Monthly Archives: February 2009

Inflation is handy for stealthily lowering wages, deflation makes money cheaper but discourages risk-taking.

 I’m publishing this comment as a post because I’d forgotten about the effects of inflation on wages – a phenomenon that I haven’t read elsewhere recently  - and partly because I’d like someone to answer the question not answered here, namely, what are the advantages of deflation or zero growth? I also like the notion [...]

Globalisation works – we can ship in cheap Italian labour for our French oil refineries

‘Lord’ Mandelson of Bilderberg made an unwelcome return to the nation’s airwaves to defend the relatively indefensible position of French-owned Total Oil to outsource blue collar maintenance to Italian sub-contractors. Unsurprisingly, the former EU Trade Commissioner defended the right to free movement of labour inherent in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, but he also claimed that [...]