The paradox of Theresa May’s arguments against Scottish independence: Daily Bullshit, April 4-5, 2017

There is a new blog post up. It is refined and expanded from comments originally posted here (but now moved) in the previous issue.


Updates

  1. April 5, 2017, 1:24 pm:
    • A study published on the New York Federal Reserve blog reports, among other things, that it is much harder to find work if you are out of work.[1]

Scottish Independence

I think George Monbiot correctly captures the paradox of Theresa May’s arguments against a Scottish referendum on independence. What May alleges is good for the United Kingdom, for which we might actually read little England, with Brexit, she seems to argue, is not good for Scotland with regard to a referendum on independence.[2]

And I certainly agree that neoliberalism, as practiced in the U.K. (and the U.S.) is a humanitarian catastrophe. Finally, I think a major problem with our present system of social organization is that we have centralized too much authority in too few hands, so I favor decentralization, which leads me to sympathize with the drive for Scottish independence.

The trouble I see with Monbiot’s argument is that if we think neoliberalism is terrible, leaving the U.K. to rejoin the European Union, dominated by Germany and ordoliberalism (a less insane—which doesn’t say much—version of neoliberalism), really isn’t an answer, as we see with the northern European attitude toward southern Europe—especially Greece.[3]

George Monbiot, “Scot Free,” April 3, 2017, http://www.monbiot.com/2017/04/03/scot-free/


Uber

Alexandria Sage and Dan Levine, “Waymo targets second senior executive in Uber self-driving dispute,” Reuters, April 3, 2017, http://www.reuters.com/article/us-uber-tech-alphabet-lawsuit-idUSKBN1752LW


For-Profit Schools

James F. Peltz, Nina Agrawal, and Paloma Esquivel, “Westech College’s abrupt closure raises questions about training options,” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 2017, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-westech-college-20170403-story.html


Unemployment

R. Jason Faberman, et al., “How Do People Find Jobs?” Liberty Street Economics, April 5, 2017, http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2017/04/how-do-people-find-jobs.html


  1. [1]R. Jason Faberman, et al., “How Do People Find Jobs?” Liberty Street Economics, April 5, 2017, http://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2017/04/how-do-people-find-jobs.html
  2. [2]George Monbiot, “Scot Free,” April 3, 2017, http://www.monbiot.com/2017/04/03/scot-free/
  3. [3]Mark Blyth, Austerity: The History of a Dangerous Idea (Oxford, UK: Oxford University, 2013).

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