Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
In the 1970s the US economist Arthur Okan came up with the concept to measure the social costs of simultaneous high inflation and unemployment, until then a relatively unknown phenomena. The idea is simple – add together the unemployment rate and the rate of price increases as a measure of how much ‘misery’ the people […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
I’m in Toronto as a guest of Social Planning Toronto – the real Big Society! I spoke at their annual conference yesterday, and at Ryerson university the day before.
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
The London School of Economics (LSE) has gotten into hot water over links it has to the Gaddafi regime, including some executive education courses it has been running there. Confession time: I taught part of one the modules on the LSE run programme for aspiring Libyan civil servants a couple of years ago.
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
As the AV referendum campaign gets seriously under way the prime Minister has weighed in against AV. He said that “the principle of one person, one vote is what makes our democracy fair. AV flies in the face of that.” He went on to claim that AV can lead to getting the second best candidate elected […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
David Cameron is starting to get something of a reputation for screeching hand-brake turns that leave observers, and many of his MPs, with their heads spinning.
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
The level of self-organization exhibited by the Egyptian revolt has been stunning. The day after ousting Hosni Mubarak they turned up in Tahrir Square armed not with placards but brooms and paint brushes to clear the place up! Yet another example of the Egyptian Big Society in action.
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
I heard the above from a demonstrator in Cairo, which I think encapsulates the spirit of the Egyptian revolution.
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
The row that has erupted in Britain over the autonomy (or not) of the UK Supreme Court is an intriguing one. The President of the Court, Lord Phillips, has complained that the financial and administrative systems of the Court are too tied into the Ministry of Justice – for the full story see here – […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
Complete transparency about anything Eric Pickles can think of that will grab a headline is the order of the day for local government. His latest wheeze is that any local government official earning more than £58,200 is to be named, individually, on-line.
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Whitehall Watch Posted:
I have had lots of people interested in helping to expand Whitehall Watch, so I have set up an email list to enable us to stay in contact more easily.