“I thought British policy was to make the world England.” So said the fictional Major Duncan Hayward in the Hollywood version of Last of the Mohicans.  Major Hayward was appalled when his superior officer granted concessions to the independent colonials as a condition for getting the nascent Americans to help the British Army fight the [...]

If nothing else the Tory-led coalition government of Great Britain has brought forth a great lesson in the fruits of austerity.

Various explanations for the riots in London in the past week have been flouted. Diversity, white liberals who control the media, rap music, people who scream racism, multiculturalism, infantilism, victim-centers narcissistic politics, black people, liberal dogma, the breakdown of family, no threat of capital punishment or deportation to Australia for the underclass and the “social engineering industry” have all been suggested by various right-wing commentators. Others contend UK austerity measures, including the closing of youth clubs, are partly to blame.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron says gangs are responsible for the chaos and disorder in London over the past days.

Perhaps there’s still enough democracy, moral outrage, and respect for the rule of law left to bring such scoundrels to account. Heaven knows, the public would welcome that. But I doubt it. Sooner or later, violating the norms is all you have left.

This week, voters in the United Kingdom went to the polls and decided strongly against a referendum on switching federal elections to alternative voting, or “AV,” also known as “instant-runoff voting” (IRV).

Treasure Islands tells us that tax havens are much larger and much more destructive than most might realize, yet at the same time enjoy much more unofficial and formal support from governments in advanced economies than many of us want to believe.

While the economy probably seems fine for the millionaires in Congress and the millionaires they hang out with at expensive fundraisers, lower income Americans are struggling.

I am extremely glad to finally hear someone of prominence acknowledge that the question of how to lower health care costs isn’t this great complex mystery, but a problem for which governments around the world have several well tested solutions.

The more likely possibility, given what Brennan, Napolitano, and Clapper have said is that the US–the entire government–was left out of the loop on this investigation. That’s certainly Britain’s prerogative. You never know when some Dick Cheney figure is going to sabotage a British investigation on them, after all.

The fox isn’t guarding the henhouse anymore; corporate foxes have outsourced the hens, leased the henhouse in an interest rate swap to Dubai, collateralized the egg stream in a CDO with Singapore traders, and re-hired the egglayers into at-will employment.