On Spain looking down the tunnel, is that the exit or just a train coming?

I am sorry, I know I am a voluntary expat, but Spain is just the land of the joke. Yesterday three things happened that made me corroborate as a right idea leaving the Peninsula.
1. The financial health The FT informs us that “Spain acts to help lenders”. Is this the same [...]

On what you cannot do in a public park, is general public madness taking over or what?

Remember when you use to through stones to each other in the fields and hope that “the enemy” wouldn’t catch you? Well, remember no more, I was peacefully strolling Hyde Park when I got to the Knightsbridge side and so this “peculiar” but serious poster:

Oh, Come on! What else? Is that what the Home Secretary [...]

On the lottery, the infamous tax on the poor, a £49m jackpot

I saw a TV commercial for the next Euromillion lottery draw. There is a £49,000,000 estimated jackpot. That would come handy, wouldn’t it? You could even buy a couple of banks these days.

It is commonly said that lottery is a tax on the poor. Let’s see why:
The theory:
A k-combination is a subset with k [...]

On pooh, Lord Vernment and the lessons to be learnt from Credit-upon-Sink. A medieval story

Once upon a time, there was a small hamlet named Credit-upon-Sink where the Lord Vernment ensured safety and security from strangers. Live was kind, and the banks of the river Sink, fertile.
Lord Govvy, as he was known in the valley, would collect taxes from villagers based on the number of seeds planted every season by [...]

On the end of the rule of law in the West, another case study: MPs expenses

I am growing more and more worried about the raising populist anger spiralling out of control.
First, it was the “outrageous” (but legally binding by contract) golden parachutes of failed investment banking executives.
It followed the popular clamour against sky-high (but legally binding by contracts) executive pay.
Then it came poor Sir Fred Goodwin and his pension (legally [...]

On the age of media overstatement and living in fear of everything

Today it’s the turn of swine flu (a strain of Influenza A virus subtype H1N1, whatever that means). From 2004 to 2007, it was avian influenza (H5N1, for those who worry enough to care). 2003 brought us the Michael Jackson look thanks to SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, a nasty type of pneumonia). Post-9/11 anthrax [...]

On saying NO to paperless banking, don’t fall in the guilt trap

As a principle, I refuse to change to paper-free statements, not only because the banks themselves don’t accept online statement print-outs as proof of address (ironic!) but because again, I don’t get anything out of it other than feeling less guilty for saving a piece of a tree. But let’s remember, it is the banks [...]

On bonuses, RBS, and how to improve going forward

So the UK government decided to scrap the bonuses at RBS (FT.com).
UK gov, or its tax payers, owns 68% of the bank, so they say they are going to honour the contractual bonuses and scrap those directed to anyone related to the credit debacle (and slap wrist to the executive directors, they’ve been naughty, naughty, [...]

On talking about the weather and the hell we are going through

February 2, 2009. What a day to remember. It was a Monday, right after… a Sunday.
Freezing weather from the East brought us the “biggest snowstorms in 18 years!”
No trains in or out of London, no buses in the city, curiously even the underground underground services cancelled… the great ex-Imperial capital brought to its knees by [...]

On taxpayers being fooled again, 2% VAT reduction? In this sale season, I see it like a helping hand for retail businesses

So, as of December 1 darling Darling told us that the VAT rate in the United Kingdom would go down a massive 2% from 17.5% to 15.0% (-14.28%)..
At first signs of Germany getting into trouble, they rose their VAT rate last January 1, 2007 from 16% to 19% (+18.75%). At the time, everybody thought [...]