Charles Wheeler
@charlesmw.bsky.social
Watching the destruction of the welfare state (and something called 'society') and how we unlearned the 20th century 🤔
[Reposts often, but not always, endorsements]
[Reposts often, but not always, endorsements]
'When it comes to private equity, you don’t need to cherrypick the horror stories – you have to wade through them.'
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
October 10, 2024 at 10:47 AM
'When it comes to private equity, you don’t need to cherrypick the horror stories – you have to wade through them.'
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Charles Wheeler
Did you know that 10% of our GDP is the imagined rent that homeowners would pay for the property they own?
The wacky and wonderful world of GDP....
The wacky and wonderful world of GDP....
October 5, 2024 at 9:01 AM
Did you know that 10% of our GDP is the imagined rent that homeowners would pay for the property they own?
The wacky and wonderful world of GDP....
The wacky and wonderful world of GDP....
'[Ellison] told a conference about his vision of a world monitored by his company’s latest AI surveillance systems: ‘Citizens will be on their best behaviour because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.’
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
David Runciman · Short Cuts: Just ask Tony
Blair never owned a mobile phone while prime minister and barely knew how to send an email. At the same time, he has...
www.lrb.co.uk
October 5, 2024 at 10:13 AM
'[Ellison] told a conference about his vision of a world monitored by his company’s latest AI surveillance systems: ‘Citizens will be on their best behaviour because we’re constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.’
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
'In fact, he writes like ChatGPT asked to explain the origins of the digital revolution to primary age schoolchildren.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
David Runciman · Short Cuts: Just ask Tony
Blair never owned a mobile phone while prime minister and barely knew how to send an email. At the same time, he has...
www.lrb.co.uk
October 5, 2024 at 10:11 AM
'In fact, he writes like ChatGPT asked to explain the origins of the digital revolution to primary age schoolchildren.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
'The biggest supporter of the Tony Blair Institute, which now employs almost a thousand people around the world, is Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who has donated more than $100 million to Blair’s organisation.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
David Runciman · Short Cuts: Just ask Tony
Blair never owned a mobile phone while prime minister and barely knew how to send an email. At the same time, he has...
www.lrb.co.uk
October 5, 2024 at 10:10 AM
'The biggest supporter of the Tony Blair Institute, which now employs almost a thousand people around the world, is Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who has donated more than $100 million to Blair’s organisation.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
'He also wants big tech companies to be given access to as much personal health data as possible ... The possible costs – of corporate capture, corruption or simple incompetence – are barely considered.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
David Runciman · Short Cuts: Just ask Tony
Blair never owned a mobile phone while prime minister and barely knew how to send an email. At the same time, he has...
www.lrb.co.uk
October 5, 2024 at 10:09 AM
'He also wants big tech companies to be given access to as much personal health data as possible ... The possible costs – of corporate capture, corruption or simple incompetence – are barely considered.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by Charles Wheeler
Utterly mad.
James Cleverly says it is "weak, weak, weak" for the UK to return sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
The very same James Cleverly seems to have forgotten that he opened the negotiations in 2022 which led to this happening today.
The very same James Cleverly seems to have forgotten that he opened the negotiations in 2022 which led to this happening today.
October 3, 2024 at 1:49 PM
Utterly mad.
Reposted by Charles Wheeler
The colossal idiot that he is does more harm to his chances of getting hired as a teacher in this interview. He could just be stupid. Or perhaps he didn't really want to go back into teaching anyway and thought this kind of intervention would get some more publicity.
Gullis says he’s been unable to find work after being ousted as an MP
The former Tory MP for Stoke North said he's applied for teaching jobs and not even got an interview.
I wonder why..? 🤔
The former Tory MP for Stoke North said he's applied for teaching jobs and not even got an interview.
I wonder why..? 🤔
Gullis says he's been unable to find work after being ousted as an MP
Jonathan Gullis says he has been unable to land a job after he lost his seat in the general election - even as a teacher.
www.thelondoneconomic.com
September 30, 2024 at 4:55 PM
The colossal idiot that he is does more harm to his chances of getting hired as a teacher in this interview. He could just be stupid. Or perhaps he didn't really want to go back into teaching anyway and thought this kind of intervention would get some more publicity.
'At the BBC, Kate Lamble produced a podcast throughout the hearings, though its insights rarely seemed to make it across to the corporation’s news programmes. In an act of managerial malfeasance typical of the BBC, Lamble was made redundant after the inquiry reported.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
James Butler · ‘This much evidence, still no charges’
Every death at Grenfell was avoidable. Every death was the result of choices – acts of negligence, carelessness,...
www.lrb.co.uk
September 30, 2024 at 5:55 PM
'At the BBC, Kate Lamble produced a podcast throughout the hearings, though its insights rarely seemed to make it across to the corporation’s news programmes. In an act of managerial malfeasance typical of the BBC, Lamble was made redundant after the inquiry reported.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
'In 2017, only the most optimistic would have believed that the catastrophe would lead directly to substantive political change; but even the most pessimistic would not have predicted that, seven years on, almost nothing would have changed.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
James Butler · ‘This much evidence, still no charges’
Every death at Grenfell was avoidable. Every death was the result of choices – acts of negligence, carelessness,...
www.lrb.co.uk
September 30, 2024 at 5:54 PM
'In 2017, only the most optimistic would have believed that the catastrophe would lead directly to substantive political change; but even the most pessimistic would not have predicted that, seven years on, almost nothing would have changed.'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
'It is now indisputable that companies rigged safety tests with the complicity of the testing authorities, that politicians refused to act on safety concerns because to do so might have obstructed deregulation...'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
James Butler · ‘This much evidence, still no charges’
Every death at Grenfell was avoidable. Every death was the result of choices – acts of negligence, carelessness,...
www.lrb.co.uk
September 30, 2024 at 5:53 PM
'It is now indisputable that companies rigged safety tests with the complicity of the testing authorities, that politicians refused to act on safety concerns because to do so might have obstructed deregulation...'
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Black who?
youtu.be/y5FdwDN0A3w?...
youtu.be/y5FdwDN0A3w?...
How Private Equity Is Ruining Everything
YouTube video by According to Nicole
youtu.be
September 15, 2024 at 8:00 PM
Black who?
youtu.be/y5FdwDN0A3w?...
youtu.be/y5FdwDN0A3w?...
Reposted by Charles Wheeler
So many of the Twitter greats are here now!
I've done a blog, on why we need more than tax rises to fix public services: stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com/stumbling_an...
Beyond tax rises
Most people agree that we need to raise public spending to repair our damaged public services. Simon Wren-Lewis estimates that it needs to rise by around 4.5% of GDP eventually. Such an increase, as S...
stumblingandmumbling.typepad.com
September 12, 2024 at 4:28 PM
So many of the Twitter greats are here now!
Reposted by Charles Wheeler
“The Sun has settled 1,600 claims and paid out £1 billion to keep cases out of court” https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/media/the-sun-has-settled-1600-claims-and-paid-out-1-billion-to-keep-cases-out-of-court-372737/
April 17, 2024 at 5:22 PM
“The Sun has settled 1,600 claims and paid out £1 billion to keep cases out of court” https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/news/media/the-sun-has-settled-1600-claims-and-paid-out-1-billion-to-keep-cases-out-of-court-372737/
Reposted by Charles Wheeler
This week's newsletter: Big tech is looting the internet, making every platform actively hostile to the user, turning Facebook, Google Search and Instagram into products that no longer provide a service while making shareholders hundreds of billions of dollars.
www.wheresyoured.at/the-great-lo...
www.wheresyoured.at/the-great-lo...
They're Looting The Internet
Last week, Meta revealed (in a motion trying to dismiss an FTC anti-monopoly lawsuit) that Instagram made an astonishing $32.4 billion in advertising revenue in 2021. That figure becomes even more sho...
www.wheresyoured.at
April 15, 2024 at 7:42 PM
This week's newsletter: Big tech is looting the internet, making every platform actively hostile to the user, turning Facebook, Google Search and Instagram into products that no longer provide a service while making shareholders hundreds of billions of dollars.
www.wheresyoured.at/the-great-lo...
www.wheresyoured.at/the-great-lo...
Reposted by Charles Wheeler
Economics
Train operating firms oligopoly or monopoly -price makers
1st degree, 2nd degree price discrimination
Imperfect knowledge
But in reality from Haymarket unbooked seats maybe gone
Even booked seat taken by ‘nice’ elderly lady who won’t move
Changes PED
www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-...
Train operating firms oligopoly or monopoly -price makers
1st degree, 2nd degree price discrimination
Imperfect knowledge
But in reality from Haymarket unbooked seats maybe gone
Even booked seat taken by ‘nice’ elderly lady who won’t move
Changes PED
www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-...
Walk a mile to save £34 on an Edinburgh-London rail ticket
Travellers may end up paying far higher fares than they need during the industrial action this April
www.independent.co.uk
April 6, 2024 at 10:06 AM
Economics
Train operating firms oligopoly or monopoly -price makers
1st degree, 2nd degree price discrimination
Imperfect knowledge
But in reality from Haymarket unbooked seats maybe gone
Even booked seat taken by ‘nice’ elderly lady who won’t move
Changes PED
www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-...
Train operating firms oligopoly or monopoly -price makers
1st degree, 2nd degree price discrimination
Imperfect knowledge
But in reality from Haymarket unbooked seats maybe gone
Even booked seat taken by ‘nice’ elderly lady who won’t move
Changes PED
www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-...
'when decisions are made that have disastrous long-term conseqneuces as a result of relatively trivial short-term cash savings, the pathology is often directly related to something that seemed like a good idea to an economist.'
Unaccountable: www.enlightenmenteconomics.com/blog/index.p... (also reviewed in @financialtimes.com today)
April 6, 2024 at 11:01 AM
'when decisions are made that have disastrous long-term conseqneuces as a result of relatively trivial short-term cash savings, the pathology is often directly related to something that seemed like a good idea to an economist.'
'The book asks why mistakes and crises never seem to be anybody’s fault – it’s always ‘the system’. Davies uses the concept of the ‘accountability sink’ – a policy or set of rules that prevent individuals from making or changing decisions and thus being accountable for them.'
Unaccountable: www.enlightenmenteconomics.com/blog/index.p... (also reviewed in @financialtimes.com today)
April 6, 2024 at 10:59 AM
'The book asks why mistakes and crises never seem to be anybody’s fault – it’s always ‘the system’. Davies uses the concept of the ‘accountability sink’ – a policy or set of rules that prevent individuals from making or changing decisions and thus being accountable for them.'
'Britain has not built 300,000 homes a year since the moon landings in 1969. Back then about half were from local authorities and housing associations, at the tail end of a postwar housebuilding boom, before a collapse in social construction rates to just a few tens of thousands.'
Figures released last week show as few as 7% of local authorities in England & Wales have homes that can be bought for less than 5 times a workers’ earnings & are therefore deemed “affordable”
IN 1997 THE FIGURE WAS 88%
Everyone should read this
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
IN 1997 THE FIGURE WAS 88%
Everyone should read this
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Can this ‘ethical capitalist’ solve the UK’s social housing crisis? | Richard Partington
Julian Richer, a landlord himself, says markets have created only disaster and the nation must shift from its focus on ownership
www.theguardian.com
March 31, 2024 at 5:59 PM
'Britain has not built 300,000 homes a year since the moon landings in 1969. Back then about half were from local authorities and housing associations, at the tail end of a postwar housebuilding boom, before a collapse in social construction rates to just a few tens of thousands.'
'At its core is a plea to prioritise social housing after decades of neglect, with a warning that the scale of our housing disaster is so severe that a council housebuilding programme on a par with the reconstruction efforts after the second world war is necessary.'
Figures released last week show as few as 7% of local authorities in England & Wales have homes that can be bought for less than 5 times a workers’ earnings & are therefore deemed “affordable”
IN 1997 THE FIGURE WAS 88%
Everyone should read this
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
IN 1997 THE FIGURE WAS 88%
Everyone should read this
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Can this ‘ethical capitalist’ solve the UK’s social housing crisis? | Richard Partington
Julian Richer, a landlord himself, says markets have created only disaster and the nation must shift from its focus on ownership
www.theguardian.com
March 31, 2024 at 5:59 PM
'At its core is a plea to prioritise social housing after decades of neglect, with a warning that the scale of our housing disaster is so severe that a council housebuilding programme on a par with the reconstruction efforts after the second world war is necessary.'
Reposted by Charles Wheeler
Figures released last week show as few as 7% of local authorities in England & Wales have homes that can be bought for less than 5 times a workers’ earnings & are therefore deemed “affordable”
IN 1997 THE FIGURE WAS 88%
Everyone should read this
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
IN 1997 THE FIGURE WAS 88%
Everyone should read this
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Can this ‘ethical capitalist’ solve the UK’s social housing crisis? | Richard Partington
Julian Richer, a landlord himself, says markets have created only disaster and the nation must shift from its focus on ownership
www.theguardian.com
March 31, 2024 at 5:39 PM
Figures released last week show as few as 7% of local authorities in England & Wales have homes that can be bought for less than 5 times a workers’ earnings & are therefore deemed “affordable”
IN 1997 THE FIGURE WAS 88%
Everyone should read this
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
IN 1997 THE FIGURE WAS 88%
Everyone should read this
www.theguardian.com/business/202...
Reposted by Charles Wheeler
Reposted by Charles Wheeler
Business as usual got us into this mess and will not get us out.
@SkyNewsBreak: Thames Water Chief Executive Chris Weston tells Sky News "it is very much business as usual at Thames Water" – after shareholders said they will not be injecting first £500 million of funding agreed last summer
For more on this and other news visit https://t.co/NEDMP2uP6W
For more on this and other news visit https://t.co/NEDMP2uP6W
March 28, 2024 at 10:53 AM
Business as usual got us into this mess and will not get us out.
Reposted by Charles Wheeler
So we’ll have to put up with raw sewage in the rivers then, as shareholders would rather keep their money 🤔?
Especially as Ofwat has refused… a 40% bill hike for customers, an easing of capital spending requirements as well as leniency on regulatory penalties. Bless.
www.lbc.co.uk/news/thames-...
Especially as Ofwat has refused… a 40% bill hike for customers, an easing of capital spending requirements as well as leniency on regulatory penalties. Bless.
www.lbc.co.uk/news/thames-...
Thames Water crisis deepens as shareholders refuse to give £500 million cash injection
The Thames Water crisis has deepened after shareholders refused to deliver an initial £500 million cash injection due to an
www.lbc.co.uk
March 28, 2024 at 12:26 PM
So we’ll have to put up with raw sewage in the rivers then, as shareholders would rather keep their money 🤔?
Especially as Ofwat has refused… a 40% bill hike for customers, an easing of capital spending requirements as well as leniency on regulatory penalties. Bless.
www.lbc.co.uk/news/thames-...
Especially as Ofwat has refused… a 40% bill hike for customers, an easing of capital spending requirements as well as leniency on regulatory penalties. Bless.
www.lbc.co.uk/news/thames-...
Reposted by Charles Wheeler
USA but could equally apply in UK
Lot of rich enclave mountain towns about to wonder why their restaurants are closing down.
Steamboat Springs voters reject plan to build affordable housing community for more than 6,000 residents
The Brown Ranch plan began with an anonymous donation of $24 million and called for more than 2,200 affordable units for 6,000 residents
coloradosun.com
March 27, 2024 at 8:19 PM
USA but could equally apply in UK