That foreign direct investment is often ‘fly-by-night’.
#It’s foreign portfolio investment which is often fly by night. FDI is sa static as British investment is. Because it’s in hte same buildings, factories and companies.
That foreign direct investment is often ‘fly-by-night’.
#It’s foreign portfolio investment which is often fly by night. FDI is sa static as British investment is. Because it’s in hte same buildings, factories and companies.
Slightly off topic and a more pertinent comment to follow but I enjoyed this on ‘Reform UK’ – The likes of Longrider and others will be pleased to hear the Reform UK is now ‘the power behind the throne’
Reform does not exist to win. It has no desire to do so.
Nor does it want to split the Tory vote. It is even questionable whether it is doing so. Some of its vote undoubtedly comes from Labour. Yet more will come from those who would not have voted at all without it being present, I suspect.
The Reform agenda is quite different. Those funding it simply want a populist far-right agenda that focuses on division in society by exploiting issues such as migration to dominate political debate.
By doing so, they force the issues that really matter, from climate change, to destitution, to real political reform, to tackling inequality, and so much more, to the sidelines, and force the so-called Overton Window that determines possible political outcomes ever further to the right.
Is anyone feeling that the government or opposition are even slightly to the right? For me both are well to the Left of the North Korean regime. Surely he needs sectioning for protection of the wider community as well as his own mental health?
So it would appear that Nissan will just abandon its factory in Sunderland on a whim….
You’ve heard about “hot money”? Now meet “hot factories”.
VP – The Reform agenda is quite different. Those funding it simply want a populist far-right agenda that focuses on division in society by exploiting issues such as migration to dominate political debate.
Immigration is a “divisive” issue that people simultaneously don’t care about, and is fuelling a populist far-Right agenda, somehow.
By doing so, they force the issues that really matter, from climate change,
“Climate change” is one of the reasons why we’ve lost Ukraine.
From the Torygraph a few days ago:
How the West lost the artillery shell race and what it means for Ukraine
The media has been gradually preparing the public for the next phase of the Ukraine war: Operation Oops We Lost.
Diplomats and ministers moved to blame Europe’s production capabilities and a failure to significantly ramp up manufacturing, for the lacklustre performance.
Ukraine was estimated to be firing around 6,000 155mm rounds a day, according to Western intelligence figures, whereas Russia was firing 20,000 a day – the same amount produced by European manufacturers each month.
How is Europe meant to massively increase its military industrial output while carrying the highest energy costs and most savage Net Zero restrictions in the world, as well as all that debt?
Answer: it can’t.
The US plans to increase its production rate for 155mm artillery shells to 100,000 a month. But it is not expected to hit that target until 2025.
The USA is also a wan shadow of its post-WW2 self. 100,000 a month by 2025 – most likely at a cost that’s multiples of what Russia and China pay for munitions – is not enough to win WW3. It’s not even in the right order of magnitude for the conflicts to come.
The slow pace with which allies are boosting artillery production means Ukraine is unlikely to be able to tip the balance on the battlefield.
Experts say it will likely be able to cling on, however.
This is the nightmare scenario for Ukraine and us: a war our ally is no longer capable of winning, but which they and we are also incapable of stopping. Not what we were promised in the spring, is it?
They’ll probably blame Boris. But I think 40 years of Western deindustrialisation, outsourcing, offshoring and ecowankery are the real culprits for the collective West no longer being able to walk the walk. There does seem a sudden change in the air where Johnny Foreigner no longer fears the West like he used to, possibly because he can also do basic maths. Formerly key allies like Saudi Arabia are on the other side now. The world seems itchy, tasty, for a fight.
to destitution, to real political reform,
It’s only “real political reform” when it’s something Ritchie wants. If you want something, that’s crazy racist madness.
“Those funding it simply want a populist far-right agenda that focuses on division in society”
Sounds good.
In some cases I’ve dealt with , though not in the UK, it could be pretty fly by night and included in the FDI figures (which frankly are not worth much). Software roles on monthly contracts in leased offices also on monthly offices with a fleet of cars on monthly leases! Certainly have pointed out to the UK gov from time to time that ‘FDI’ based jobs in services sector can be pretty ephemeral even if not quite on a month by month basis.
Steve
Excellent and generally more serious in tone than your usual contribution – I’d urge caution though, PJF will be accusing you of shilling for Putin soon enough
This is the nightmare scenario for Ukraine and us: a war our ally is no longer capable of winning, but which they and we are also incapable of stopping. Not what we were promised in the spring, is it?
They’ll probably blame Boris. But I think 40 years of Western deindustrialisation, outsourcing, offshoring and ecowankery are the real culprits for the collective West no longer being able to walk the walk. There does seem a sudden change in the air where Johnny Foreigner no longer fears the West like he used to, possibly because he can also do basic maths. Formerly key allies like Saudi Arabia are on the other side now. The world seems itchy, tasty, for a fight.
And that’s a genuine fear I think that I have for my children. If Israel falls (and if Trump were to lose there’s every chance it will if Hizbollah open a second front and even a third and fourth from Yemen and the West Bank) then who is going to stop the like of China taking advantage? Do the people driving crap like Trans rights and Net Zero actively work for the West’s destruction or are they the very definition of ‘useful idiots’?
As I paraphrase the late Peter Simple:
‘It’s standard practice in the event of a Communist takeover to liquidate the intellectual class – i.e I’d expect Murphy to be up against the wall ten minutes before me – believe me that wouldn’t be much consolation’
VP – thank you.
Tbh, my attitude to the war (and any war, pick one) is sheer, unrelenting horror, depression and disgust. It didn’t need to be this way. I wish Russia had never invaded and that both sides would stop murdering people today. Nothing good has come from this.
Israelis are survivors and they still control their own government, problematic as that is. I reckon they’ll be OK, but wouldn’t be surprised if they ultimately decide Team China has a better offer for them than Uncle Sam. (Remember, before the USA it was France that was bezzies with the Zionist entity, before that it was Britain. Israel wants what’s good for the Jews and is prepared to go out and find new allies as required)
I would bet on Israel every day of the year against any Arab army.
Saudi Arabia declaring it’s ready to accept payment in Chinese yuan and joining BRICS was massive news, and therefore not much discussed in the media.
We are told BRICS is a nothingburger, but it doesn’t seem to be nothing to all the new countries queueing up for closer economic relations with China. More to the point, it would have been an unimaginable provocation to the United States just a few years ago. Lesser countries have been bombed to shit by the collective West for much less.
Uncle Sam has lost control over the Saudis, and with it the petrodollar. That bodes Interesting Times I’m afraid. Not overnight, because there is still much ruin in our nations, but the USA has gotten so used to printing, spending and exporting inflation an easy landing seems politically untenable.
Do the people driving crap like Trans rights and Net Zero actively work for the West’s destruction or are they the very definition of ‘useful idiots’?
Yarp. Funnily enough, the people most apt to use the term “sustainable”, almost as a religious mantra, have been doing things that are insanely unsustainable.
Good times, eh?
“Uncle Sam has lost control over the Saudis, and with it the petrodollar. That bodes Interesting Times I’m afraid. Not overnight, because there is still much ruin in our nations, but the USA has gotten so used to printing, spending and exporting inflation an easy landing seems politically untenable.”
I have a theory that says the USA will be bust overnight one day. It will literally become Upper Volta with missiles in the space of a few days. I see it as one of those ‘add a grain of sand to the pile’ experiments – as you add grains one by one nothing happens for ages, then occasionally a little slip then suddenly with no warning the whole side of the heap collapses, just from adding one extra grain. We can all see which way the process is going, we just have no idea if that catastrophic moment will come in 20-30 years time or next Tuesday. But when the realisation hits that its over for the dollar hegemony, the instantaneous nature of financial markets today will mean what might have taken years to play out in days gone by, will now play out in hours. At the moment everyone either thinks such a scenario is impossible, or if they think it is possible are happy to stay put because everyone else is. Either way, when the switch flips, they’ll all be stampeding for the door at the same time.
Its rather like the way the Suez crisis told the UK it was no longer a Great Power – one minute we were one of the Big Three, the next we were a small broke nation off the coast of Europe. The general economic/military situation of the UK after the US put its foot down was not much different to what it had been before, just that everyone viewed the same facts in a different light.
Jim – Its rather like the way the Suez crisis told the UK it was no longer a Great Power – one minute we were one of the Big Three, the next we were a small broke nation off the coast of Europe. The general economic/military situation of the UK after the US put its foot down was not much different to what it had been before, just that everyone viewed the same facts in a different light.
Yes, I’ve been wondering about that, because it feels like a similar process is underway in our public life. There have been multiple “masks off” moments in the Western world since 2020. Another major one in Ireland just a few days ago.
The vibe is totally different now. Can you feel it? Our government is mostly doing the same stuff it’s been doing since 1997. But a big chunk of the population has woken up to the nightmare. Trust and respect are entirely gone now.
Supposedly neutral institutions like the police, the judiciary, the BBC (lol) – even the monarchy – can no longer necessarily count on being supported by the British middle and working classes. They should be a lot more worried about this than they appear to be.
We used to grumble. I don’t think the vibe is one of grumbling now, I think it’s fear and hate. Certainly our government fears and hates us. Remember how Rome died – the most fundamental reason (I would suggest) was that people simply no longer felt they had a stake in Roman society that was worth defending at their own personal risk of dying. So they stopped joining the Legions, which became increasingly foreign and decreasingly capable of defending the status quo, which became shakier than an OPEC meeting and inevitably fell over.
Do you feel like you have a stake in Whatever This Is? Would you encourage young Englishmen to fight to defend it?
I don’t think these will be rhetorical questions for much longer, but I hope I’m wrong.
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