Category Archives: Environment, society, politics and economics
How many refugees should each country take
How do you work out how many refugees each country should take? I thought of four main things which are relevant: – Ability to afford – the richer a country is, the less pain caused by admitting refugees – Population … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, society, politics and economics
Tagged Middle East, refugees, Syria, telford protocol
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How bad government can mean a better society
By huge irony, bad government can be good for society. Which actually means that bad government is good government. How can that be? The Hungarian government has handled the refugee crisis in a quixotic manner. This year it has taken … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, society, politics and economics
Tagged community, migrants, migration, refugees, society, Syria, volunteering
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Refugees and illusions
Some reflections on the refugee crisis. I will write a few posts on this. Standing in 38 degrees heat at the Deli station in Budapest surrounded by 20 Pakistani migrants can get you thinking about stuff. You put two and … Continue reading
Blatter and the bigger problem
Blatter is not the problem. The different attitudes towards Blatter around the world are telling. We read that Africa, Asia, South America and Russia all support him. They have different experience of him than we do. They have benefitted from … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, society, politics and economics
Tagged Adidas, Blatter, Coca Cola, FIFA, football, McDonalds, unfairness, Visa
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Litter in Szentendre: personal failure and policy failure
On a walk in Szentendre by the Danube yesterday, the distinction between personal failure and policy failure was clearly visible. This is the failure of individuals to be civilised citizens: And this: In contrast, this is policy failure: The combined … Continue reading