Paying my perfectly healthy 30-something neighbours to sunbathe for months to stop a disease that kills mostly 80 year olds with preexisting conditions isn't pragmatic, it's crazy, as is wa… (View Post)

I remember a Froggy relative of mine saying of Chirac vs Le Pen in 2002 that she would vote for the crook, not the fascist. I imagine lots of Brazilians thought the same today. (View Post)

It's meaningless to compare yields of bonds issued in different currencies, because of differences in so many factors (inflation expectations, interest rate policies, etc.) besides government cr… (View Post)

He doesn't have Blair's political judgement either - he seems to have his luck, judging by the last couple of months, but luck is a fickle mistress. (View Post)

We actually haven't been well governed for a generation, not just a year. But as long as the economy kept growing on a debt-fuelled binge, a mediocre civil service and political class could pape… (View Post)