Funny Monetarism

Since the credit crunch began last August, everyone and his dog has weighed in with explanations of where it came from, and opinions about how to make it stop. Some of these cures have even been tried – threatening the banks with nationalisation, massive cash injections, and even (lately) stealing the assets of Icelandic banks. And yet, the markets continue to slide inexorably down, and Western currencies of all flavours seem to be racing each other to the bottom.

What’s going on? How come every intervention is getting it so wrong?

Beating Bullies

If the popular press is to be believed (which, of course, it isn’t) half of the inmates of our schools are being bullied to within an inch of their lives by the other half. It’s not just schools: at work, at home, and on the street, new victims are being created daily.

Whatever it is we’re doing about bullying, it doesn’t seem to be working.

Why recycling is bad for the environment.

We live in a world of ever-diminishing resources. Our supplies are running out both of raw materials to make things out of, and of ways to get rid of them when we’ve finished with them. So, we’re now being asked to recycle our waste – everything from milk bottles to cars and televisions.

Whose damnfool idea was that?