Archive for November, 2011


The link between social mobility and income inequality

November 30th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

“The idea that anyone can, by their own merits and hard work, improve their social and economic position is one of the dominant political themes of our times. Encouraging social mobility, both within a person’s lifetime (intra- generational social mobility) and from one generation to the next (inter- generational social mobility), has become a key […]

Posted in British current affairs, Social policy, World current affairs | Comments (0)


How old are you? How happy are you?

November 29th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

One of the most popular sections of my web site is the page entitled “How To Be Happy”. It’s also the section of the site that generates the most e-mails. Many readers seem to find the advice useful. I’m struck though by how many of the writers are in their teens or 20s. In fact, many […]

Posted in Miscellaneous | Comments (1)


Smarter economics: investing in girls

November 28th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

I had occasion today to visit the Department For International Development (DFID). Currently the atrium is adorned with a huge banner carrying an illustration called “The Girl Knight” by Kenyan graphic artist Eric Muthoga. You can see a version of the picture here. The banner depicts a young black girl armed with a ‘shield’ in […]

Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)


Day Two with baby Catrin

November 26th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

I was awake several times in the night, wondering why I hadn’t heard Catrin – but it was because she was still asleep. In the end, she slept straight through without waking all the way to 7.30 am. Is this the perfect baby, or what? Once we were both up, I gave her another banana. […]

Posted in My life & thoughts | Comments (2)


Day One with baby Catrin

November 25th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

As I explained in a posting four weeks ago, my son Richard and daughter-in-law Emily wished to leave their daughter Catrin with us overnight so that they could go away and celebrate Emily’s birthday. A month ago was the trial run as I stayed with them overnight and took responsibility for Catrin. It worked out […]

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What sort of Internet do we want?

November 24th, 2011 by Roger Darlington

For nine years now, I’ve been writing a regular column on communications issues with particular reference to the Internet. These pieces are for the magazine of Connect, a trade union representing professionals in telecoms and now part of the larger union Prospect. I’ve just contributed my 70th piece and it’s all about the pressures to […]

Posted in Internet | Comments (0)


Who is Grover Norquist?

November 23rd, 2011 by Roger Darlington

The United States is suffering a ballooning budget deficit that threatens the stability of the world’s largest economy and therefore the global economy itself. In the face of such a challenge, most countries would see the obvious solution as a mixture of cuts in public expenditure and increases in taxes with tax hikes focused on […]

Posted in American current affairs | Comments (0)


First, the BRICs; then, the PIGS; now the CIVETS

November 23rd, 2011 by Roger Darlington

BRIC = Brazil, Russia, India and China. These are countries that for some years have been declared as about to become major commercial powers. PIGS = Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain. These are countries identified a couple of years ago as having major problems of sovereign debt. CIVETS = Columbia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and […]

Posted in World current affairs | Comments (1)


How are we going to curb excessive pay?

November 22nd, 2011 by Roger Darlington

Today the High Pay Commission publishes its final report, “Cheques with Balances: Why tackling high pay is in the national interest”, shows stratospheric pay increases which have seen wealth flow upwards to the top 0.1% away from average workers. It sets out a 12-point plan based on transparency, accountability and fairness to halt spiralling high […]

Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)


Word of the day: demonym

November 21st, 2011 by Roger Darlington

This is the name for the resident of a locality – more information here.

Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (0)