Two articles in Murdoch papers over the last couple of days would have amused me if they weren't enough to simultaneously reveal the stupidity of News International.
First there was The Sun lauding Patrick Minford. He's the economist who came out on Thatcher's side in 1981 to praise the destruction of UK manufacturing. He was also on the side of the poll tax. And now he claims that leaving the EU will seriously boost the UK economy using a model that ignores issues of geography and quality whilst assuming the UK can afford to give up all existing tariffs without consequence arising. The Sun claims he's been on the right side of economic history. I would agree he's been on the right, but never on the right side of history. As a man who heavily promoted the idea of rational expectations modelling in UK economics you could even argue he contributed to the 2007 crash.
But he did nothing as much to deliver that crash as Matt Ridley (or Viscount Ridley), the hereditary Tory Peer who is in the Lords, is a major climate change denier, a far right economic commentator and was, more importantly, the Chairman of Northern Rock when it crashed. He, according to The Times, also still has economic opinion still worth hearing despite his track record rivalling that of Minford for getting most things wrong.
Murdoch has a reputation for being a purveyor of fake and perverted news. Their support for these two helps make the case against them.
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Just a couple of spelling errors 🙂
They’ll go as the morning progresses
I have a team who do that for me
Proof reading on an ipad is not always easy
Yet Minford is on Radio 4’s Today this morning.
He seems to be arguing that we drop all tariffs unilaterally. Sounds a great way to get ‘a good deal’ from non-EU countries! He also seemed to disregard services.
If he is one of the “thinkers” of Brexit, then what argument do they really have about a better economic future?
Ah, services. What are they? Do they count?
And let’s also be clear – we don’t need tariffs do we? After all, their absence would shrink the state and then we’d all be much better off
Yes……
(Please read ironically)
What is the benefit to us of living behind a tarfiff wall so that we pay over the odds for imported goods?
Employment
Security
Food
You say to Andy that the reasons for a tariff are food, security and employment.
Aren’t these reasons for imposing tariffs on imports from Europe as well? Something we can’t do if we stay in the EU.
If trade does threaten these things (and I would dispute it), on what basis are (say) Commonwealth countries or the US a greater threat than the EU?
Because we have free trade agreements with the EU and not all other countries
You suggested to Andy that tariffs are a good thing in themselves, because they protect the country. If so, let’s protect ourselves from everyone.
Or are they a bad thing? Then let’s get rid of them with everyone. If having FTAs makes this happen then let’s get lots of them, something the EU won’t allow us to do.
I know of few things in tax that are good in themselves
I know of lots of things in tax that are good in context
Your question is premised on a false assumption
It also reads like the type where trolling follows
Trolls are good at making such mistakes
Minford also appeared on the BBC News website and on ‘Today’ this morning.
He is also being universally panned – with reasons – on Twitter and associated blogs. But is anyone listening?
So would you be in favour of the Corn Laws? just kidding…
All of Ridley’s books have one curious feature. Even if he wrote about the feeding habits of the Upper-Amazonian fruit bat flea, he would find the chance to be critical of left thinking. But his part in the Northern Rock story says all we need to know.
Not to mention the Ridley family links to mining as their source of wealth. Their denial of climate change is of course coincidental
I remember Professor Minford many years ago being somewhat critical of a group of unemployed people who came together to enhance their skills so as to increase their chances of getting a job. The thought of collective action was presumably distasteful to him and of course that great all knowing god The Market would provide everything they required. He now says that opening the UK up to uncontrolled trade would magically cause our industry to become efficient in order to compete although he doesn’t say how we can against child labour paid pittances and working in sweatshops. If this buffoon is the best the extreme Brexiteers can muster they really are struggling.