Simon Carr in today’s Independent isn’t impressed. “Bilge” and “fudge” are about the politest things he has to say about Jack Straw’s proposed Constitutional Renewal Bill. See the full article: The Sketch: The PM’s constitutional renewal Bill is just PR and weep.
Regulation of (Financial) Markets
Stability in financial markets is unattainable; anyone who believes they can make it otherwise is pissing into the wind. Sadly many governments, banks and indeed market makers are included in this afflicted group. There’s a good article with the title “More regulation will not prevent next crisis” by John Kay in Financial Times of 25/03/2008. The key passage is:
… in financial services, the demand today is for more regulation. That call should be resisted. The state cannot ensure the stability of the financial system and a serious attempt to do so would involve intervention on an unacceptable scale. But to acknowledge responsibility for financial stability is to assume a costly liability for failure to achieve it. That is what has happened.
Since financial stability is unattainable, the more important objective is to insulate the real economy from the consequences of financial instability. Government should … ensure that the payment system for households and businesses continues to function. There should be the same powers to take control of essential services in the event of corporate failure that exist for other public utilities …
We cannot prevent booms and busts in credit markets, but today’s regulation of risk and capital – which is more reflective of what has occurred than of what may occur – does more to aggravate these cycles than to prevent them. Regulation in a market economy is targeted at specific market failures and should not be a charter for the general scrutiny of business strategies of private business. Banking should be
no exception.
How true. Not that politicians have a hope of understanding this. And not that bankers would want them to understand it.
[Hat tip to Wat Tyler at Burning Our Money.]
Heron …
Heron … bastard … just been at my pond … thrown one large goldfish on the lawn … fish still alive and replaced in pond … might survive … rest OK as far as I can see … heron returned after 15 minutes … seen off by locals crows … I like crows … I also like herons and fish … but not together!
Books Do Furnish a Room
I’ve just come across Terence Jagger’s weblog Books Do Furnish a Room about books, trees and gardens, wildlife, ideas. As those of your who know me at well will know Books Do Furnish a Room is the title of volume 10 of Anthony Powell’s 12-volume sequence A Dance to the Music of Time. And indeed Jagger does occasionally make reference to Powell, so his weblog is a “must read” for me. The first Powell-related items I spotted are Borage, Writer with the X Factor and Uncommon Readers. This weblog is well worth a look for those interested in books.
It's Easter
It’s Easter Day. And I’ve spent almost the whole day doing literary society work – well it is the end of our financial year coming up and membership renewal time, so lots of mailing to do.
Just as well I have plenty to do as I don’t like Easter; I think I never have; I always enjoy Christmas but not Easter. And no, it’s not because of my atheism and general lack of belief in anything – I enjoy a long bank holiday weekend as much as anyone. It’s just that I always feel Easter is a dismal time; I don’t know why. Which is weird as I am (marginally at least) affected by SAD and about now start to look forward to and appreciate the lengthening days. Maybe this year feels worse than most as Easter is so early, and it’s grey, wet, cold, and snowing on and off. I’m ready for a 3 month holiday in the sun: sun, sea, sand, warmth, wine, good food. I wish!
Now where did I put that lottery ticket?
Working on the Train
This week’s self-portrait: 52 Weeks 4/52, 2008 week 12.
I was working on the train to Glasgow early on Monday morning.
Super-Cows and the Redesign of Farming
I always see Focus, the BBC’s science and technology magazine, and mostly I find it too superficial to satisfy to my scientific mind (not surprising really, it’s designed for interested amateurs, not former science professionals). But occasionally they have an interesting and thought-provoking article or comment. One such is in the current issue (April 2008) where Colin Tudge, zoologist, science writer and broadcaster, makes the case for the redesign of farming rather than the current trend towards super-livestock. Unfortunately the BBC doesn’t put the whole of the printed magazine online, so here is a heavily edited (but I hope undistorted) version of Tudge’s article; to read the whole thing you’ll have to buy the magazine.
The US government has approved the cloning of high-performance cattle, pigs, and goats … The idea is to make genetic copies of ‘elite’ animals: the ones that grow quickest, or give the most milk … Commercially, this sounds good.
…
But the decision … has been met with protest.
…
[A] few decades ago, traditional dairy cows in the western world yielded between 600 and 800 gallons per year, and were productive for at least five to 10 years … Modern herds are expected to average more than 1000 gallons a year [and some even 2000 gallons] … These high-performance cows average only 1.8 lactations, after which they have mastitis and are crippled.
…
Worse, though, is the mindset behind this use of cloning. For elite animals do not perform well except in cosseted conditions, and are … force-fed on high-grade feed. This requires huge capital – so such animals are intended only for rich countries whose consumers already have more than enough.
…
Worst of all, the frenetic search for the high-yield animals completely misconstrues the role of livestock. Already we are failing to feed the world’s population. An
estimated one billion out of 6.5 billion people are chronically undernourished while another billion suffer from excess.
…
The central task is to produce the most nourishment possible from the available landscapes. Food crops produce far more food calories and protein per hectare than livestock, so they should be our priority – cereals, pulses, nuts, tubers, fruit, and vegetables … Cattle and sheep should feed on grass or … trees that grow in places where we cannot easily raise crops … The omnivores like pigs and poultry can feed on surpluses and leftovers.So farming that is designed to maximise food output produces a lot of plants, with modest amounts of livestock … Plenty of plants, not much meat and maximum variety is precisely what modern nutritionists recommend.
…
But modern, industrial, high-tech farming has nothing to do with feeding people. It is designed to generate cash.
Double Departure from Alexisbad
One of a series taken at Alexisbad during RailTrail charter from Quedlinberg to Wernigerode, 13/02/2008. This was a special for our photoshoot; the train on the right is our charter train; the one on the left was a service train which had just terminated. And I must say it was a magnificent sight and not something you will see these days during normal service. It would have been even better if there had been the snow we should have rightly had in February. We spent well over half an hour here just standing around; it was a bit chilly even with warm layers, jackets, hats, gloves and scarves. But well worth the wait, I hope you’ll agree!
This completes the pictures from our Germany trip. For me this shot is the star of the whole set, but not by a lot!
1000 Photos on Flickr
Double Departure from Alexisbad
This is my 1000th upload to Flickr in just 2 years and 2 days — so I thought I’d better make it a good one!
One of a series taken at Alexisbad during RailTrail charter from Quedlinberg to Wernigerode, 13/02/2008. This was specially set up for our photoshoot; the train on the right is our charter train; the one on the left was a service train which had just terminated. And I must say it was a magnificent sight and not something you will see these days during normal service. It would have been even better if there had been the snow we should have rightly had in February. This is the sort of thing which Railtrail do well: the tours are well researched with special shots like this set up where it can be done because they know that one of the big attractions of this type of tour is for the photographers, as well as those who just want to ride on “pretty” trains!
I have a feeling we might well do this one again sometime; perhaps in Spring (tho’ not this year).
Copper
Here’s the next batch of photos from our Germany trip loaded onto Flickr. Just two more batches to go!