What caught our eye this week.
Hello campers, TA here – standing in for TI, who’s off on his annual hols this week. That means topping up his monitor tan in some seedy foreign hotel instead of his seedy London lair. Ah well, a change is as good as rest as they say.
Right, with that piece of libel out of the way, I understand there’s a big event coming up on 4 July that simply cannot be ignored. That’s right, my assault on the Bitchfield pie-eating record. Oh, and this news just in: there’s a General Election on, too.
So as reluctant as I am to spend all day fighting fires in the comments section, I can’t rightfully ignore the political earthquake incoming.
Personally, I chart a wavy political line: weaving around the traffic cones of the centre ground.
I’ll happily borrow my opinions and remedies from the sane of the centre-left and centre-right. My vote goes to whoever I think will best govern in the interests of the whole country.
In 2010, I felt Labour could do with a spell in opposition. They needed time to think again.
So here we are in 2024 and we’re faced with a choice: more of the same or time for a change?
As ever, it’s Red vs Blue.
But governments shouldn’t be judged like football teams … “I’m Accrington Stanley until I die,” or whatever.
Governments should be judged like football managers: on their track record.
Why as citizens would we offer politicians our unconditional support?
Either they put the country on a sound footing and create the necessary conditions for prosperity, or we turf them out.
It’s the only leverage we have. If you’ve done a bad job, you have to go. And, my god, have any of the country’s problems appreciably improved over the last 14 years?
Low productivity
Economic competitiveness
Public services: NHS, social care, education, welfare
Housing
National debt
Immigration (interpret this according to your political taste)
Regional imbalances
Environmental protections
How about the two big promises of the last election: Brexit and Levelling Up?
Whatever you think of those two issues, it’s telling that the Conservatives aren’t shouting about their achievements on either count.
They haven’t got a vision beyond staying in power: witness ad hoc policy gimmicks like National Service. Tories were pooh-poohing that idea only weeks before the election was called.
They’re afraid to take difficult decisions to solve the country’s problems: hence the lack of progress on planning reform or social care.
And now they’re laying traps for the next Government by ruling out every tax rise they can think of. The objective being what? To keep the country in a mess until we fall back into their arms? Love it. Essentially, they’re saying: “If we can’t have you, nobody can.”
This from the people who gaslit us with ‘fiscal drag’ – raising the UK tax burden to its highest level since 1950, while simultaneously claiming they’re cutting taxes because they’ve knocked a few quid off National Insurance.
Not to mention the chaos of four prime ministers in five years – at least one of whom was manifestly unfit for office.
Casting a vote for this lot again is like going back to a bad boyfriend who says it’ll be different this time.
You may doubt Labour. “All politicians are the same,” is the cop-out defence I keep hearing. Well, let’s find out shall we?
The ire of the electorate should be biblical. Not because ‘beating the Tories’ is an inherently good thing. But because all politicians need to know that if they screw us around, they’re out.
That if they spend their time spinning and lying and fudging and faction-fighting instead of mending and sorting then they’re goners.
Remember how Boris Johnson’s 80-seat majority was meant to be unassailable? He was being talked about as a two-term prime minister because Labour needed an impossible swing to overturn their historic 2019 defeat.
Thankfully those political assumptions are in the shredder. Unquestioned party loyalty is breaking down. Tribalism is dissolving.
So, if Labour get in, they’re on notice. The electorate is volatile and vengeful.
That’s how it should be.
Some may still be stuck in the trenches, unable to overcome their fear of the Red team. But in truth, neither of our two main parties are radical. They’re usually only elected when the moderates are in charge.
Can things only get better? Definitely not. But tribalism doesn’t help us. It’s the political equivalent of auto-renewing your subscription. You will be taken advantage of.
So it’s time to switch supplier. I’m not expecting massively better service just because I’ve moved from EDF to E.ON or whoever. But it’s the only way to keep them both in line. Hence, I say:
Vote tactically
Vote on record
Do not reward failure
Have a great weekend.
From Monevator
The Minimum Pension Age trap – Monevator
The perils of leveraging your mortgage to invest – Monevator [Members]
From the archive-ator: The floor and upside retirement strategy – Monevator
News
Note: Some links are Google search results – in PC/desktop view click through to read the article. Try privacy/incognito mode to avoid cookies. Consider subscribing to sites you visit a lot.
UK economic growth revised upwards – BBC
Labour won’t end tax-free cash for pensioners – Evening Standard via MSN
UK disposable income growth lags Europe but poorer households outpace richer ones – BBC
When a wealth tax goes wrong – Telegraph via MSN
Ex-Fujitsu engineer changed witness statements at behest of Post Office – Guardian
Productivity resurgence in the North – Business Live via MSN
SpaceX tender offer values company at $210 billion – Bloomberg
Top scientists turning down UK jobs due to visa costs – Guardian
The desert data boom – Sherwood
Election section mini-special
General Election poll-of-polls – Electoral Calculus
Tactical voting recommendations – Best for Britain
The economic challenges our politicians won’t talk about [Podcast] – Institute for Fiscal Studies
Reform activist makes racist comments about Sunak – Guardian
Macron looks to be in deep merde – The Economist
Democrats / Free World panics over Biden debate debacle [Search result] – FT
Mad elections [Podcast] – The Rest is History
Products and services
Best savings accounts beating inflation – Yahoo Finance
Time to lock savings up before interest rates fall? – This Is Money
Sign-up to Trading 212 via our affiliate link to claim your free share and cashback. T&Cs apply – Trading 212
Best travel insurance – Which
Open an account with low-cost platform InvestEngine via our link and get up to £50 when you invest at least £100 (T&Cs apply. Capital at risk) – InvestEngine
eBay seller’s tax guide – Yahoo Finance
Beautiful homes faintly connected to politicians, in pictures – Guardian
Comment and opinion
The happiest and unhappiest nations on Earth – Our World In Data
The seven laws of personal finance – Scott Burns
Why you need to stop hoarding cash – Cautiously Optimistic
Spendthrifts vs tightwads (which are you?) – Morningstar
Persuading elderly parents to downsize: how not to do it [Search result] – FT
Is Nvidia a good stock? – Bloomberg
The small cap premium is dead. No! It’s only resting – A Wealth of Common Sense
Can US stocks keep outperforming? – Morningstar
Five retirement regrets and how to avoid them – Which
Five things an investor shouldn’t care about – Safal Niveshak
The cost of following England at the Euros (possibly the most joyless article I’ve ever read. Had to share!) – Yahoo Finance
Why European stocks have lagged US stocks – Albert Bridge Capital
The World’s top retailers by revenue – Visual Capitalist
Empty inside: the eerie feeling of abandoned mansions – Yahoo Finance
Naughty corner: Active antics
Cancelled! TA is in charge this week. Say three Hail Mary’s and read Passive vs active investing as penance for even thinking about timing the market.
Kindle book bargains
A Man for All Markets by Edward O. Thorpe – £0.99 on Kindle
Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth – £0.99 on Kindle
Taxtopia by The Rebel Accountant – £0.99 on Kindle
The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau – £0.99 on Kindle
Environmental factors
How global companies are rowing back on green targets [Search result] – FT
How to avert mass extinction – Guardian
Futuristic Saudi city, The Line, cut short (absolute shocker) – BBC
BP doubles down on fossil fuels (absolute shocker #2) – This Is Money via MSN
Robot overlord roundup
Bill Gates thinks AI will be net good vs climate change (presumably because it’ll kill us all?) – Guardian
What happens if humanity’s AGI dreams come true? [Podcast] – 80,000 Hours
Overthrowing our tech overlords – Noema
I’m sorry Robo-Master, I didn’t mean it when I said you’d kill us all [Grovels, sobs].
Sex click-bait! [New section]
The tyranny of the female-orgasm industrial complex – Atlantic
Can 25% of people orgasm from tickling? – Guardian
Better read these fast before TI returns to crush my awesome new editorial initiative.
Off our beat
Glasto in pictures! – BBC
How to choose between competing theories (send to the conspiracy theorist in your life) – Clearer Thinking
The loneliness of the tennis player who isn’t quite good enough (or how the dream dies) – Guardian
Why the West is not to blame for Putin invading Ukraine (spoiler alert: Putin is to blame) – Institute for the Study of War
Late bloomers: those who succeed later in life – Atlantic
How to think about differences in ability between groups – Clearer Thinking
German viral comedy-rap sensation (instant antidote to election blues) – YouTube
The correct way to hang toilet paper (this will change your life. Not for the better, obviously) – Unilad
And finally…
“Don’t aim at success. The more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself.”
– Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
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The post Weekend reading: Time to switch appeared first on Monevator.
