Chris Dillow
@chrisdillow.bsky.social
Bourgeois interests, proletarian instincts.
Reposted by Chris Dillow
This week's post: Expertise, Government, the Media and Covid mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/11/expe...
Why did the media hold Johnson to account for allowing lockdown parties in No.10, but did not hold him to account for allowing tens of thousands of preventable deaths from Covid?
Why did the media hold Johnson to account for allowing lockdown parties in No.10, but did not hold him to account for allowing tens of thousands of preventable deaths from Covid?
Expertise, Government, the Media and Covid
It is now generally (although not universally) accepted that those of us who campaigned vigorously against the government’s auster...
mainlymacro.blogspot.com
November 27, 2025 at 9:16 AM
This week's post: Expertise, Government, the Media and Covid mainlymacro.blogspot.com/2025/11/expe...
Why did the media hold Johnson to account for allowing lockdown parties in No.10, but did not hold him to account for allowing tens of thousands of preventable deaths from Covid?
Why did the media hold Johnson to account for allowing lockdown parties in No.10, but did not hold him to account for allowing tens of thousands of preventable deaths from Covid?
Falling migration probably won't boost support for Labour. What it should do, though, is show that our economic problems were never the result of high immigration. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Net migration to UK drops 69% year on year, ONS figures show
Figure of 204,000 in 12 months to June 2025 is lowest since 2021, statistics body says
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Falling migration probably won't boost support for Labour. What it should do, though, is show that our economic problems were never the result of high immigration. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
Reposted by Chris Dillow
1/5 It was entirely predictable that The Telegraph would jump on @DavidOlusoga’s Empire series to fight its right wing culture war for control of our public history. Let’s see what they’ve done:
November 27, 2025 at 8:28 AM
1/5 It was entirely predictable that The Telegraph would jump on @DavidOlusoga’s Empire series to fight its right wing culture war for control of our public history. Let’s see what they’ve done:
Though it's getting lots of attention, the extra tax on £2m+ houses will raise only £435m by 2030-31. Higher taxes on dividends will raise 3x as much, & taxes on salary sacrifice pension contributions will raise 5x as much. Political importance is not the same as macroeconomic significance.
November 26, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Though it's getting lots of attention, the extra tax on £2m+ houses will raise only £435m by 2030-31. Higher taxes on dividends will raise 3x as much, & taxes on salary sacrifice pension contributions will raise 5x as much. Political importance is not the same as macroeconomic significance.
Reposted by Chris Dillow
"Much of the left appears to have convinced itself that wealth tax is all that is needed. This is incorrect — and an incessant focus on wealth taxation is obscuring the need for broader tax increases." Clear and interesting piece by @jomichell.bsky.social:
blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Wealth tax and looser fiscal rules won’t save the Budget | British Politics and Policy at LSE
The narrative on the left that a wealth tax and looser fiscal rules would solve the Chancellor's 2025 Budget headaches has got out of hand.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
November 25, 2025 at 5:03 PM
"Much of the left appears to have convinced itself that wealth tax is all that is needed. This is incorrect — and an incessant focus on wealth taxation is obscuring the need for broader tax increases." Clear and interesting piece by @jomichell.bsky.social:
blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Reposted by Chris Dillow
JUST PUBLISHED - Can we explain why inflation in the UK is higher than in the Euro Area? By Swati Dhingra 👇 buff.ly/hZfOVqc
Can we explain why inflation in the UK is higher than in the Euro Area? - Economics Observatory
Swati Dhingra of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee argues that UK inflation is more similar to Europe than it seems, and therefore rate cuts are possible without threatening the return…
buff.ly
November 24, 2025 at 6:29 PM
JUST PUBLISHED - Can we explain why inflation in the UK is higher than in the Euro Area? By Swati Dhingra 👇 buff.ly/hZfOVqc
Reposted by Chris Dillow
oh, I appear to have started a Substack by accident gileswilkes.substack.com/p/the-fiscal...
the fiscal rules, again?
people don't like them. Their better ideas just recreate them
gileswilkes.substack.com
November 24, 2025 at 4:00 PM
oh, I appear to have started a Substack by accident gileswilkes.substack.com/p/the-fiscal...
"'Prudential' economic arguments need not negate social democratic ambitions. "
📝 New BJPIR article out now!
'Prudence from the left: Economic restraint and UK social democracy since 1945' by Colm Murphy (@colmpm.bsky.social) & Patrick Diamond
⬇️ Find the article in #OpenAccess here: buff.ly/QV4liQE
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social
'Prudence from the left: Economic restraint and UK social democracy since 1945' by Colm Murphy (@colmpm.bsky.social) & Patrick Diamond
⬇️ Find the article in #OpenAccess here: buff.ly/QV4liQE
@polstudiesassoc.bsky.social
Prudence from the left: Economic restraint and UK social democracy since 1945
Available in #OpenAccess
journals.sagepub.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:02 PM
"'Prudential' economic arguments need not negate social democratic ambitions. "
Folk are rightly criticizing Polanski for ignoring the fact that there are constraints on govt borrowing now (ie inflation). But fiscal conservatism can be perfectly compatible with economic radicalism, as I've said: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/some-lefti...
November 24, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Folk are rightly criticizing Polanski for ignoring the fact that there are constraints on govt borrowing now (ie inflation). But fiscal conservatism can be perfectly compatible with economic radicalism, as I've said: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/some-lefti...
Reposted by Chris Dillow
Are a small number of legacy disciplines dragging the whole of government down? A provocation:
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
Government seems increasingly unable to cope with the pace and complexity of today's world. Why? 1/n
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
Government seems increasingly unable to cope with the pace and complexity of today's world. Why? 1/n
The disciplines theory of government
Are legacy disciplines dragging the whole operation down?
medium.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Are a small number of legacy disciplines dragging the whole of government down? A provocation:
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
Government seems increasingly unable to cope with the pace and complexity of today's world. Why? 1/n
medium.com/@jamestplunk...
Government seems increasingly unable to cope with the pace and complexity of today's world. Why? 1/n
They say one moves to the right as one ages, but whilst I've become more small-c conservative, I'm just as leftist - not least because right-wing opponents of Marxism have shown themselves to be frauds and idiots.
November 24, 2025 at 11:01 AM
They say one moves to the right as one ages, but whilst I've become more small-c conservative, I'm just as leftist - not least because right-wing opponents of Marxism have shown themselves to be frauds and idiots.
There are of course good arguments against "progressives" such as this classic blog.danieldavies.com/2006/12/i-sh... Which is yet another datapoint showing that our political system selects for stupidity.
November 24, 2025 at 7:55 AM
There are of course good arguments against "progressives" such as this classic blog.danieldavies.com/2006/12/i-sh... Which is yet another datapoint showing that our political system selects for stupidity.
This is why some of us avoid the news. It prefers expiring information divorced from context to meaningful lessons about society or government. chrisdillow.substack.com/p/being-a-ne...
November 23, 2025 at 2:14 PM
This is why some of us avoid the news. It prefers expiring information divorced from context to meaningful lessons about society or government. chrisdillow.substack.com/p/being-a-ne...
Reposted by Chris Dillow
"Call My Bluff is a model of understated entertainment and - God forbid in the present day - maturity."
@benfinlay74.bsky.social on the delights to be found over on BBC Four.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/22/l...
@benfinlay74.bsky.social on the delights to be found over on BBC Four.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/22/l...
Let us now praise: BBC Four
BEN FINLAY celebrates the BBC that used to be.
thelionandunicorn.com
November 22, 2025 at 8:15 AM
"Call My Bluff is a model of understated entertainment and - God forbid in the present day - maturity."
@benfinlay74.bsky.social on the delights to be found over on BBC Four.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/22/l...
@benfinlay74.bsky.social on the delights to be found over on BBC Four.
thelionandunicorn.com/2025/11/22/l...
“The effort of socialists is to bring heaven on Earth, with the state in the position of God." Err, does he know that socialism has changed since Gerrard Winstanley's time?
‘America is British’. Heaven is ‘a socialist state’. David Attenborough is ‘anti-human’ – the startling theories of Reform MP Danny Kruger
‘America is British’. Heaven is ‘a socialist state’. David Attenborough is ‘anti-human’ – the startling theories of Reform MP Danny Kruger
He was a Conservative party big-hitter who wrote speeches for David Cameron and worked with Boris Johnson before he suddenly jumped ship. He talks family, flags and why Nigel Farage is ‘top dog’
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:51 AM
“The effort of socialists is to bring heaven on Earth, with the state in the position of God." Err, does he know that socialism has changed since Gerrard Winstanley's time?
New substack: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/the-fiscal... The government's problem isn't merely how to raise tax: it's the more difficult one of reallocating labour.
The fiscal challenge
Reeves' problem isn't raising money: it's much more difficult than that.
chrisdillow.substack.com
November 22, 2025 at 10:11 AM
New substack: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/the-fiscal... The government's problem isn't merely how to raise tax: it's the more difficult one of reallocating labour.
Some of us, however, have not forgotten the Bermondsey by-election.
I was honoured to unveil a plaque for Sam Green, the first openly gay politician to be elected in the UK.
He did so much for his community and his courage and dedication remind us to keep championing equality, respect and the rights of everybody.
He did so much for his community and his courage and dedication remind us to keep championing equality, respect and the rights of everybody.
A Liberal councillor who made LGBT+ history
Sam Green was the first openly gay politician ever elected in the UK – and possibly the world.
www.libdems.org.uk
November 21, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Some of us, however, have not forgotten the Bermondsey by-election.
The Covid enquiry's finding that Johnson's government was "toxic and chaotic" should prompt the question: what conditions must be in place for there to be good government, because the evidence before & since suggests it wasn't merely an individual failing? This question, though, won't be asked.
November 21, 2025 at 8:38 AM
The Covid enquiry's finding that Johnson's government was "toxic and chaotic" should prompt the question: what conditions must be in place for there to be good government, because the evidence before & since suggests it wasn't merely an individual failing? This question, though, won't be asked.
It wasn't "appalling journalism". It was people doing what they were paid to do. If you want journalists to serve the public interest they must be paid by the public and not by billionaire cranks.
Having Johnson & Cummings in Downing Street when Covid struck was, just like Brexit, an entirely avoidable disaster caused largely by utterly appalling journalism. And now exactly the same clowns, arses & bigots with bylines are rolling out the red carpet for Farage.
www.thetimes.com/article/1b15...
www.thetimes.com/article/1b15...
Covid inquiry live: ‘Inexcusable’ delays under Johnson led to 23,000 deaths
Lockdowns may have been avoided if Boris Johnson’s government had acted faster, damning report finds
www.thetimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:27 PM
It wasn't "appalling journalism". It was people doing what they were paid to do. If you want journalists to serve the public interest they must be paid by the public and not by billionaire cranks.
As I wrote here, it's only some home-owners for whom a house is wealth: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/house-pric... This makes taxing housing tricky - and means it's a good idea to allow home-owners to defer tax until they die.
House prices: winners & losers
For many of us, housing is not net wealth.
chrisdillow.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:00 AM
As I wrote here, it's only some home-owners for whom a house is wealth: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/house-pric... This makes taxing housing tricky - and means it's a good idea to allow home-owners to defer tax until they die.
True this. PFIs are an example of how politicians have believed in magic money trees, as I wrote here: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/no-magic-m...
November 18, 2025 at 6:34 PM
True this. PFIs are an example of how politicians have believed in magic money trees, as I wrote here: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/no-magic-m...
"The right of asylum is an untouchable provision of the English law" - Roger Scruton. (England: an elegy, p8)
November 17, 2025 at 9:59 AM
"The right of asylum is an untouchable provision of the English law" - Roger Scruton. (England: an elegy, p8)
When I was young Orwell's line "if you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever" was seen as a description of communism. Today, it applies to the Labour right.
November 16, 2025 at 11:38 AM
When I was young Orwell's line "if you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face— forever" was seen as a description of communism. Today, it applies to the Labour right.
New Substack: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/on-incompe... Parts of the Labour party and BBC simply don't know what their jobs should be.
On incompetence
Much of our political culture is fundamentally incompetent.
chrisdillow.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:47 AM
New Substack: chrisdillow.substack.com/p/on-incompe... Parts of the Labour party and BBC simply don't know what their jobs should be.
It doesn't follow that rejoining will give a 6-8% boost to GDP, as much of the hit came from uncertainty reducing business investment, & we mightn't get this back. If a man's been hit by a bus you don't restore him to health by reversing the bus.
November 14, 2025 at 5:59 PM
It doesn't follow that rejoining will give a 6-8% boost to GDP, as much of the hit came from uncertainty reducing business investment, & we mightn't get this back. If a man's been hit by a bus you don't restore him to health by reversing the bus.