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Articles by Emile Woolf
Labour Lack Economic Credibility
Spanner giving his first speech as Prime Minister Kirsty O’Connor / No 10 Downing Street, OGL 3, via Wikimedia Commons It will soon be the second anniversary of Labour’s 2024 election victory, but hardly a cause for celebration – especially for those of us who recognise that this government has reached the natural limits of credibility on almost every front, but most especially on the economy.
A re-cap of economic fundamentals
References to ‘GDP’ proliferate in the business press and news. Perhaps it’s worth considering what it means. The letters stand for ‘Gross Domestic Product’, intending to signify the entire output of the economy of a country: the outputs of all individual businesses in the private sector of the economy should equate to the nation’s GDP. The output of the individual business is therefore the most basic component of GDP.
International Trade
As regular readers know, I have been compiling the essays in my “Economic Perspectives” series with a view to publishing the collection as a single work, which should come to fruition in a month or two. Meanwhile, I am ready to resume my spotlight on the hypocrisy and ignorance of fools in positions of power. I am sincerely grateful for the insights of Prof. Pat Barron that guided my thinking on international trade balances.
The delusion of job creation
I have been diverted from writing further essays in the Economic Perspectives series as I am assembling the existing essays in a book designed to demystify the science of economics. But occasionally the temptation to write another essay is overwhelming, and, spineless sucker that I am, I succumb to it yet again! So here we are, with a Labour administration that guarantees a supply of material that I find irresistible.
Facing Economic Reality - and its retribution
The Department for Work & Pensions has recntly disclosed that six million adults were on out-of-work benefits just before Britain’s July election – the highest in 30 years. The recent tax rises that, both directly and indirectly, will impact on employment levels can only make matters worse.
Just think, we voted for this lot
Each of the sections in this essay warrants a whole chapter, but this abbreviated format should capture the essential features that prevail throughout the West today. 1 – One of the key criteria for the sovereignty of a state is its ability to control its own borders, and keep them secure from unwanted infiltration. Tony Blair doesn’t like being reminded of the destructive impact on Britain of his 2004 decision to open the floodgates to mass immigration from Eastern Europe.
Where will the money come from?
There’s an old Jewish joke about the elderly family patriarch whose grief-stricken family is tearfully assembled around his deathbed to pay their last respects . “Is Taubele there?” he mutters; “Yes, Papa, I’m here” comes the reply. “Is Moishe there?” “Of course, Papa”. “Is Yizchak there?” “ Yes Papa” – and so on, as he names each member of his family in turn, enquiring of their presence.
Let’s stop kidding ourselves
Columnists write glibly about the “cost-of-living crisis” as if it were an affliction visited upon our unsuspecting community and that, as usual, it is the duty of government to cure it. The fact that the crisis was itself caused by the government’s own ineptitude doesn’t, in the public mind, lighten the burden of its responsibility.
There’s no mystique about growth? - But step-one is to restore sanity
Over the years, my essays have charted the government’s descent from an ignorance of economic principles, all the way to sheer insanity. And there can be no reprieve while the public mind festers in the grip of ideological indoctrination.
Economic Illiteracy and Dogma: this Budget encapsulates it perfectly
As usual, the meaningless minutiae of tax-fiddling in last week’s budget stole the headlines and obscured what’s really going on. It would help if the linguistics were clearer: a tax “cut” should simply refer to a decision to leave taxpayers with a little more of their own money. An “unfunded” tax cut is taken to mean that the state has not imposed a matching tax rise on something else.
Why dramatic change is overdue
In a totalitarian regime with a single ruling party, people know that all the churned-out propaganda is a pack of manufactured lies – and, what’s more, the leaders know that the people know! Everyone knows that the official line is a fabrication that supports the ruling party’s political agenda – always! No one likes it, but life continues as “normal” as long as the mutual pretence is kept up, as was the case under the Stalinist regime: “I pretend to work, and they pretend to pay me!” A...
A pathetic array of muddled and utterly unprincipled tax policies
The chief role of government is to enact laws that protect the lives and civil freedoms of its citizens. Any “add-ons” warrant the most careful scrutiny before being admitted to the nation’s laws. However, even a minimalistic democratic government cannot function without financial resources and, since governments possess no money of their own, they are obliged either to borrow or raise the necessary funds in taxes. The amounts generated will set a natural limit to the state’s size.
The Chancellor’s “Autumn Mis-Statement” - An Exercise in Fiscal Subterfuge
The deeply embedded disconnect between hype and reality looms larger than ever in government thinking. A little over a year ago Liz Truss attempted a dose of supply-side reforms to address the country’s desperate need for real economic growth, rather than that bogus metric – GDP. Her political timing was misjudged and her presentation too forthright for financial markets focused on exchange rates, government bond yields and, as ever, inflation. Political rivals lined up against her.
Government’s real role has limits
President Ronald Reagan said the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”. We wonder whether he appreciated their full truth. The role of government includes protecting citizens’ lives, property and civil freedoms from external threat. But does that extend to protecting people from the consequences of indulging in harmful practices of their own free will?
Internal Combustion Fraught With Danger
“Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad”. This ominous observation, made by nineteenth century American poet Henry Longfellow, confronts rulers riven by internal discord so deep that it immobilises any capacity for coherent action.
Intentional Causes and Unintentional Effects
Ursula Von der Leyen, Chief of the European Commission, complains bitterly that the Chinese are keeping the price of their electric cars artificially low by “giving their manufacturers huge state subsidies, and this is distorting our market”. Does she have an original proposal for addressing such wicked behaviour? Sadly, no. Just more protectionist tit-for-tat in the shape of higher tariffs on imports from China.
Testing the Socialist hypothesis
Kristian Niemitz, Head of Political Economy at the Institute of Economic Affairs, wrote a book last year that explores the reasons why the idea of socialism persists as a viable economic system. In “Socialism: the Failed Idea that Never Dies” Niemitz notes that whenever real-life events demonstrate, yet again, that socialism, in all its guises as an economic system, simply doesn’t work, its ever-faithful adherents in the West declare that what failed wasn’t “real socialism”.
The tragedy of a rudderless society
The definition of “family values” in most dictionaries includes features such as “upholding the moral and ethical principles of fidelity, honesty, truthfulness; and values that promote the sound functioning of the family, at the same time strengthening the fabric of society”. How strange, then, that the very idea of “family” as the bedrock of sustainable society is in retreat. Economic explanations abound, but as usual they are superficial and wrong-headed.
Characteristics of Government Today
Two hundred years ago Lord Macauley wrote “the measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out”. This intriguing insight is as true of politicians and the governing classes as it is of the ordinary citizen.
The lack of affordable housing? Blame it on 12 years of interest rate-suppression
The other evening my wife was watching Question Time on BBC 1. I wandered into the room and listened for 5 minutes, hearing panel members pontificating on what their respective political parties would do/are doing about the desperate lack of affordable housing. Their respective political leanings forbade them to agree with anything offered by opponents.
Is The Pendulum Swinging Back To Sanity?
I detect signs of a nascent backlash. There seems to be a realistic hope that people are waking up to the reality of the prevailing insanity inflicted on them by officialdom in all its guises.
The Curse of Government Intervention
It should be patently obvious that putting the country into cold-storage for two years, and lavishing unfunded benefits to all and sundry to protect them from hardship, must carry dire consequences for Britain’s economy – and this reality now confronts us. The Johnson regime inculcated the mindset “the state will provide”, and poured forth generous state-backed loans, unsupported by any meaningful tests of eligibility or ability to repay them.
Growth is the antidote to stagnation - but it requires knowledge and leadership
By now even Treasury officials and central banks recognise that their practice of Quantitative Easing has run its course. In its contemporary form, QE began a dozen years ago as a temporary emergency measure enacted by the US Federal Reserve to salvage its banking system from the devastating consequences of bailing out banks trading in worthless debts – and known by them to be worthless at the outset.
Civil Freedom and its Contemporary Enemies
One of the greatest literary works of the age, James Joyce’s “Ulysses”, reveals its author’s surprising, yet profound, understanding of some of the most basic issues in economics. In the early days of the 20th century, when living with his sister in Trieste, near Venice, she told him that the city had 21 cinemas; whereas Dublin, a European city with a population of 350,000, had no cinemas at all. Indeed, two other cities in Ireland, Cork and Belfast, likewise had no cinemas.
Economic Consequences of Demented Leadership
The woes we face are not theoretical. They are real, and worsen by the day. Very few members of the public really understand their causes, still less what can be done to reverse the decline. Political leaders, who should have some notion of a cure, are as lost as the voters who put them there; and watching them enact populist solutions that will make matters still worse is both bewildering and frightening.
Is this government Conservative? Socialist? Actions, not words, count!
Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have had to bear the brunt of the markets’ predictable reaction to their mini-budget last month. Although amateurishly presented and poorly explained, it was nevertheless replete with strategy for growth. Given half a chance it had potential to reinvigorate our ailing economy. Instead it was given the thumbs-down by the very “markets” guilty of 10 years of unremitting currency destruction.
Retaining a Semblance of Sanity in the Asylum
Every time I start this essay I find the political background has shifted so dramatically that I have to start again. Only Ollie’s complaint to Stan seems to be an apt constant: “another fine mess you’ve gotten me into!” Built-in contradictions In this disjointed economic culture there is certainly no lack of demand (there never is!). But nor is there any rational connection between demands and means of satisfying them.
Crisis After Crisis - The Economic Chain Reaction
Several readers expressed surprise that last week’s essay concerned my personal NHS experiences rather than the pressing issues of the day. In such a rapidly changing economic picture no commentary can ever be bang-up-to-date, while more enduring truths are easily overlooked. In this essay I shall attempt to relate the present crisis to its origins in the last one, and to highlight the shallow and mechanical thinking that is now sowing the seeds of the next one.
The government is failing to act quick enough on Monkeypox
Monkeypox infections are on the rise in the UK. There have already been more than 2,600 reported cases in the country and the number looks set to increase. As the country is still recovering from the devastating impact of Covid, it is essential that the government steps up its efforts to prevent the outbreak from becoming endemic and spreading yet more misery and hardship.
Is There An Opportunity For Real Change In Britain?
Go to Article Is There An Opportunity For Real Change In Britain? Authored by Emile Woolf and Patrick Barron via The Mises Institute, (Endorsed by Godfrey Bloom, Alasdair Macleod, Simon Hunt, and Claudio Grass) In a few days the British Conservative Party will select a new prime minister from within its ranks. The new PM will have a short-lived opportunity to select new ministers.
How the British state perpetuates woke activism
The Conservative Party leadership contest has brought about a discussion on how the party can combat social leftism. From Kemi Badenoch raising awareness about the Tavistock gender identity clinic scandal and how children are subjected to transgender ideology, to Rishi Sunak claiming the Equality Act is a “trojan horse” to push “woke nonsense”, the party is starting to wake up to the fact that ‘wokeness’ has captured Britain’s institutions.
The New Prime Minister - The Acid Test
What a spectacle! Two former colleagues, erstwhile members of Boris Johnson’s discredited cabinet, now vying with each other for the top job. Collegial unanimity of purpose has given way to visceral rivalry – gloves off and no holds barred! I watched their opening confrontation in which point-scoring took precedence over serious policy presentation. We may assume they both aim (i) to help people by easing the cost-of-living crisis; and (ii) to steer the UK economy towards growth and prosperity.
All other things being equal
A paradox is an apparent absurdity or contradiction that, on close investigation, is found to be true.
Reality begins to dawn
Shortly before the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, BBC2’s “Newsnight” featured Kirsty Wark interviewing two economic experts, one Conservative, one Labour. She asked each of them to describe the measures they would recommend to the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak.
Why governments practise currency debasement - and how to cure them
I have written on the subject of currency debasement many times, but it is now reaching crunch-time – even for the pound, dollar, yen and euro. Most respected economists persist in defining inflation as a rise in the general level of prices, and it is therefore not surprising that this imprecise usage is accepted by members of the public at large – after all, it accords with their everyday experience.
Post Covid Conjectures
Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons While speculation is rife about what the post-Covid economy will look like, we must remember that economic fundamentals are not susceptible to alteration. They may adapt to changed circumstances, but no external modifications in society can affect the laws and principles themselves – for these are immutable and always apply. No matter how seemingly profound, these societal shifts should be seen as interim challenges rather than as game-changers.
How the Crisis Unfolds
All that glisters is not gold “Letterbox at Number10 Downing Street” by Defence Images is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 Economically speaking, we are in a pickle. The blame-game is in full flow in its search for scapegoats. The most obvious culprit is, of course, the Covid virus, but it would be a huge mistake to blame that.
Reform & Real Reform
“Rishi Sunak MP – hi-res” by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Govt is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 Those of us struggling to get a grip on Chancellor Sunak’s latest relief-measures should note the terminology. He seeks to revive the Covid-stricken economy with a series of tax “giveaways”. When anyone in government talks about giving something away, it’s instructive to ask yourself how they got it in the first place.
Economic consequences - always ask: Who benefits?
Coming soon “Great Depression Food Line” by Kevin Burkett is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 Things don’t just “happen”. Everything in the passing parade of phenomena is the result of something that preceded it: this is the world of cause and effect. Those appointed to hold the levers of power therefore carry a huge responsibility to act with foresight born of knowledge. They need to understand that consequences will flow from their actions, consequences that will usually be predictable.
Post-Lockdown Choices
“Rishi Sunak MP – hi-res” by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Govt is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0 Lockdown rules have made extensive use of the word “essential” in relation to goods, services, journeys and jobs that may be exempted from lockdown strictures. It sounds like an objective standard, but interpreting it is wholly subjective. If my roof is leaking I consider it essential to locate a vendor of tiles.
Selective Recollection & Economic Reality
Les Gilets Jaunes Patrice CALATAYU – Licence CC BY-SA 2.0 Those still shedding tears over our departure from the EU invariably refer to the success of the EU in healing post-WW2 wounds and keeping peace in Europe for 75 years. By the same token they imply that, by leaving, we are creating a dangerous rift that threatens to spark a resurgence of nationalistic tensions in Europe, and the incipient racism that invariably follows. So the refrain goes.
Where are we now? - A festive Summary
White Cliffs of Dover Steven Penton – Licence CC BY 2.0 There were dire warnings….. Over and over, we heard it. We heard it from the great and good, all authoritative sources with impeccable credentials.
The Gulf Between Rich & Poor
Homeless, Julian Povey – Licence CC BY 2.0 We are well into the protest season. The long run-up to the election period has been characterised by one protest after another – no-deal Brexit, climate change, arms sales, Tommy Robinson, police brutality, capitalism, Trump’s visit, fracking, Catalan, Hong Kong and Eritrean sympathisers, and so on … and on. I’m not knocking the protesters, but neither am I participating.
Spare a Thought (or Prayer) for the New PM - and his Chancellor
Boris Johnson, BackBoris2012 Campaign Team CC Licence The global economy is entering dangerous territory. In Britain’s case, the standard scapegoat for any slowdown is Brexit, of course. But how to explain the contraction in other major manufacturing countries? Forewarnings of serious decline are evident throughout the eurozone as well as in Japan, Germany, China and Russia. Even the USA is teetering on the brink of a manufacturing decline, despite its low unemployment.
“No deal” - is it a horror or a blessed release?
It must be clearly stated that Theresa May’s “deal” was not a compromise at all – it would have been nothing short of a humiliating capitulation. Let’s be in no doubt – the PM’s proposed “alignment” with the EU’s single market and continuing membership of the “customs union”, and the obligation to continue paying Brussels billions for the privilege, for an indefinite period, without any agreed exit date, is even worse than allowing the UK’s membership of the EU to continue.
State Intervention & Market Functioning
Claude-Frédéric Bastiat (29 June 1801 – 24 December 1850) was a French economist and writer who was a prominent member of the French Liberal School The French economist Frederic Bastiat is chiefly remembered for having developed the concept of “opportunity cost” or, more colourfully, “that which is seen, and that which is not seen”. We could put it more simply: there is no such thing as something for nothing.
Back to Basics - and Thanks for all the Feedback
Last week’s economics essay generated some interesting responses, four of which prompt me to expand on their subject matter. 1 – Understanding the relationship between imports and exports The first of these expressed some puzzlement at my statement that we export in order to import, and hence that it is a mistake to regard exports as a “good thing” and imports as harmful. Perhaps it would have been clearer if I had said that exporting enables us to import.
Hypocritical Attempts to Derail the Referendum
The most important Brexit issues have been clouded by uncertainty, exacerbated by predictably negative forecasting by supposedly neutral authorities. This has generated a totally unwarranted fear that has paralysed the resolve of even those upon whom we most rely for clear thought and direction.
Grasping the Nettle - It's now or never for auditors - Renegade Inc
It has descended into predictable farce. Every time a corporate reporting clanger is dropped and auditors of a public company are mired in yet another scandal, the Financial Reporting Council responds by undertaking to investigate the accounts and audit of the plc in question. The FRC is fighting a rear-guard action. It is constantly taking pains to reform its own structures on independence and reporting, and is recruiting more top people.
Banks, criminality and accounting: end of the road? - Renegade Inc
All those banks and other financial institutions that have gone bust, or been bailed out, over the past 20 years demonstrate that the sector’s corporate conduct has been wayward, to put it mildly. That these dodgy outfits are located in the UK, USA, EU, Japan – virtually anywhere – suggests that, at root, their problems may have as much to do with human nature as jurisdictional regulation. My reference to human nature connotes more than negligence or downright stupidity.
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