The limits of market rationality
On one hand, this whole global financial crisis (is that what we’re having again?) thing is horrendously complex. On the other, it’s quite simple. Let’s focus on the simple. The meltdown that followed the end of the credit and housing [...]
Peter Mandelson’s The Third Man
Peter Mandelson‘s memoir, The Third Man, was timed for maximum impact, being released just after the British election this year. Mandelson’s musings were condemned as unhelpful by the full gamut of UK Labour figures (including Tony Blair, who was perhaps [...]
Tony Blair: a “tinkling symbol”
I don’t know if anyone else remembers Tony Blair intoning verses from 1 Corinthians at Princess Diana’s funeral. I watched it. I wondered at the time if there was something in the nature of Englishness that made it seem apt [...]
“The Special Relationship” – Blair Wars, Episode II
Courtesy of a Crikey giveaway, I went along to see a screening of The Special Relationship – a study of the political and personal relationship between Tony Blair and Bill Clinton. While it’s a sequel in any strict sense, the [...]
Democratise or die: the future of the ALP
One of the ironies of the British election, as I noted at the time, was that a campaign and a result which seemed to portend an end to politics as usual brought forth a reactionary result – the coalescence of [...]
Education, elitism and meritocracy
The Economist speculated this week that the Conservative/Liberal Democrat Coalition government in the UK might come to be seen as “government by the southern rich for the southern rich”. Skepticlawyer has an interesting post at her eponymous blog, riffing off [...]
"The poor will always be with us"; Abbott's Brutopia
It must be ‘write an op/ed for Fairfax about something a political leader said to me’ week. First, Nina Funnell, and now Michael Perusco: I was in Canberra last week and had the opportunity to ask Opposition Leader Tony Abbott [...]
Tony Blair at the Chilcot Inquiry
There’s been some talk about Tony Blair’s testimony to the Chilcot Inquiry on the Iraq War on the open thread, so it might be best to have a dedicated post to focus comments. A good starting point for discussion is [...]
Keeping the New Labour faith, even unto death
2010 is going to be a year of elections. In Australia, we have three state elections – Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, and almost certainly a federal poll*. In Britain, the Labour party’s future is on the line; the same [...]
Rundle on the recent history of the left
As a sequel to my post on The Australian‘s series on the left, where I highlighted Guy Rundle’s take, I’m reproducing from today’s Crikey (with permission) his longer sequel to his take beneath the fold. Meantime, the Oz series meanders [...]
Turnbull's turn
I’m not sure if the anniversary has been celebrated, but it’s just over six months since Malcolm Turnbull became Leader of the Opposition. At the time, I suggested that he needed to junk the obsession with the Howard legacy, and [...]
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