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Read The Book
Before the welfare state
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The Greycoat Hospital
The Greycoat Hospital was once a workhouse. It has since been a hospital and a school. It has a very long welfare history. It has now been taken over by the state.
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The Greycoat Hospital
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Education and State
Licence
Stats
strict rent control leads to’ lower quantity and quality of rental housing’
From an IEA posting. A recent OECD report on housing policy finds: ‘An illustrative correlation shows that across countries, stricter rent control tends to be associated with lower quantity and quality of rental housing, as measured by the share of tenants who … Continue reading
Posted by James Bartholomew
Indexed in Housing
The myth of the ‘great’ Attlee government
Peter Oborne is a journalist I admire. He has written some terrific articles and talked well on radio and TV. However I recently heard him debating whether Margaret Thatcher should get a state funeral when she finally, like everybody else, … Continue reading
Now THIS is a social housing programme: 36 million new homes!
In Britain, so-called ‘social housing’ has been in decline. Under Labour, as under the previous Conservative administration, it was allowed to wither. There were too many disasters. Too many massive blocks that had to be literally blown up because not … Continue reading
Posted by James Bartholomew
Indexed in Housing
Italy and Sweden – worlds apart
I have done two highly contrasting trips in the past few months. First Italy and then Sweden. In both cases, the trips were prompted by other things but I used them to research a new book I am writing about … Continue reading
Posted by James Bartholomew
Indexed in Education, General, Healthcare and the NHS, Housing, Parenting, Welfare benefits, Work on the new book
Italian welfare – a curate’s egg
I have just returned from a visit to Italy where I spoke to quite a lot of interesting people about the welfare state there. I learned too much to put down a fraction of it here. But this, in ultra-brief, … Continue reading
Posted by James Bartholomew
Indexed in Care for the elderly, Education, Healthcare and the NHS, Housing, Parenting, Pensions, Tax and growth, Welfare benefits, Work on the new book
What we are not taught about our history
The history that is taught in our schools is misleading. As usual, the victors write history to suit themselves. Caesar wrote his own history to make sure that people got the ‘right’ view of him. The Communists wrote their own … Continue reading
Posted by James Bartholomew
Indexed in Education, Healthcare and the NHS, Housing, Welfare before the welfare state
They do things differently in Japan
Japan is quite a lot different from Western countries in its welfare state. That makes it interesting for comparison. This is a link to the latest report from the Ministry of Health, Labour and Pensions and here is the full … Continue reading
Posted by James Bartholomew
Indexed in Care for the elderly, Healthcare and the NHS, Housing, Pensions, Welfare benefits
A measure to reduce the cost of housing
Housing is a welfare issue. The cost of housing affects everybody and it affects the poor most seriously. The cost of housing in Britain is much higher than in some other countries, partly because of the difficulty of getting planning … Continue reading
Posted by James Bartholomew
Indexed in Housing
Did Channel 4 know what it was doing when it commissioned this film?
A TV programme is coming up on Thursday evening in which I expect I will appear. It is a 90 minute film by Martin Durkin about the huge national debt that has piled up and his solution. He will be … Continue reading
Posted by James Bartholomew
Indexed in Behaviour & Crime, Healthcare and the NHS, Housing, Media, including BBC bias, Parenting, Reform, Tax and growth, Welfare benefits
Have the housing benefit changes been thought through?
Yesterday The Times had a useful commentary on problems that could be created by housing benefit. Unfortunately there is a charging barrier at Timesonline. But here are a few excerpts: “…the Government’s proposals seem extraordinarily simplistic and hasty. From next … Continue reading