Great?

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great

Public sector pain

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public-sector-pain

The government should lop 5% off every budget and every public salary for a year, no exceptions and no argument. It would be crude but fair, the price paid by a public sector that has done well over the past decade at the expense of the productive sector of the national economy. It is an expense that the nation cannot at present sustain.

– Simon Jenkins, 'Crude, but fair. The public sector must take the pain', The Guardian.

Must be doing something right

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must-be-doing-something-right

It does not look as though the truth is too popular amongst Guardian readers. Read 'Don't regulate banking – liberalise it' by Anthony Evans and decide for yourself.

ISOS - 15th October 2009

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isos-15th-october-2009

On Thursday 15th October the ASI will be holding its next Independent Seminar for the Open Society; our one-day conference for sixth-form students with an interest in politics and economics. Named after Sir Karl Popper’s book The Open Society and Its Enemies, the conference is based upon the principles and consequences of an open and tolerant society.

ISOS always attracts prominent and distinguished names from all areas of politics, journalism and business; past speakers include the likes of Boris Johnson, Andrew Marr and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. A key attraction of ISOS is the way in which students are able to get involved with the issues discussed. Following each 15-20 minute talk students are invited to question each speaker on their topic, and voice their own opinions and reactions. Talks promise to be on the cutting-edge politics and economics.

This October the speakers will be Brendan O’Neil, editor of Spiked Online and co-founder of the Manifesto Club, Conservative MP Sir Malcolm Rifkind, LibDem MP Lembit Opik and ASI President Dr Madsen Pirie. This October will also see the first ISOS debate (debators tba).

To apply for a place, please send an e-mail to isos@old.adamsmith.org. School group bookings are welcome. Places for students are limited to 200. A flyer for the event is available to download here.

The UK's credit rating

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the-uks-credit-rating

The Prime Minister's solution is to keep spending willy-nilly and paint anyone who asks questions as immoral. Yet it is Brown that is immoral. Our so-called leader is at risk of wrecking the UK's credit rating – a cataclysmic outcome that would result in genuine austerity budgets and annual debt service costs approaching what we spend on the NHS.

– Liam Halligan, ' Daring Darling finally puts Brown in his place ' The Telegraph

Dinner with Portillo

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dinner-with-portillo

Back in July, I recorded an episode of Dinner with Portillo, in which I discussed devolution and Scottish independence with Rod Liddle (of The Times and The Spectator), Michael Fry (the Scottish historian and author), Henry McLeish (the former first minister of Scotland), Hardeep Singh Kohli (from The One Show), Vernon Bogdanor (the Oxford professor), Timothy Garton Ash (of The Guardian and Oxford University) and, of course, Michael Portillo (the former defence secretary). Just in case anybody wants to watch it, it's on BBC Four tonight at 10pm.

On the money

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on-the-money

They say that 90% of America's $20 bills contain traces of cocaine. Nice to know greenbacks are still worth something, then.

How to rise to the top

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how-to-rise-to-the-top

Powerful government tends to draw into it people with bloated egos, people who think they know more than everyone else and have little hesitance in coercing their fellow man. Or as Nobel Laureate Friedrich Hayek said, "in government, the scum rises to the top".

- Walter E. Williams

Inclement weather

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inclement-weather

Forget wind, sea and solar... for the UK drizzle power is the future.

Is it contagious?

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is-it-contagious

Cameron is already preparing himself for the great trials of running this country.