Archive for the ‘World current affairs’ Category
The American presidential election (81)
October 19th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
“Obama’s performance in the South could mark a new phase in American politics. The South has been the modern Republican party’s spiritual home. The social conservative revolution was born here. It is the land of the Bible Belt and social values. Yet the Republican party is facing a serious challenge here for the first time […]
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How high can inflation in Zimbabwe go?
October 18th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
In the mid 1970s, I served as a Special Adviser in the Labour Government led by Harold Wilson and Jim Callahgan. I remember that in 1975 inflation in the UK reached an annual rate of 25%. It was suggested by the media at the time that no modern nation state could survive such a rate […]
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The American presidential election (80)
October 17th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
In the (unlikely) event that Barack Obama does not become President of the United States, he could become a comedian:
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Who – or what – caused this financial crisis?
October 17th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
There are lots of candidates for blame over the crisis facing the world’s financial markets: the bankers, the speculators, the regulators, the politicians, or all of us for racking up debt and being so greedy. But there’s another possible culprit: computer software. Apparently calculating whether to buy or sell shares – and especially derivatives – […]
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The American presidential election (79)
October 16th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
This evening, I spent one and a half hours watching a recording of the third and last debate between John McCain and Barack Obama. This was the liveliest debate of the three because it was up close and personal. McCain kept referring to some character called Joe the Plumber but Obama was once again the […]
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The American presidential election (78)
October 16th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
This is a fun page with all sorts of little delights for you to discover as you move and click your cursor.
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The American presidential election (77)
October 15th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
“Thanks particularly to the month-long financial crisis, Republicans are in extremely poor shape with the election three weeks away. This means the worst case scenario is now a distinct possibility: a Democrat in the White House, a Democratic Senate with a filibuster-proof majority, and a Democratic House with a bolstered majority.” Sounds great to me […]
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The American presidential election (76)
October 9th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
I’ve now managed to watch the whole of the second of the Presidential election campaign debates between Barack Obama and John McCain. This time the format was different – what the Americans call a town hall meeting with a small audience and the contestants walking around McCain was better than last time and opened strong […]
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Ever heard of the black swan theory?
October 9th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
At a meeting of the Board of Consumer Focus this week, I made a contribution which mentioned the black swan theory popularised by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his 2007 book “The Black Swan”. You can find a brief explanation of the black swan theory here and you can find an article on the concept in […]
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Remembering the Cuban Five
October 8th, 2008 by Roger Darlington
You’ve probably never heard of them and neither have most Americans, but in Latin America – and especially Cuba, their case is infamous. They are five Cubans who were arrested in 1998 and tried in 2001 in Miami. René González, Geraldo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino and Fernando González, were convicted and sentenced to terms […]
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