buctootim

One of the students on my psychology course asked 'what is IQ?' the answer from the Prof was "its what IQ tests measure". He wasn't being facetious, just pointing out that the link to 'intelligence' which has many different facets, was tenuous.

I doubt there are many people who would disagree with that. But the British version as it stands needs reform. imo most people who welcomed Brand's little speech did so because they are sick of double speak in politics and too much power weilded by large corporations and much of media - not because they actually want a revolution. Much of the talent has left both politics and journalism, what we're lefty with isnt healthy.

Okay. So what are you on about? You're quite practiced with the 'socialism is crap' routine (even though the majority of people are talking about Social Democracy). What are you actually advocating?

You appear to since you equate the opposite with socialism - corporate taxes, workplace pensions, free education, sickness and unemployment benefits, healthcare, product safety etc. Maybe you should list the features a successful socialism free government should have. Would any of the above be included? I dont want to see any 'socialist' policies in the list. Or is is just possible perhaps that everyone knows unbridled capitalism works even less well than centralised state planned economies. Everything else is arguing about getting the exact mix of profit motive and social welfare right and the 'lefty' 'commie' labels are just juvenile?

Or by this. The hugely successful largely unbridled capitalism Mexican drug market.

Do you take party bookings?

Thanks Bletch!. I've always loved Leo Sayers early work as it happens!

Dont all threads start with one word?

I'll name you you two for every one successful unbridled capitalist country you can name - ie without nasty 'socialist' regulation of the market.

Very good post. The Thomas Sowell quote - "tell me, what is your fair share of someone else's money?" - implies redistribution is implicitly wrong. Isn't profit just another form of redistribution? What is a fair share of someone else's money taken in profits when it comes to goods and services people must buy to live - eg food, gas, water, electricity, housing. You cannot have a debate about the appropriateness of levels of taxation without also having a debate about appropriate levels of consumer protection, profits and tax 'avoidance' (which would be classed as tax evasion if it wasnt simply playing accounting tricks bouncing one countries jurisdiction off against another).

...and all that, but what's the point? He could have saved a lot of time by just using the Ipad to take a photo. If he'd stopped at 1.03, that was when the picture looked best imo.

Thats just the usual Saintsweb straw man stuff 'We have to have capitalism because its better than communism and thems the only alternatives'. Most of Europe has predominantly Social Democratic governments - a capitalist economy in a regulated market with a welfare state. They're easy to spot on the map - just look for the rich countries with the high standards of living, good housing and excellent health care. I'm surprised so many people appear to be blithely oblivious to them.

I guess he didn't study economics. Maybe it was aged 5-15 for a GCSE. Steve Jobs earned and deserved his billions as did all the others who created something from nothing. They are the exceptions. What we have now is largely corporatism. The managing elite of a company rewarding themselves highly for doing jobs in businesses they didn't create and have risked nothing in. If anything they are the antithesis of innovation and capitalism.

Of course, and few people disagree. The debate is usually about the degree of regulation of the market - eg are 4000%APR loans to the unemployed a reasonable business practice?; should there be a minimum wage and a what level?; should multinationals be stopped from off-shoring profits and repatriating 'losses'? Consumer protection and a degree of social justice isn't socialism or communism by the back door.

Have you not realised that using the supposedly dismissive lefty tag in place of a reasoned response makes you look a bit vacuous? you clearly aren't, so why do it? People frequently cite the US case because that is the best example of a developed economy with a largely private healthcare system - ie the alternative system. Nearly all other developed countries have a predominantly 'socialised' system. The NHS is far from perfect but it does a good job given the amount of money we put into it. If you look at the graphic below its no surprise to find that the healthcare systems which generally have the best reputations - Switzerland, France and Germany cost more, anywhere between 25% and 50% more. Guess what, put 50% more into the NHS and, all other things being equal, the service will be better. Comparing performance between systems is tricky, there are so many factors to take into account - but life expectancy is a big one. Generally people in the UK, especially in England, live longer than the OECD average despite spending only marginally more on healthcare.

You get better health outcomes than the US system for half the cost

Right on the money as always Glasgow.

They tend to have very pushy salesmen who will flog you an overpriced mediocre product. Anglian also used to go into liquidation every few years and re-emerge as a phoenix company under the same name, thus avoiding troublesome guarantees. My advice would be to go for a personal recommendation of a company which is a member of the Glass and Glazing Federation because they will back up any guarantees (ignore FENSA or the Federation of Master Builders which are just marketing tools). Also find out who actually makes the product - as Special K said Rehau or Kommerling are respected.

Personally I wouldn't touch Anglian, Everest or any of the 'names'. If you want new wooden windows these are really good http://www.jeld-wen.co.uk/about-jeld-wen/news/43-the-highly-specified-dreamvu-family - I've got a couple of them. I've also used these people for aluminium French doors http://www.duration.co.uk/AluminiumWindows-Casement.asp#tabs You can get online quotes from both.

Fundamentally disagree. I always smoked but felt I should give up for health reasons. I tried giving up cold turkey and was always hankering after a cigarette. Once I started using patches the desire to smoke almost totally disappeared overnight. For me it was a physical addiction plain and simple.

I miss Psycho Saint too

You can if you use rubber hose and tell her not to squeal.

There's an article in the FT today. I cant cut and paste it here but the title "Scotland’s Future: A Braveheart whose mum still does the laundry" tells you all you need to know.

Ha, good spot. It really is him too, in business with a Dutch woman, Catharina Cortese-Reusink.