It's possible that house prices will fall a little in 2008. It's just about possible they may even fall by a lot (although I'd happily stake my life that they'll fall by less than 20%). However, it's absolutely certain that house prices by the end of 2012 will be higher in real terms than they … Continue reading Quick house bet
Year: 2007
[sorry, this post is written in Incomprehensible Geek. If you don't understand what the four letters and three characters before "www.johnband.org" on your screen to the top-left of this post mean, then it's not for you. On the other hand, if you're using a browser esoteric enough that the address isn't displayed Up Top, then … Continue reading Just in case your blog is Top Sekrit
Apparently it's Daniel Davies Day today (even if the TV schedulers and sellers of greetings cards have failed to notice). In tribute, I'm linking to his two best ever pieces: It was a wonderful headbutt and (allegedly, pseudonymously) Why the Bombings Mean That We Must Support My Politics. If you don't follow Dan's writing, a) … Continue reading Dcubed
This is good: spoof Tube announcements, from the woman whose voice is used on the real ones. My favourites include "will the gentleman in the pinstriped suit", and "passengers should note"...
Small earthquake in Chile; not many dead
The largest number of people ever carried by a Boeing 747 was 1,122. NB while these passengers were Ethiopians, any use of 1980s playground jokes is nonetheless strictly frowned upon.
I'd thought it was a nearly-amusing coincidence that Northern Rock's ex-chairman Matt Ridley shared a name with the journalist and science writer. But no, apparently they're the same guy. Now, I know that chairman is a non-exec role, but even so - if I were selecting a chairman for a major bank, I'd probably opt … Continue reading Who’ll we get to run our bank?
I've got a new Sharpener piece up on the unholy trinity of Craig Murray, Alisher Usmanov and Prem Sikka. It's got accountancy, it's got bribery, it's got a respected writer making himself look like an idiot and accidentally libelling people - what more could you ask? "A post which isn't about transport or accountancy, please, … Continue reading But financial standards ARE interesting, dammit
It's truly an autumn of Finally Approving Transport Projects That Should Have Happened 10 Years Ago. As well as Thameslink 2000 and Crossrail (both of which approval I've somehow failed to write about - bad me), we're now getting the Camden Town station rebuild. As regular readers may be aware, I approve of all of … Continue reading Hooray for London
From 'Not A Sheep': In 2003 [Trevor Phillips] wrote an article where he said "from Rome, through Constantinople to Venice and London, our (European) nations have a history of peacefully absorbing huge, diverse movements of people, driven by war, famine and persecution; and there is no history of long-term ethnic segregation of the kind one … Continue reading We have the statistics. Why not consult them?