Cuba 50 years after the Revolution

Given the love fest that's been going on over at The Guardian (and it gets positively orgiastic if you go further left) about Cuba 50 years after the Revolution I thought I'd just have a peek at some economic statistics to see how well they're doing.

I'll assume that they really do have that top notch free health care and that literacy is indeed just fabulous: although the importance of that in a country where the Government decides what you can read or write somewhat escapes me.

So, this US embargo then, how much of an effect has that had...

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This is the end

Thanks to David Brooks's Sidney Awards, I've just caught up with Michael Lewis's article 'The End', which appeared in Portfolio magazine last month.  It's one of the most incisive and exhaustive pieces on the credit crunch that I've read so far - exactly what you'd expect from the man who wrote the supremely readable account of 1980s Wall Street life, Liar's Poker - and I'd recommend it to all CoffeeHousers.  As with most of these accounts, it's stuffed with debt-bubble anecdotes which still have the capacity to astonish.  This one, concerning pre-crunch mortgage-lending, jumped out at me:...

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A second bailout?

So there we have it.  The first substantial rumblings that Alistair Darling's going to sanction a second banking bailout, after the first one didn't free up credit as intended.  According to the Times, the Chancellor will "decide within weeks" whether to pump £billions more into the sector.  One option being considered is the creation of a "bad bank"; by which the state would take over bad loans from the banks, thereby detoxifying the main banking system.  It was an attractive idea when Hank Paulson first suggested it in the US, but would...

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Has the death knell sounded for the Euro?

Peter Oborne makes a bold prediction in today's Mail: that the Euro - ten years old yesterday - won't live to see its twentieth anniversary.  Whether or not you agree with that prognosis, Oborne's case is compelling:

"Indeed, far from being the staggering success its supporters claim, the euro-zone is already inflicting huge damage on the nations within it. Many currency market experts believe that some of these struggling members may be forced to peel away from the euro - with devastating consequences for the rest of the world.

The greatest problems,

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Is this worth it?

I know that just about anything is justified these days by the phrase "think of the children" but can we take a rather hard headed (substitute black hearted if you prefer) look at this particular scheme?

The £84million ISA scheme was recommended as a way to avoid a repeat of the Soham murders, by requiring anyone who wants to work or volunteer with children or vulnerable adults to have their backgrounds checked by officials first.

An estimated 11.3 million adults in England will have to register their details, at a cost of £64, and even children's authors who...

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