Uncertain World

Drunken Bored Post

2007-09-27T00:45:00.000+01:00

I'm drunk and very bored at work when it's one o'clock in the morning! So I thought I'd write a few things that are in my head.

1, Burma/Myanmar and revolutions.
Dealing with brutal regimes is not a simple task. There are two basic approaches engagement or isolation.

Engagement is where you try and persuade a government to change its way by increasing contact and trade in the hope that they will see the benefits of change.

Isolation is where you punish the naughty rulers and send them to the back of the class with a dunces hat on.

On a whole engagement is the best policy but this is a big generalization. Trade with countries tend to make the populous richer and therefore more educated and aware of the outside world. At a point the populous will realize that the way they are being treated is unacceptable and demand change. (interestingly this seems to occur when the GDP per person gets to about $4,000-$10,000.)

Isolation is where you apply punitive trade, diplomatic and even military restrictions on a country. Either in a hope of weakening the government to the point that the populous can revolt, or can be overthrow by intervention or that they are unable to spread trouble outside their borders.

Which to chose and when?
Engagement should always be the first approach, but it has many pitfalls. First you may be seen to be appeasing or even encouraging a despicable regime. Secondly trade with undemocratic countries is inevitably corrupt and so benefits the rulers and those who support them disproportionately to the populous thus strengthening their position. It can isolate those in the country like pro-democracy or human rights campaigners and might even turn them against the outside world.

However there does come a point when the actions of a regime are so despicable that disengagement is inevitable. When acts of genocide or aggression are committed for example it becomes untenable to even maintain diplomatic relations.

Isolation is a very dangerous game because it is a game of attrition that like war cost human lives. Sanctions allow for the dictators to invoke a sense of nationalism that your either with us or against us that usually breeds justification for further atrocities.

So should you invade a country under the banner of liberal intervention? Generally in my opinion the answer should be yes and fast. I will expalin why I think so in my next post!

Train vs Plane

2007-06-14T13:30:00.000+01:00

Interesting little note I found on the easyjet website;
"the median sector length in the short-haul market is around 500 nautical miles"

Modern high speed train 186mph. Journeys of 3 hours or less trains are faster than planes.

So 3x 186 = 558 miles which is 485 nautical miles.

This is conclusive "proof" is any where needed that Europe has a huge market for rail transport if we properly invest in high speed rail lines!

Google Reader - Thomas' shared items

2007-03-10T15:02:00.000Z

Google Reader - Thomas' shared items

Second Life

2007-01-24T10:10:00.001Z

http://www.secondlife.com/?u=201b50604aa84dd99c2d3d735ffbedf0
http://www.secondlife.com/join/?u=201b50604aa84dd99c2d3d735ffbedf0
http://www.secondlife.com/events/index.php?date=1159340400&u=201b50604aa84dd99c2d3d735ffbedf0

N73 Must Know!

2007-01-14T17:07:00.000Z

Hi, Ive had a N73 for about 4 months now and its a great phone! its got problems, it can be slow, the keyboard is too small and I keep accidentally hitting the red quit all button, but apart from those it is one of the best phones I've ever had.

The reason I love it so much is the software you can load on it. Nearly all the information I know about this phone has been from other peoples web sites so Google for How To's. I though I would just summarize.

1, Must have software for me is yahoo Go mobile 1.0. Its great it backs up you contacts, your photos and lets you get yahoo mail and messenger on you phone. Don't bother with yahoo go 2.0 beta, at the moment its a pile of crap.

2, Must have software is Google maps mobile! Basically poor mans GPS, if you have half a brain you don't need GPS you can follow you journey by moving the toggle button.

3, MSN messenger! You have to get this by downloading it from a Chinese web site... definitely worth if you are going to be away form a computer for a while but what to chat.

4, Gmail for symbian, I don't use my Gmail account much but its useful to have this anyway.

5, Mobizine software that lets you download the BBC web site headers. Bit like a proprietary RSS feeder.

6, Open source sodoku! Really addictive game for free on you mobile!

7, Open source tetris (jamtris)! Again a really addictive game on your mobile for free!

8, Chiltern Nomad, real time train time tracker for the chiltern line in London. Really good but only of use if you use the chiltern line regularly.

9, Ft news reader! IF you love the FT and have a subscription a definite!!!

10, Podcasting, If you have a no limit data subscription download nokia podcasting catcher and get all your podcasts live! Or use iTunes agent and load them on your phone using the mass storage device option!

Hope this is useful.

Cheer

The World

2006-10-02T12:57:00.000+01:00

Georgia is to hand over suspected Russian spies to the OSCE today.

What should we make of this situation? & "Who's side should we be on?"

This is a symptom of the chronic health of the Russian state. Russia is as most primary children can tell you a vast country spanning many peoples and environments. The country was forged as a response to 18-19 century imperialism. It was then left to simmer in the pressure cooker of the the USSR. Few Russians yet alone westerners know where Russia truly is. Its borders so blurred by imperial annexations that it is a fair question to ask why is Georgia an independent state when chechnya is not? Why is Tuva a autonomous region and Estonia an autonomous country? And if Chechens, Georgians, Estonian's or Tuvan's are not Russian why would Russian's want them part of Russia?

The answer is impotency! Russia is and always has been a great country, but unlike in the western world we have had to face up to the crimes and horrors that were committed in the search of "greatness". In Briton's case colonialism, slavery and genocide. But while Russia has tried it has not fully reconciled itself to the horrors committed by imperialist Russia, Stalinist Russia or indeed in the name of communism. Both Czars and communists needed vast armies of people to achieve their searches.

So Russia has always needed these satellite oblasts, regions, countries to provide the fodder for its machinery, and quite literary would be impotent without it.

But is Russia now a democracy far removed from its Soviet and imperialist pass?

First lets get one thing clear, Russia is not a democracy. Putin has undermined the media, imprisoned opponents and appointed fellow KGB colleagues to all parts of the Russian state apparatus. Russia is in a bad state at the moment. But you may well ask is it not in a less worse state than when Putin took over? Yes is answer but this is mainly due to ongoing adjustment to the new political/economic stituation and the high commodities price than any of Putins reforms.

Putin is a nationalist whose only priority is keeping the Russian federation together. He doesn't understand why Georgia is an independent state! He thinks that it is just as much a part of Russia as Tuva is. Russia still has a large army in Georgia and undoubtedly has a large intelligence network operating there.

This is when its embarrassing to be European, we are the organization that could help the area by replacing Russian "peacekeeper" with EU or OSCE monitors. But it will be America that Georgians will go to for help. They know that despite the Iraq post war disaster they are the only ones who can guarantee Georgias indepedance.

What should we do to help our European brothers?
1, Support Ukrains and Georgia NATO and EU ambitions.
2, Call for the with drawl of Russian forces from Transdiestia, South Ossectia and Abkahasia.
3, Push for democratic reforms in Belorus, Armenia and Azerbaijan with the eventual hope they will join both NATO and the EU.
4, Support Yobloko, Gary Kasparovs Free choice 2008 campaign and George soros open initiatives in Russia.
5, Look at the work of Boris Beresnefski. Although I cannot be sure if he is a true democrat or egotist with a vendetta!

Please let me know your thoughts!

Train ride

2006-01-05T22:51:00.000Z

I was on the train down to London the last year from birmingham when this attractive young lady sat down opposite me. One of the many problems with British rail is that the seats are quite cramped, so unfortunately our legs started to gently rub against each other with the motion of the train. When this accidental motion became slightly more pronounced I realised she was actually playing footsie. Being a shy quiet man I panicked and pulled my feet back under my chair. I decided that I was probably getting the signals all confused, so I sat back, looked out the windows and started to listen to the radio. After some time had passed a comedy show came on the radio (yes, you guessed it, I was listening to radio 4). During the show one of the jokes made me laugh out loud. At the very same instant she starts laughing, we realize we are listening to the same show. This moment of unspoken understanding gives us the icebreaker. We start talking, idyll chit chat as you do. She had one of the strangest accents I had ever heard. I ask her where its from, which I didn't realise was the same as asking for her life story. I Find out that she is of Swedish decent, born in South Africa, lived in Ireland now resident in England. We continue talking, I regale her with fantastical tales of pipes, and find out that she is a member of the Swedish show jumping team! She then tells my she is bit tired today, due to going to the opening of a new lapdancing club the night before. I reach near climax with the thoughts of her being a) a lapdancer b) a lesbian c) a and b. I enquire about her reasons for going to aforementioned establishment to which she nonchalantly replies "me and some mates thought it would be a laugh". Cupid is firing round after round of depleted uranium tipped love arrows in to my heart, a woman who goes to a lapdancing club for a laugh WOW!!! The conversation moves on ebbing and flowing between us, sometimes flirtation, sometimes humorous. Time is flying when I feel the force of the deceleration gently pressing against my back as the train applies the brakes, we’re arriving in Marylebone. The other passenger are starting to stand up pulling jackets and bags down from overhead shelves. The carriage that moments ago seemed as if it contained only myself and this woman is now packed with a live studio audience. I should have plucked up the courage to ask for her number there and then but I was scared of the knock back. We step off the train and walk towards the ticket barriers she sees one of her friends waving in the crowd. We turn towards each other, awkwardly exchanging handshakes and niceties. The handshake lingers in recognition that it doesn’t do justice to our meeting. After exchanging slow kisses on each cheek we walk away and evaporate in to the midst of the crowd.

Monday morning the harsh reality that my life is shit hits hard when I have to calculate what thickness of steel should be used to make a sewage pipe for Conel Gadafi’s evil turds. Pondering this onerous task my mind slips away back to that train journey. Kicking myself for not asking for her telephone number. I sit up look at myself in the reflection of my VDU and decide I must talk to her again. I assume the mindset of Kalahari Bushman tracking down his rare and precious prey. My paw print in the sand was that she was a member of the Swedish Show jumping team. I don’t know a lot about show jumping but a took a calculated guess that there can’t be that many Swedish show jumpers in England. I set about hunt with relish, first ring the British Show jumping federation (if there is such a thing). A quick google later and I have on my screen their phone number. I lift the handset of my phone and dial the number, it starts to ring. I realise at that moment how ridiculous the situation is. What on earth do I say.

“Hello, B.S.F. how can I help you?” answers a well bred young filly.

“Err yes I’m err enquiring into err Swedish show jumpers training in England?” I hesitantly retort.

“Let me have a look on the computer for you sir.”

I hear the faint tapping of digits on keyboard as she efficiently deals with my request.

“Sorry sir we have no Swedish jumpers on our database.”

“Oh” I reply pathetically as I realise my chase over.

“But we have the number of the Swedish federation sir. You might want to give them a try?”

I take down the number diligently so as not to make any errors. I thank the young girl for her help and impatiently hang up. I studiously dial the number into my office phone. It starts to ring, again I’m hit with panic as before but this time its not what to say its how to say it in Swedish!!! The only phase I know in Swedish is “ja elskerdi” meaning I love you, not particularly helpful in this situation. An automated switch board answers in Swedish. I listen intensely, as if to translate the Swedish language in my head using “ja elskerdi” as the Rosseta stone. Suddenly seemingly mid sentence a voice interrupts “For English please press 1 now”. Beep goes my phone as I tap the number one key and again the phone rings.

“Hello Swedish Show Jumping Federation, how may I help you?” Enquires an undoubtedly attractive Scandinavian woman.

“Yes, I’m after the name of one of yours female national team riders please. She based in England.”

“Okay, can I ask who you are first?” She asks politely.

“Err Sorry I’m a journalist in England writing a piece on foreign Show jumpers who come to England to train.” Is my unfeasible reply. Amazingly after much conversation in Swedish with other people in her office she come back on the phone.

“Her name is **** ****” and gives out her mobile phone number to me. I thank her for her help and hang up.

I sit back starring in amazement down at the little scrap of paper in front of me. Its eleven o’clock time for a cigarette break. I walk down to the factory floor and light a cigarette. I take long draws on the cigarette pondering on how weird a world we live in, it takes less than a couple of hours to find the mobile phone number of a complete stranger.

Froogle Shopping List

2006-01-02T20:50:00.000Z

Froogle Shopping List

List of my favouriate books, films and stuff. Suggestions and comments welcome

Beer

2005-12-30T02:10:00.000Z

Beer
Originally uploaded by thomasrobert1980.

Flickr

2005-12-29T10:46:00.000Z

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Sorry

2005-12-17T18:16:00.000Z

The last few posts were all a bit personal. The reason I have posted them is to give the reader a better insight into what sort of person I am.

Decision Risk & Uncertainty Preferences

2005-12-17T18:14:00.001Z

From the quiz I have a preference and acceptance of uncertainty and an acceptance of risk.

To say that I have a preference and acceptance of uncertainty is accurate. I studied physics as an undergraduate, in physics there is the Heisenberg uncertainty principle which states that an objects position and velocity cannot be know absolutely. If you know an object position absolutely then you can know nothing about is velocity and vice versa. This observation was made about sub atomic particles but the principle can be extrapolated to the wider everyday environment to say that nothing is determined. Every possible future exists as a probability; absolutely anything is possible just with varying degrees of probability.

As a child of the ages 8 to 12 I was epileptic. Whilst this was mainly controlled by medication I would have a fit every couple of months and major episodes of fits every couple of years. I was of course banned from doing any type of dangerous activity. My parents however realised that there is no way of stopping a boy of that age doing stupid things apart from locking him in a house. They took a very important decision; they decided that they wanted me to lead as normal life as possible. If I had a fit while climbing a tree and injured myself well better that than never leaving the house. It was an acceptance of risk that as a child you’re largely unaware of but as you mature you come to realise. There is a risk in doing and not doing anything, and as a human you have to weight the consequences and rewards.

So how do my preference and acceptance of uncertainty and my acceptance of risk affect decision making? It is the realisation that there is never such a thing as absolutely the right answer that probably affects decision making the most. Every choice has consequences, intended and unintended, good and bad outcomes. But understanding that every thing involves balancing risk helps to overcome any inertia and indecision this may cause.

Decision Risk & Uncertainty Preferences

2005-12-17T18:14:00.000Z

Readiness for Leadership

2005-12-17T18:13:00.001Z

According to the “Are you ready leadership” quiz I am moderately ready for leadership. This is a fair reflection of how I view myself. I am keen to take on leadership and in fact I have, along with a business partner, run a video production business. But the result also reflects the natural hesitancy that comes from knowing that I have a lot to learn about business, people and life before I will be at my best as far as leadership is concerned.

I have not had a lot of aptitude/attitude test previously to starting this course, but having done so I would say that the results give useful insights and indicators into my own view. I would like to see how others see me using the same test. This might give extra information on how others view my characteristics.

I do feel comfortable taking on leadership roles. My first leadership role was as a school rugby captain; this was very much on the basis of being a relationship-oriented leader. I may not have been the best rugby player on the pitch, but I always saw it as important to motivate and communicate with the team. I had no more formal leadership roles during education due to my natural antithesis to the authoritarian nature of the school management. Upon entering permanent employment I did not immediately seek leadership roles but rather recognised the difficulties caused to the firm by not having leadership in Health and Safety, IT and Environment Management. Having no previous significant skill base in any of these topics I managed to fulfill the leadership roles after the right training.

I sought the leadership challenge of starting my own business after realising that there are a lot of bad managers in the UK SME sector. We resolved, my business partner and I, that we could do things better and cheaper than others and in any case we weren’t afraid to fail trying.

Assessing Personal Acceptance of Change

2005-12-17T18:13:00.000Z

I view myself as open and accepting of change. I enjoy new challenges and learning new things. I’m an optimist by nature, my understanding is that in general people will try to do good by other people and that no technology is inherently bad rather it’s the human application of technology that can be negative. Most importantly I understand that no human or human made system can be perfect; therefore there is always room for improvement. I also understand that once something negative has occurred there is nothing you can do to change it, but you can and should work hard to prevent it happening again. It is for those reasons that I like to see myself as accepting of change.

That is my personal view of my acceptance of change. I’m going to contrast my opinion with how I actually dealt with three situations; a loss of a family member, a change in circumstance and a medical illness.

The most significant change in my life was the death of my sister from a brain tumour in 2001. I was not resistant to her death as it meant the end to her suffering. I was resistant to the thought of never seeing her again. This is a difficult balance between feeling relief that she is not in pain and grief that she is gone. I am not sure if I can objectively analyse this event any further.

At the end of 2004 I left my job as a manger for a pipeline manufactures and my rented accommodation in Birmingham to become unemployed and living with family. Many were surprised by this move and saw it as regressive but I realised the need for this change. I felt that my life was not progressing economically, intellectually or emotionally. I had decided that in order to progress I needed to be in London. I was not resistant rather I was the instigator of change. I started a video production company that my business partner and I are committed to making profitable by the summer of 2006. I was also confident of finding other employment till profitability.

In early 2005 I had an epileptic seizure, which caused significant change in my life. I had been diagnosed with epilepsy as a child but had been off medication for over a decade and had not had a seizure in nearly fifteen years. It made it more difficult to find employment as I have to notify possible employers of my epilepsy for one year after a seizure. I am also banned form driving for a year which also puts off employers. I abstained completely from alcohol for three months and generally have reduced my consumption. Luckily having experienced this as a child I was pretty accepting of this situation as there was very little I could do to alter it. I also used this as an opportunity to go back to university. If it was unlikely that I would get suitable employment for a year, I could use the time to increase my capabilities.

Motivation & Working with Others

2005-12-17T18:12:00.000Z

Fredrick Herzberg suggested that the factors that influence behaviour at work can be divided between;
(1) Hygiene factors
(2) Motivating factors
Hygiene factors are the removal of any limiting conditions, for example, removal of hunger, basic working conditions and protection from harassment. Motivational factors become important once these basic needs are met. They are the factors that encourage performance beyond the minimum to inspire people to achieve to the best of their abilities.

The brief questionnaire I completed based on Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, suggests that the factors that are important to my personal performance are motivational factors, perhaps because I feel that my basic needs are met and I do not worry about going hungry or becoming homeless.

What does this tell me about what motivates me?
An important aspect of my self perception with regards to motivation and objective completion is that I have dyslexia. Dyslexia affects my productivity as it makes reading, writing and concentration tiring. Dyslexia can almost be viewed as a personal hygiene factor that can never be eliminated and represents a continuing pressure. When dyslexia is considered in this way most other hygiene factors seem irrelevant in my case. Therefore to achieve a goal I have to be motivated to overcome my own hygiene limitation. So the questionnaire result fits quite well with my own experience.

How can I use this information to boost my self motivation?
To use this information to boost my self-motivation it would be important for me to view each task as part of a whole: the whole being self actualisation.

Listening Self Check

2005-12-17T18:10:00.000Z

I generally consider myself to be a good listener but I recognise that I have a few problems; when there is “noise” in the environment. I struggle to concentrate on the person also I tend to “hear” the messages that reinforce my opinion better than those which oppose my views.

According to the self check questionnaire (9/15) “I may not be satisfied with the way I listen, and my friends may colleagues may not feel you are a good listener either.” I think this may be a little to harsh on my listening abilities but does recognise what I see as my problems.

To see where I can improve, I’m going to evaluate the questions which I got “wrong”.
“I like people only to give me the facts and then let me make my own interpretation”
I answered yes to this. Upon reflection I see that the question states that I wish to hear only the facts. I think it is important that everyone in a discussion is aware of all the relevant facts, or has the same frame of reference. I do like to form my own opinion but I am also generally open to different interpretations.

“I usually end conversations that don’t interest me by diverting my attention from the speaker” I answered yes, I realise that this may seem rude but it can sometimes be less confrontational than to directly oppose the person. I do generally try to listen to people but there are occasions when it is necessary to end a conversation prior to its natural conclusion but I need to find a more polite tactic for ending such conversations.

“I frequently nod, frown, or whatever to let a speaker know how I feel about what he or she is saying” I answered yes. I use non verbal communication; this can be intentional but is generally subconsciously. I find it helps communication but I might also be described as a bad poker player due to the amount of information I leak non-verbally.

“I usually respond immediately when someone is talking”, “I evaluate what is being said while it is being said” and “I usually formulate my response while someone while the other is still talking” I answered yes. I have a high level of verbal comprehension so I do not usually need much time to understand what someone is saying. I also do not usually formulate any precise retort; I say what I instinctively feel intellectually in response to what I have heard. There are of course times when I regret saying or more normally not saying certain things. I could improve my listening by taking more time to consider and formulate answers.

My (classical) Leadership Style

2005-12-17T18:09:00.000Z

The questionnaire results show that I am, or would like to be, a participative/team style leader.

I agree that this is my view of my leadership style. I was in charge of Health and Safety Management for a manufacturing SME. To achieve the required H&S outcomes took enormous effort and time discussing and persuading people that actions were in everyone’s interest. Once however this was achieved it was relatively straight forward to administer and to make improvements.

The weakness of the participative/team style of leadership is, I believe, the time it takes to build a team with trust. Trust is essential if people are to contribute effectively. Team members need to know that they can say what they really think and that the team will not break down in recrimination when things are against them.

My main leadership weakness is lack of assertiveness in confrontation. While I generally seek to minimise confrontation there are occasions when it is inevitable. I can generally overcome my natural hesitation when discussing ideas with a sceptical audience as long as they are open and prepared to listen. My difficulty is having the confidence to communicate to an audience that I perceive to be dismissive or even passive aggressive.

My view is that leaders should be participative and that is the style I aspire to. My experience is that, while you can sometimes get results with an authoritarian leadership style, it often lacks the room for creative and imaginative solutions as people are often scared of getting things wrong. People who share the same goals and feel valued as part of a team are generally more committed and focused on successful outcomes.

To develop my leadership style and abilities I believe that I need more experience and more leadership knowledge.

How creative am I?

2005-12-17T18:08:00.000Z

I scored an above average score for creativity on the questionnaire. This is about the level of creativity I feel I have. Never being very good at drawing and art damped my enthusiasm for being creative when I was young. I have always had creative ideas but have rarely translated these ideas into reality. I feel confident in my ability to have creative thoughts and ideas, but I feel less confident in my ability to explain and communicate my ideas to others in order to achieve them.

I looked into the words that I missed points on in the questionnaire and there was a trend, I missed all the words relating to effort (persevering, dedicated and self demanding). If creativity is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration, from this analysis I may be lacking some perspiration.

It might seem that to improve my creativity I need to take more time and effort in formulating and perfecting my ideas. Having better thought out creative thoughts might give me more confidence when communicating them to others.

Practically to improve my creativity I have started a blog. A blog is a free website where you can post thoughts and ideas without having to be able to design web pages. Imagine if you will an online diary of sorts. This gives the opportunity to publish your ideas at what ever stage, you can then work and rework your ideas as much as you like. If you’re fortunate other people will give you comments and feedback. Using this process to improve my personal thoughts and opinions by putting effort to refine them, this process should be directly applicable to my professional creativity. These reflective exercises have also been helpful; they are surprisingly difficult to write. They have forced me to look through some imaginary comfort barrier at how I really think and act. A similar level of self criticism is required to refine creative ideas and thoughts so they can be communicated to others.

European Reform

2005-12-17T17:58:00.000Z

There was a deal made last night between european leaders on the future european budget.
Was it a good deal? No. It did not include agricultural spending reform. We do however have a possible spend review in 2007/8.
So what needs to be done now?
The modern/advanced european countries have to make the case for agricultrural spending reform.
What reforms are needed?
Prefferably CAP SCRAPPED completly, failing this, eliminating export subsidies. Eliminating all immport tarrifs from the developing world. Most importantly for the european project any farming subsidies that still exist after 2014 should be paid for by national governments rather than the EU.
It is immoral that someone such as myself to be forced to pay for the subsidies that are so damaging to the developing world.
All three political party leaders in the UK should sign a joint paper to the effect that Britian will not contribute to agricultural subsides after 2014, and if this means withdrawing from the EU then so be it. This will give governments in the other EU countries time to make the case to there electorate.

Massive Explosion

2005-12-11T20:08:00.000Z

WOW, woken up just after six this morning! House was shaking, this was caused by the explosion at Hemel Hempstead and I live 25 miles away!!!!!!

Election

2005-04-18T16:06:00.000+01:00

Uncertain World

Who should I vote for?

Your expected outcome:

Liberal Democrat

Your actual outcome:

	Labour 4
Conservative -42
	Liberal Democrat 60
UK Independence Party -7
	Green 14

You should vote: Liberal Democrat

The LibDems take a strong stand against tax cuts and a strong one in favour of public services: they would make long-term residential care for the elderly free across the UK, and scrap university tuition fees. They are in favour of a ban on smoking in public places, but would relax laws on cannabis. They propose to change vehicle taxation to be based on usage rather than ownership.

Take the test at Who Should You Vote For

Europe's Economic Future

2005-02-06T19:26:00.000Z

Europe is heading for an Economic showdown. In the blue corner is the high (progressive) tax model and in the red is maybe unsuprisingly the low (regressive) tax model. It is also something of a geographical coinsidence how proponents of either High or Low Tax regimes can both point to the small baltic sea for inspiration. Across the baltic on either shore we have the Nordic economic model and the new Flat tax regimes of eastern europe.

Sweden is leading the Nordic Economic model very successfully. They have high levels of employment, productivity, wages, excelent public services and of course tax. Polititians in Sweden it has been said do not win elections promissing tax cuts, they win elections promising more. How have they avoided the economic troubles of 1970's Britain and the current situation of both France and Germany. First they have a relatively homogeneous population and a liberal social model. This is important because it means that most swedish children have high aspirations, feel socially included and value their education. These values are essential to compete in the high wage economy where creativity and expertise are the drivers. Secondly sweden has seperated the purchaser from the provider of public services. They veiw health and education just like any other consumer service. This has meant that swedish public services have much higher levels or productivity than continetal and british counterparts. Crucially though the productivity is comparable between the swedish public and private sectors. This means that a unit of currency spent in either sector leads to the same rate of growth for the whole economy. In other countries most notably Britain where the productivity gap between the private and public sectors is significant. Investing in public services leads to lower growth rates than the same money going into the private sector (see below).

(The poor pruductivity of our public services in britain is the main cause for the lower rates of productivity between britain the the other industrialed nations along with the miscalulation of "productivity" in our service economy, poor managment skills in our old SME manufacturing base and low levels of investment in R&D.)

Tomorrow

2005-01-26T02:36:00.000Z

Uncertain World
How do we go about changing the world?
First we need to be clear why the world needs to be changed. We remind ourselves that thousands of men, women and especially children die needlessly every day.

Why does that effect us?
Ignoring the obvious justification of a shared humanity. Such massive and widespread loss of life corodes the fabric of society. In horror films we see western societys crumble after the release of a deadly virus. Well that is what is happening to the societies already crushed by traumas of colonialsm.

Freedom

2005-01-20T23:54:00.000Z

Uncertain World
Today we congratulate President Bush on his inauguration. I am not a supporter of president bush, but as I am not an american, I feel in is incorrect to critise the american people for their choice of president. America is an educated, as educated as any other democracy we must respect their choice. We may not agree but we do not have the right to critise.

America has many problems it also has many good aspects. It is a powerhouse in the fields that history judges cultures by; sport, science and the arts. We must accept their choice and look to our own choices of political leadership with deeper thought. It is only by showing the success of our alternate choices that we can hope to highlight the flaws in American society. We should look hard into our own reflection and spot our imperfections. Only when people look at us for leadership will they listen to our advise.

The pomp and ceromony surounding the inauguration may sit uneasily with our sensibilities when we are still fighting alongside the americans all over the world. It looked to all the world as the cellibrations of a victorious army and the coronation of a king. This would be the wrong interpretation however. It must be viewed as a celibration of democracy and america should try harder to explain this.

We may well argue that President Bush would never pass muster in our own political systems. We must be carefull of this, President Chirac and almost the entire french political class from the 1980's would be in jail for corruption in most other countries. We underestimate the intelligence of President Bush at our peril. To say he's an intellectual giant is plainly wrong but he is also no monkey.

What I would ask the americans to think about for their president is this. One of the greatest aspect of american society is that it is a meritocracy. President Bush would not have been president had it not been for the Bush brand name which meant so much in Republican circles. To elect senetor Hillary Clinton as the next president would send the wrong signal again, it would mean an end to the a functioning meritocracy in their political society and the regression to an aristocracy based on family clans and the idiologies that surround them.

Welcome to Uncertain World

2004-12-30T21:24:00.000Z

This blog has just musing on the world and time in which we live.