I actually signed out for the day because I have shit to do and I want some sleep at some point. Signed back in because I want your opinion on two things that have bothered me in the last few years:
- was the level of austerity imposed by this government during the recession completely necessary, or was that driven in large part by the Tories finding themselves a position where they could finally impose their ideology of making the state smaller, with particular emphasis on squeezing the welfare state?
-is The Economist unnecessarily right wing, or do I need to chill out and accept that they mostly have a point? They make my red blood boil sometimes, but I can't help but read it.
in terms of the Tories and their involvement, I think it would be better for you to ask schizo as my grasp of politics is basic. As for austerity, I will offer my thoughts when I am on my PC. The economist is a funny issue, although I rarely follow it I do have a story which may interest you. Dan ariely the behavioural economist caught out the economist once. He realised that they were using the asymmetric dominance effect in an attempt to boost sales. After approaching them and asking why they were doing so, they quietly removed the works in question. I mean, if they were really right wing then they would have no need to resort to behavioural economics. As for the politics of it?meh. It just seems that the right wing hypothesis is badly explained given this evidence. However, I'm sure that you could find cases counter to my example. In all honesty, my knowledge with regards to the politics of your questions isn't too extensive. However, I will try to revisit them when I am on my PC.