Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

Manuel,

=-=-=

Let's rethink the idea of the state: it must be a catalyst for big, bold ideas
As George Osborne envisages a smaller state, economist Mariana Mazzucato argues instead that a programme of forward-thinking public spending is crucial for a creative, prosperous society. We must stop seeing the state as a malign influence or a waste of taxpayers' money


-=-=-

I know this article has words of more than two syllables and some long sentences, but it might interest you to read a view based on greed of the race rather than the individual.

Take a risk, read it and then apply the constructs to other areas and then disagree.

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/15/george-osborne-public-spending-taxpayers-money

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/15/george-osborne-public-spending-taxpayers-money




http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/15/george-osborne-public-spending-taxpayers-money

Post 34143 - is that supposed to be funny?

34146 - well, that's her view and she's welcome to it, but equally i do not have to subscribe ..... interestingly and quite amusingly, the link you gave looks to be a dud

btw, does this women cost and then explain how she is going to fund all her wondrous extra public spending, or is it just airy-fairy stuff from ivory-towered academia?

Try not limiting your imagination.


Apologies, forgot who I was addressing.

==========

so am i meant to imagine what this woman wrote .... or can't you read?

cynic
You are right to doubt this woman. She is just plugging her book just out. Here is comment on her book and ideas.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/12/15/the-intellectual-hole-at-the-heart-of-mariana-mazzucatos-entrepreneurial-state/

From the comment section: Sums it up.



LamToro KSurin

15 December 2013 2:09pm



But the public sector is a malign influence.

Big budgets and no accountability account for the decline in educational standards, the tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths in the NHS, the scandalous waste on IT projects in the public sector.

Here is a comment about her book by a reader

Lol, is this the work of a moron or practical joke? She either doesn't understand economics (strange for an economist) or is a massive joker. F*ck knows. Blatant idiocy either way.

So writes MM's economic genius.

Did you get past GSE in economics or is it early dementia?


There are none so blind as those who do not wish to see.

Cash-poor NHS spends millions on art - despite cuts that led to thousands of job losses


As one trust boasts of being the biggest art gallery in town, campaigners object to art purchases worth up to £5m


Tom Payne

Sunday 15 December 2013


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cashpoor-nhs-spends-millions-on-art--despite-cuts-that-led-to-thousands-of-job-losses-9005439.html

The NHS is spending millions of pounds on art, despite cuts that have led to thousands of job losses, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

Freedom of Information requests showed that 89 NHS trusts have spent nearly £2m on art since 2010, but the total is likely to be far higher, with 222 foundation and mental health trusts across the country.

Works include £8,000 steel giraffes at Tameside Hospital in Greater Manchester, an £83,000 water feature at Salford Royal, and a £120,000 “ceiling artwork” at Barts and Royal London.

One trust boasted of being “the largest art gallery in Liverpool”.

Art co-ordinators are employed by the NHS and paid up to £56,000 a year. NHS England said these are “usually qualified professionals with a broad knowledge of the arts”. A nurse’s starting salary is £21,000.

The NHS has been told to find £20bn in savings by 2015. The National Audit Office said in April that 10,000 staff had been laid off in the past three years. NHS campaigners have said it is “time to get real”.

The 89 trusts have spent £1,894,278 on art since 2010. If other trusts spend similar amounts, the bill could be £4.7m across the country. All 222 trusts were contacted, but most of the remaining 133 did not respond.

Barts and Royal London was among the biggest spenders, racking up a £270,000 bill. A Barts spokeswoman said research “shows that artwork and music improves emotional wellbeing ... speeding up recovery.”

Aintree University Hospitals Trust acknowledged that most of the art was commissioned “when there was more money in the system”. A spokesman added that the trust “continues to support its provision for art in the face of tightening NHS finances”.

In October 2013, Aintree spent £13,600 on a metal-and-glass sphere, designed by Michael Condron. It also spent £2,000 on an abstract sculpture by local artist Will Spankie, a former hospital social worker, who insisted that art “has important therapeutic benefits”.

Paula O’Malley, Aintree’s arts co-ordinator, said the art spending also benefited the city: “We believe we are now the largest art gallery in Liverpool. In a time of tightening public finances, it’s a win-win approach.”

Salford Royal spent £194,000 on art, including £37,000 on 500 frames, £60,000 on photograph mounts and £83,000 on a water feature.

The Heart of England NHS Trust paid £2,310 for six pictures of medicinal herbs by Lesley Whelan. She criticised “random pieces of expensive artwork hanging on hospital walls”, but also said some art could have a beneficial effect, and that studies show “a reduction in anxiety, stress and depression”.

David Prentis, general secretary of Unison, the UK’s largest trade union, criticised the level of arts spending. “Hospital surroundings are important for patients as they recover, but when budgets are tight money should be spent on patient care.”

And the Keep Our NHS Public campaign group added that it was “time to get real and use the money more carefully”. A spokeswoman added: “We have 20,000 nursing posts unfilled in order to save money, and junior doctors working incredibly long hours, some of them covering for colleagues because there is no money for locums.”

NHS England said it was unable to comment, stating that it was up to each trust to decide how it spent its money.

so fawlty, anyone who doesn't buy into your nonsense or whatever you wish to call it, is a moron or similar or worse

why on earth should anyone share your alleged philosophy?
because you say they should?

i've just had a quick whizz through her cv on google .... as i suspected, she's an ivory-towered academic at a 3rd rate uni and has never ventured into the real world .... clearly her book and thoughts are worthy of close study

An interesting take on Scottish independence

John Major: Scottish Independence Would Be 'Folly On A Grand Scale'

Scottish independence is a "folly on a grand scale" that would significantly weaken global influence, Sir John Major told MPs.

The Conservative former prime minister said the UK would understandably be seen overseas as "damaged and diminished".

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/12/16/john-major-scottish-independence_n_4454467.html?1387221527&utm_hp_ref=uk

I don't think Wee Eck gives a toss about UK's standing in the world, nor methinks do the jocks in general care about the UK.

They want to be an independent country within Greater €uropa, mad as that may sound.


ie, to cut a long story short, they want it all ways!

Don't mistake what Salmond and his party want with all Scots Max.

Manuel,

You seem to be shooting your mouth off again.

Read what I wrote again.

I drew your attention to what I thought was a sensible article. I did not write it was or was not my opinion.

As far as her credibility is concerned, I would prefer to judge her on what she produces rather than her sexuality, age, or which university etc. she attended.

After all some may consider you a failed taxi driver and done very little of use after being discharged from an education which failed you.

Have a nice day.

and as i wrote, you posted a dud link!
further, perhaps you should try looking in a mirror to contemplate why so many others have the same opinion of you as myself
at least i know i'm an arsehole and happily own up to it; clearly you have yet to reach that point of self-enlightenment


btw, it was not the educational establishment that failed me, but rather my own lack of application and stupidity in not recognising the multitude of opportunities presented

as for driving a mini-cab part-time for several years, it certainly taught me my way around london and, more importantly, kept food on the table - so hardly a failure there

Mini Cab Drivers were considered Yuppies during the Dot Com Boom!!!!!!!!

it was well before that - something like 1972 to 1975

when i started, though i lived in shepherd's bush, i scarcely knew where shepherd's bush road was, let alone the North Pole (a different story!)

Is the north pole boozer still there?