2010/07/21 22:41
Joan McAlpine has an important point about the al-Megrahi affair (hat-tip: SNP Tactical Voting), namely that both the UK and the US are saying Scotland's government were wrong to release him, but there's nobody on the international stage to fight Scotland's corner:Since foreign affairs are not devolved to Edinburgh, David Cameron officially speaks for us. On this occasion he trashed...
2010/07/15 10:34
Our plan for this summer is to fill our Citroën C8 up with two adults, five kids, a tent, sleeping bags and lots of other stuff, and then drive clockwise round England, possibly taking a small detour to France and Belgium, and possibly another one to Wales (see the map).We think the kids ought to see London, I would quite...
2010/07/22 16:11
There is an article today in the Danish newspaper Politiken describing (in Danish) how moonlighting has been minimised in Sweden:
[In Sweden], the state pays half the bill for child care, cleaning and other housework. 890,000 Swedes used the system last year, and 67,000 firms have signed up as providers.
Legal expert at Skatteverket (Sweden’s HMRC), Pia Blank Thörnroos says:
“Our view is that a very large part of the unofficial economy has been legalised. In recent years we have had a so-called invoice model which means that citizens pay half of the price to the service provider and the company gets the second half from the tax authorities. It has created a huge incentive for getting rid of moonlighting, why buy services without a receipt when you can buy them legally for half the price?”
The Swedish government last year paid SEK 8.1bn to firms. But the money comes back to the exchequer in the form of VAT and increased tax revenue according to Pia Blank Thörnroos.
I think this is a brilliant idea!
Of course it can be discussed whether the state should pay 40 or 50 percent of the bill, and there will be some issues with deciding exactly which jobs that apply for the subsidy, but the principle is sound.
Even if it doesn’t actually increase revenues, surely it’s a good thing to know the size of the economy, and to ensure that unemployed people are genuinely unemployed.
Also, if the work is done by registered companies rather than moonlighting workers, it’s much easier to ensure everything is done according to regulations and that proper insurance is in place.
2010/07/18 8:25
Our parents' generation were born at a time of strife and poverty, but after that things got better and better for them. However, the picture for our generation is much more complex.I was therefore very interested when I found a book from 1991 ("Generations" by Strauss and Howe), which claims that there are types of generations, and that these types are repeated in a cycle.In that way, Phyllis and I are part of a generation which in many ways has...
2010/07/17 22:30
En bog, jeg ofte læser for Léon og Anna, er Gunilla Woldes Totte klæder sig ud, der handler om Totte og Malene, der på Malenes loft finder en stor kasse med udklædningstøj.Én ting undrer mig dog: Kassen beskrives i bogen som rød, men på billederne er den helt tydeligt orange.Desuden forekommer det mig, at ordet "rød" er skrevet med en...
2010/07/15 0:51
The economy is still producing plenty of bad news.For instance, the day before yesterday it was reported that the UK recession was even deeper than first thought (at 6.4% rather than 6.2%), which means it was definitely the worst one...
2010/07/05 17:54
I've been exploring Leeuwarden/Ljowert (the capital of Friesland) for most of the afternoon.I must say I'm disappointed.Apart from a few engraved poems, a couple of restaurant menus, and the name of the regional council, I have not found anything written...
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