http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23588958
I have to be honest. I don't really understand money. But i suspect this is a very common experience. Ok i know what £12.50 can possibly buy. After yesterdays experience two grim sandwiches and matching teas in a cafe nightmare in Haworth. But beyond simple markers of exchange i, and most people, have a sketchy grasp on the reality of money. I see frequent references on various political blogs and posts to the idea of Fiat money. This being the argument we have dishonest money based on printing rather than the honest money clearly linked to Gold in the bank or the precious metal content of the coin being used. And I have at times come across the debates around the history of this. Isaac Newton became a sir for his work at the mint preserving the value of the currency. But debasing currency hasn't taken place simply through physical removal of value. From Diocletian onwards the effort to maintain the value of currency has been in vain as inflation and all the other fluidities of economics washed it around.
All this can seem like a abstract academic debate until you come across the realities of personal finance. At the moment i own outright one hues but live in another belonging to my girlfriend and for which i dont pay rent. Bills but not direct housing costs. Now the house i own has a value. Possibly around £80 to 90000 but that depends entirely on what i could get for it which depends on what someone else is prepared to pay. They will pay according to more reasons than how wealthy they are. If they have cash they will expect to pay less. If they need to get a mortgage they will pay less according to how frightful, both now and in the future, that process appears to them. If the economy seems to be doing well they will be more confident about paying more if they foresee a higher future price. But the the corollary is true. Obviously there is a point at which i would not sell as it would seem to low to me. However what is too low? If i get £80 000 and put it in a bank what does that mean and what will become of it? MArk Carney the new Bank of England chap seems to be clear it means the value will not expand unless i do something more adventurous than leave it in a savings account. However i am risk averse so there is little chance of that.
Thursday 8 August 2013
Wednesday 7 August 2013
Andrew Adonis
Andre Adonis....... er i think i agree with him.
Well at least i feel i have a bit more of an understanding of what he is arguing. In truth i doubt i really agree with him anymore than i ever did. The cause of all this is i have read - well nearly - two of his books. Five Days in May and Education Education Education. I prefer the former to the latter but after twenty five years in teaching it is hard not to be transfixed by some of the thinking in his book on education. Oh and both of these i read on the Kindle.
Five Days in May
Adonis was involved in the negotiations with the Lib Dems in the aftermath of the 2010 election non result. He gives a brief, pointed and bitter account of the way in which a Lib Dem party dominated by right wingers strung the Labour Party along just long enough to get a decent deal from the Tories. He then goes on to attack the nature of this deal. In particular he criticises Clegg for not getting one of the major offices of state and not getting key people into all the other areas. In the end Deputy PM means Minister of Nowt and the only influential people - David Laws and
He puts a draft agreement between Lab and LibDems in the appendix. This is fascinating as it contains a lot of what they failed to get from the Cons. 4 year fixed term, ref on STV and many others. He paints a picture of Clegg playing his hand badly. However he makes it clear that given the background of Nick Clegg and David LAws there was never a real chance of coalition with LAbour. He tries to show Clegg as an indecisive figure who dragged out his decision to the point where Brown resigned and so Lab decided.
Great book that gives good arguments against coalition, guidelines on how to carry on if you are in one and excellent arguments that Clegg is not a very effective leader.
Education, Education, Education.
Ok there is such alot i could say about this but i better stick to a few points.
1. The use of anecdotal evidence. We all do it but when it drives policy in such an obvious way it is arguably dangerous. Adonis is the product of a difficult start in life and shows real gratitude to the agencies outside the family who helped him. These include education. This makes him different from many politicians and their monomania on 'hard working families' as the building blocks of society. But helpful as this is he seems to allow - as so many politicians do - this to overcome the use of real evidence based policy. In his discussion of comprehensives he only refers to Hargreaves and fails to look at criticisms of parental power in education.
2. Reification. Giving vast groups identities. Parents. Teachers etbloody cetera. It is just lazy.
3. I know get why our former Principal was so baffled by the anti Sixth Form stance of Gove et al. Adonis has the same thing. Schools should include sixth forms as that strengthens them. Well it makes sense but what if the sixth form system is effective?
4. Because of his narrow experience he seems to be woefully ignorant of FE Colleges in this country, the role they played in widening participation in education, the damage they suffered and the parlous condition they are currently in. The whole world of day release, apprenticeships, Adult Ed, Return to Learning, second chances at education seems to completely elude him as he focuses on reproducing a model of education something like the one that was successful for him. A trait he shares with Michael Gove and other influential Education Ministers.
5. Maybe the real problem is the world of 11-16 education. This is where the real problems lie. This is the education sector that turns students of learning and then blames their hormones. These are the institutions involved in large failure. Yet these are the ones he wants to dominate the education system. Maybe it would be better to look at this age grading. Possibly go back to middle schools.
6. Like many who are against state intervention he is overly optimistic about the groups who will take over from the state.
7. He really is different from Tory Elitists as he believes in the capacity of all to do well.
Well at least i feel i have a bit more of an understanding of what he is arguing. In truth i doubt i really agree with him anymore than i ever did. The cause of all this is i have read - well nearly - two of his books. Five Days in May and Education Education Education. I prefer the former to the latter but after twenty five years in teaching it is hard not to be transfixed by some of the thinking in his book on education. Oh and both of these i read on the Kindle.
Five Days in May
Adonis was involved in the negotiations with the Lib Dems in the aftermath of the 2010 election non result. He gives a brief, pointed and bitter account of the way in which a Lib Dem party dominated by right wingers strung the Labour Party along just long enough to get a decent deal from the Tories. He then goes on to attack the nature of this deal. In particular he criticises Clegg for not getting one of the major offices of state and not getting key people into all the other areas. In the end Deputy PM means Minister of Nowt and the only influential people - David Laws and
He puts a draft agreement between Lab and LibDems in the appendix. This is fascinating as it contains a lot of what they failed to get from the Cons. 4 year fixed term, ref on STV and many others. He paints a picture of Clegg playing his hand badly. However he makes it clear that given the background of Nick Clegg and David LAws there was never a real chance of coalition with LAbour. He tries to show Clegg as an indecisive figure who dragged out his decision to the point where Brown resigned and so Lab decided.
Great book that gives good arguments against coalition, guidelines on how to carry on if you are in one and excellent arguments that Clegg is not a very effective leader.
Education, Education, Education.
Ok there is such alot i could say about this but i better stick to a few points.
1. The use of anecdotal evidence. We all do it but when it drives policy in such an obvious way it is arguably dangerous. Adonis is the product of a difficult start in life and shows real gratitude to the agencies outside the family who helped him. These include education. This makes him different from many politicians and their monomania on 'hard working families' as the building blocks of society. But helpful as this is he seems to allow - as so many politicians do - this to overcome the use of real evidence based policy. In his discussion of comprehensives he only refers to Hargreaves and fails to look at criticisms of parental power in education.
2. Reification. Giving vast groups identities. Parents. Teachers etbloody cetera. It is just lazy.
3. I know get why our former Principal was so baffled by the anti Sixth Form stance of Gove et al. Adonis has the same thing. Schools should include sixth forms as that strengthens them. Well it makes sense but what if the sixth form system is effective?
4. Because of his narrow experience he seems to be woefully ignorant of FE Colleges in this country, the role they played in widening participation in education, the damage they suffered and the parlous condition they are currently in. The whole world of day release, apprenticeships, Adult Ed, Return to Learning, second chances at education seems to completely elude him as he focuses on reproducing a model of education something like the one that was successful for him. A trait he shares with Michael Gove and other influential Education Ministers.
5. Maybe the real problem is the world of 11-16 education. This is where the real problems lie. This is the education sector that turns students of learning and then blames their hormones. These are the institutions involved in large failure. Yet these are the ones he wants to dominate the education system. Maybe it would be better to look at this age grading. Possibly go back to middle schools.
6. Like many who are against state intervention he is overly optimistic about the groups who will take over from the state.
7. He really is different from Tory Elitists as he believes in the capacity of all to do well.
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