurgen Reinhoudt, a researcher at the American Enterprise Institute, proposes an interesting idea, that Lionel Jospin, the Socialist former primer minister of France was more of a free-marketer than any of immediate right-wing predecessors and successors:
France is unusual in the sense that politicians from across the political spectrum are often critical of capitalism, globalization and [...]
Queen Elizabeth II is on a tour of the Baltic states, arriving in Lithuania, attending ceremonies in Latvia, then concluding the tour in Estonia. During her stop in Latvia, she paid tribute to the Latvian economy and unveiled a statue to an Englishman mayor of Latvia’s capital a century ago.
Today at the UK Conservative Party conference in Bournemouth, US Senator John McCain praised Tory leader David Cameron. “He thinks Mr Cameron belongs to a group with Fredrick Reinfeldt, the new Swedish Prime Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy, the pretender to the French presidency, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The ascendancy of these people, and of Senator [...]
Cameron Saves Man from Jellyfish
Published by October 1st, 2006 in Old Europe and Personalities. 0 CommentsIn what can only be described as a herculean feat of courage and valor, the Tory leader himself, David Cameron, saved a man from a school of jellyfish that had gone stark, raving mad! Although this story has been told for years within the Tory elite, on the first day of the party conference in [...]
David Cameron: Heir to Thatcher or Blair?
Published by March 14th, 2006 in Economics, Margaret Thatcher, Old Europe and Personalities. 0 CommentsIf you go to c-span.org and watch the Prime Minister’s Questions, you will be amazed by the change in the nature of confrontation between Prime Minister Blair and his Tory opposition. After years of lackluster performances by the likes of Smith and Hague, and the admirable but old Howard, Cameron has burst on to the [...]
Are David Cameron’s Tories shifting leftward? They’re polling well, anyway.
Augustus: absolute power
Published by February 20th, 2006 in Old Europe, Personalities and Rome. 2 CommentsThis is the fourth and final planned post on Caesar Augustus. In my previous two posts, I discussed how Augustus reformed and coopted the Roman Senate. Here I will give some brief attention to the powers and titles he possessed, for these legalities were crucial to the orderly restoration and transfer of Roman power after [...]
As an amusing aside to my posts on Rome, here’s a website presenting comparative (and projected) histories of the American and Roman empires. This certainly brings new meaning to the old Roman saying, “Their story is ours.” All hail president Kennedy Clinton Roosevelt. My thanks to Coming Anarchy for the link.
Augustus: Senate and sensibility, II
Published by February 8th, 2006 in Old Europe, Personalities and Rome. 2 CommentsThis continues my series on Caesar Augustus and concludes my article on Augustus and the Roman Senate. I think I have one or two more posts on Augustus in me in the near future.
Command and control
With the Senate thus established at a more or less permanent number, Augustus later made many changes to its procedures [...]
Augustus: Senate and sensibility, I
Published by February 6th, 2006 in Old Europe, Personalities and Rome. 3 CommentsThis is the second of a series of posts on Caesar Augustus and the first of two on his relationship with the Senate. In the previous post, I gave a brief, dare I say skimpy, overview of the his forty-year rule over the Roman world, paying attention to how he co-opted the institutions of the [...]
As is well known in the UES, I’m a big fan of Roman history, the Augustan Age in particular, and Rome generally. My last post on the topic was rather fluffy, so here is another, slightly weightier post, an overview of Caesar Augustus and his reign—the inauguration of the Pax Romana.
The Augustan Age was a [...]
Merkel in Davos
Published by January 26th, 2006 in International Affairs, Old Europe and Personalities. 0 CommentsGerman Chancellor Angela Merkel delivered the keynote address at this year’s World Economic Forum, an ineffectual gathering of muckity-mucks in Davos, Switzerland. Fortunately for us, her speech confirmed our general hopes that she will begin the process of reforming Germany’s stagnant economy, and possibly lead the way on reform in the EU:
“I want people to [...]
Empire of the world forever
Published by January 17th, 2006 in Fluff, Old Europe and Rome. 5 CommentsWhen people think of empire, what comes to mind? At the very least, policy wonks and leftists of various stripes think of the United States of America. Though there is debate as to America’s being an empire in any sense of the word, let us admit the claim for now. Yet though imperial America may [...]
