Donald Roy

Resident Putney - economist, trade unionist, internationalist/traveller. former activist

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npub1rk34tattah5sqsk7v6f9nd6f8s03cn0nfcukuvfalk9hwuewwzeqr66qye

NIP-05 Address

djr_at_union.place@mostr.pub

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relay.noswhere.com

relay.mostr.pub

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Last Notes

2024-05-26 16:06:41

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@npub1lwu…6w4j
My understanding is that the supply of #parliamentarydraftspersons has not kept pace with the volume of legislation over the last quarter of a century. Hence the problem cited.

2024-03-05 10:48:31

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 Which is why politicians appearing to rely on #it to square circles makes me really uneasy!

2024-02-23 14:09:36

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@npub1g0t…tvm4
Quite a lot of the public sector has funded rather than 'Pay As You Go' pensions - local government employees are in that category as were those in public corporations when these existed.

2024-01-15 19:23:49

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 There was a peace dividend in the later 1990s and early 2000s. It had gone by 2010 at the latest. There were earlier ones in the later 1950s and1960s and before then the 1920s.

2023-12-28 14:47:54

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@npub1g0t…tvm4
A classic case of what the late Alec Nove called #vulgarmarginalismus !

2023-12-23 17:09:47

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 Even relative size can be tricky to estimate. There are those who rely on market exchange rates to convert into common currency - while others prefer comparative purchasing power. And at one time the #WorldBank came up with a really messy fudge which it put into its official atlas! #uk still t sixth place using market exchange rates but may not be in top ten on purchasing power based measure - which Tooze among others prefers.

2023-12-23 10:43:25

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 A very fair point. Relative size of economy has mattered in terms of power relations - analysis by Tooze on the world wars is the prime example - but says little or nothing about efficiency, living standards and wellbeing. Truth is that the #uk has become poorer than a number of sensibly-run countries - mainly in Europe - in a way that was not the case in the 1950s or 1960s - or even albeit briefly the 2000s!

2023-12-19 12:24:20

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 @npub1wyu…t407
The make up of the version of the CPI they use has changed over time. There was a particularly serious problem in the late 1990s after they decided to use the #uk version of the #eu "Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices" - which worried so much about comparability as against representativeness that it left out housing entirely ! - as the basis for the #BoE 's remit on inflation. This appalled among others #charlesgoodhart who argued that assets should not be excluded!

2023-12-18 22:21:36

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@npub1g0t…tvm4
Remember I was taught economics at #Cambridge . Even if Kalecki may be a little too radical for the Bank surely somebody there must have read Chamberlin on "Monopolistic Competition" !

2023-12-18 18:39:17

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@npub1g0t…tvm4
That is what ensues when you do not put enough effort into getting reliable statistics rather than those that please those in power! There was a similar problem with industrial/production statistics in the 1980s after the Rayner review. The Central Statistical Office ended up getting much of its previous budget back! They need to put more resources into getting representative data on earnings/wages - or at least think of clever ways to get them- so the bank does not "fly blind".

2023-11-26 10:22:35

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 Yet as we know now from her evidence to the enquiry he dressed down #yvonnedoyle in that very January for having spoken in public. #yvonnedoyle held a senior position in #publichealthengland at the time. I am afraid I just do not buy the picture of #hancock having concerns about #covid in January 2020. If he had he would not have silenced #yvonnedoyle .

2023-10-12 15:09:52

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@npub1cfp…94fe
It could be worse!. A quarter of a century ago #uk government policy was modified to his commercial benefit shortly after he donated £1 million to the #labour party. When this was revealed the money was returned to him but the modification in policy from which he benefited remained in place!

2023-09-01 13:16:07

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@npub1v2s…mqq5
Which of course gives them an incentive to have a speedy trial if at all possible!

2023-08-14 12:52:40

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@npub1g0t…tvm4
This speaks for itself. Privatisation was never about increasing investment. The premise was much more that nationalised industries were investing too much and doing it inefficiently - the statistical evidence for this was weak to say the least!

2023-08-13 10:26:02

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@npub1ks7…eg5u @npub1kvn…hm73
She was also one of the earliest women members of the Royal Statistical Society.

2023-08-04 19:20:45

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Significantly one #labour controlled #outerlondon #borough has responded already by announcing its own supplementary scheme. That must have taken some courage in that the party there contains influential anti- #ulezextension and anti-khan elements.

2023-08-04 19:13:28

#ulezextension latest - breaking news
#SadiqKhan has announced a further £ 50 million for the scrappage scheme. This will be funded from reserves - equivalent to finding loose change at the back of the sofa! Effectively the scheme will no longer be means tested - which should save a bit on administration and takes his approach closer to those of #clementattlee and #williambeveridge - both well known ultra-leftists! .

2023-07-31 17:17:38

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@npub14k2…ed68
And already there has been a toot demanding that they be blocked from the #fediverse !
I am afraid I am with the ghost of #voltaire on this.

2023-07-13 08:46:29

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@npub1kr8…znpx @npub1600…jh8r @npub1g0t…tvm4
Not to mention the sheer amount of time and effort that must be wasted by managers trying to find ways to "game" the system. A classic case of both "Goodhart's Law" and the less well known Nicholson's lament about "hitting the target but missing the point"!

2023-07-12 16:46:21

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@npub1g0t…tvm4
You may well be right about the good will issue but there is a chance that what competent managers are left might be able to squeeze 1% or so out of good housekeeping savings - less messy procurement etc. Of course with the #nhstrust I cited not just the patient experience but actual patient safety suffered in consequence of a such a ridiculously high efficiency target!

2023-07-12 16:35:31

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@npub1g0t…tvm4
What the effect will be depends on whether efficiency savings in public services are possible. There is more than one view on this. In the left corner there are those who interpret the late and great #williambaumol to mean that there is no scope whatsoever to increase productivity - which is rather stronger than what he actually said. In the right corner are the sort of folk who once expected an #nhstrust I had dealings with to achieve a 10% efficiency saving in a year!