SNP trade minister Ivan McKee evocatively called them a “shiny squirrel” while Nicola Sturgeon noted they were widely associated with “low-cost, low-wage, low-value opportunities”. Fortunately, the Scottish Government aren’t proposing “freeports” but “green ports”…
economy
Are you a ‘Kurzarbeit’ or a ‘chômage partiel’ person? UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak will make an important statement to the House of Commons this afternoon about what will replace the furlough scheme at the end of October, with debate rife about whether German or French models will be preferred, or something completely different altogether. The Kurzarbeit […]
Beyond furlough
“As with many other industries during the Covid-19 induced crisis, an atmosphere of confusion and trepidation hangs heavy over media.”
Analysis: During the pandemic, UK media entered a death spiral
On Monday the Scottish Government proposed that the UK needs £80 billion of investment for a Coronavirus recovery plan – equating to 4% of the UK’s GDP. Instead, Boris Johnson has revealed his ‘New Deal’ for £5 billion of investment – 0.2% of the UK’s GDP – in a speech full of rhetoric.
Boris Johnson’s Underwhelming Recovery Plan
It’s easy for the left to pick fun at Boris Johnson’s attempt to harness former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt yesterday. The Prime Minister sought to channel FDR in a speech in Dudley, but announced just £5 billion of spending plans, which – as critics were quick to point out – was equivalent to £100 […]
Johnson may be no FDR, but his public investment plans could still out-manouvere the left
Confucius said: “When words lose their meaning, people lose their freedom”. This may be over-doing it a little, but I know what he meant. Words are how we express the meaning in life, but if those words are degraded to the point that they don’t describe anything meaningful, then how do we express the truth? […]
When words lose their meaning
“The present is not inevitable; moving beyond it is. Stop telling yourself this works, or that it is as good as it gets. And stop saying next is bound to be worse.”
Robin McAlpine: You want radical? How about producers selling to consumers
Live in Edinburgh? Your city needs you. For the good of Scotland’s capital, you must “act like a tourist”. You see, the tourist industry doesn’t have any tourists to sell their stuff to, so residents need to take their place. Out of the goodness of your hearts, the people of Edinburgh need to rush back […]
‘Act like a tourist’, or build community wealth?
“What would it look like if we decided that our economy was no longer to be rigged in favour of folk who have benefited from its collapse?”
After lockdown, we must ask: who is the economy for anyway?
Common Weal head of policy & research Craig Dalzell continues his series on the economic impact of the Coronavirus by looking at global shipping. There is an aspect of our modern world that is so ubiquitous that it is bizarrely visible. It just “happens” to the point that we barely think about it. We have […]