par blog

The End

2005-02-20T16:56:00.000Z

Due to demands of a new job, low traffic and declining motivation I have decided to pause this blog. It's been fun but the novelty has worn off.

I'll end with a couple of quotes that seem appropriate for me now:

The difference between a job and a career is the difference between 40 and 60 hours a week.
Robert Frost

One must think only of one's work. When I began as an apprentice I was in the kitchen at five o'clock in the morning and I didn't stop until eleven at night, with just a couple hours rest in the afternoon. That was my schedule in 1914 at the Hotel Bristol in Paris. It has been my schedule ever since. It's too much, isn't it? But la grande cuisine is pitiless.
Fernand Point

Why the EU sucks...continued

2005-02-10T22:25:00.000Z

An excellent piece in The Times today on why and how European politics harms extremely poor people in Africa and completely undermines the holier-than-thou position on aid:

Every year a bureaucrat in Brussels sets the price of sugar for European farmers — at four times the market price. No wonder they produce five million tonnes too much of it, preventing other sugar-growing countries from competing.
Put this another way: for every £3 the EU gives to Mozambique in aid, it takes back £1 in the damage it does to its sugar industry. The women whom Mr Brown met do not want aid. They want their business to thrive.

Italian Mafia...cont.

2005-02-05T22:45:00.000Z

Following on from my last post on this, two recent pieces in the Telegraph

1 - Marlon Brando almost turned down the Godfather because he did not want to glorify the Mafia.

2 - There was a very interesting quote in a story on the arrest of a particularly stylish Mafia criminal who had a vocal public following. Magistrate Giovanni Corona was quoted:
The guaglioni [footsoldiers] of the clan all dress the same: they wear Nikes, torn jeans and T-shirts resembling the tops of English football uniforms. In their world such details are much more important than we realise. They amount to a trademark to which one belongs, which sets them apart, but also makes them appear like many other kids in the outskirts of town. What we're seeing is an anthropological mutation which has transformed the Camorristi of Secondigliano into cinema gangsters. These are people in their thirties who use violence as a status symbol.

The Wealth of Nations

2005-02-05T22:31:00.000Z

Given the fuss and show-boating at the G7 summit, Niall Ferguson has an apt piece in the Telegraph, Africa doesn't need handouts: it needs honest governments:

The trouble is that what both Blair and Brown are proposing are mere variations on an old, familiar theme known as "aid". (As Mr Brown's advisers well know, there is no real difference between "debt forgiveness" and handing poor countries a large, gift-wrapped cheque.) But we have been here before. Between 1950 and 1995, Western countries gave away around $1 trillion (in 1985 prices) in aid to poorer countries. But these efforts yielded pitiful results, as New York University economist Bill Easterly has shown, because the recipient countries lacked the political, legal and financial institutions necessary for the money to be used productively

It is probably cliched, but definitely accurate to say that if we don't learn the lessons of history, we are bound to repeat them. The interesting thing is that the timescale of democratic elections promotes a short-termism that inhibits this learning process.
History has shown that political stability and institutions with certain characteristics are necessary for economic growth and health. Placating ill-informed leftist lobbyists, unfortunately, does very little to help the people in question.
Good intentions are not enough - we need better institutions to channel the self-interest of those in power toward more useful ends. Or, and my preference given that such institutional arrangements are extremely rare, we need to decrease the amount of power available, and compartmentalise it.

Rand at 100

2005-02-02T23:16:00.000Z

Here are some sites celebrating Ayn Rand's birthday:

Will Wilkinson - Cato - Cafe Hayek - Division of Labour - Reason - Marginal Revolution

For me she is an extremely important intellectual figure, primarily for the role her novels played in spreading a popular appreciation of pure capitalism, mainly in America. I also admire her brazen philosophical approach but I am put off by the cultishness of Randians, who in inheriting her black/white world view, alienate themselves. The Randian black or white blinker prohibits true believers from partaking in "normal" complex, messy, everyday life - and perhaps the ultimate evidence of the problems Objectivism can cause as a guide to life is illustrated by Rand's tragic personal life.

So Happy Birthday Ayn Rand and thank you.

Steyn on Iraq

2005-02-01T21:51:00.000Z

I recommend Mark Steyn's column on Iraq in The Telegraph:

Defying the suicide bombers and head-hackers, courageous Iraqis went to the polls in huge numbers. Before the vote, the naysayers told us that the indelible purple dye on each voter's finger would mark them out for punishment by "insurgents". Instead, it became a defiant symbol of the country's freedom.
I liked the picture of some grizzled beaming Arab so proud of his purple finger that he dipped a second one and then raised both to the camera - flipping the V sign, or so I like to think, to the BBC, to Sir Simon Jenkins, to Do-Nothing Doug Hurd, to those Spanish protesters and the rest of the quagmire fetishists.

The most fascinating detail in the big picture was this: Iraqi expats weren't voting just in Sydney and London and Los Angeles, but also in Syria. Think about that. If you're an Iraqi in Syria, you can vote for the political party of your choice. If you're a Syrian in Syria, you have no choice at all. Which of those arrangements is the one with a future?

I agree with the sentiment of the piece but I think we need to look on a much longer timescale. Those who so freely criticise the democratic process and liberation, whilst essentially correct, are obviously far too short-termist, and the absurdity of their position is clear with the help of even a little historical knowledge. Similarly, to suggest, within only a few days of the election that Iraq has turned the corner is risky. I tend to think that the Arab world might be shocked into reform and/or revolt, but we need to wait and see.

Food photo and recipe of the week

2005-01-30T16:49:00.000Z

Blood orange and pink grapefruit salad, liquorice creme chantilly

Segment the oranges and grapefruit.
Make a syrup from the zest and juice, with a little sugar.
Boil some dried liquorice in sugar syrup for 5 minutes and leave to infuse. Blitz the liquorice with just enough of the syrup to make a thick paste. Mix this into the whipped cream.

This is a refreshing dessert, ideal to follow a rich meal - the fruitiness of the liquorice worked very well with the salad. You could make a liquorice sauce for the salad but the cream mellows and improves the flavour of the liquorice.

The beginning of the end for State education in the UK?

2005-01-30T16:32:00.000Z

The Sunday Telegraph (no link) reports that the University of Chicago is to open a department in London this summer to allow students to earn a Masters from the university's business school. In one sense it might be seen as just another MBA course.

However, if it is the beginning of a trend for the internationalisation of education, it will hopefully shake-up the UK system. With UK universities caught between a fee cap and artificially rising student numbers, it would be no surprise to see students being drawn toward the higher quality education offered by US universities, and with their huge endowments, they would be able to offer bursaries far in excess of those available in the UK currently.

Prof Oswald of Warwick University, a luke warm market advocate at the best of times welcomes the move: It is a very logical development which we will see a great deal of in the next decade. Just as computers and cars are exported, so will university education.

Italian Mafia

2005-01-30T16:07:00.001Z

According to an article in The Business, the Italian Mafia's turnover has doubled in the last 2 years, from E43bn in 2002 to an estimated E100bn last year.

Once you see past the irresponsible glamorisation of the Mafia in much popular culture, you see what a burden it is on society.
In his interesting observational book on Italy, Charles Richards quotes the Italian judge, Falcone, who paid with his life for his attempts to rid Italy of the Mafia menace:

The Mafia is not a social service that operates for the benefit of all, but rather an exclusive association which acts against society as a whole for the sole benefit of its members.

Evidence of this can be found in the Godfather films when no act of generosity by the Mafia is complete without the recipient being burdened with a "promise" to repay the favour. Modern States act in a similar way, with taxes being raised to provide services contingent on adhering to a legal framework. This is perhaps the key difference between the Mafia and the State, and a powerful argument against those who condone the Mafia on account of its ability to fill gaps left by the State.

The advantage a State has is its relative stability, viz. the Mafia. You might not like the level of taxation, but you can be fairly sure how much you will be paying annually. This certainty is diluted under Mafia rule because individuals have far more discretionary power.

Economic freedom

2005-01-30T16:07:00.000Z

John Blundell, Director General of the IEA, discusses the latest Index of Economic Freedom in The Business and finishes with this strong claim:

So, I submit, capitalism - the consequence of freedom of contract and freedom to trade - is a triumphant force that ennobles its participants. I am making no new claim. Adam Smith taught us all we needed to know in his magisterial the Wealth of Nations. What this fascinating book allows us to see is just how subtle yet simple is the recipe for happiness. Domestic mercantilism is more dangerous than international terrorism.

Ayn Rand Centenary - 1

2005-01-26T20:12:00.000Z

Given that 2005 is the centenary of Ayn Rand's birth, it seems appropriate to have some Randian influenced stuff. February 2 is the official day and it is obviously not a public holiday.
Like it or not, and I tend toward the former, Rand has been and continues to be hugely influential, although most people seem to experience only transitory Randian periods in their intellectual development.

The first is this picture of Prado Dam in the US which Rand no doubt would have appreciated as a representation of man's mastery over nature.

The ivory tower

2005-01-24T20:58:00.001Z

Following the reaction of Prof Hopkins to Larry Summers' "sexist" remarks, Will Wilkinson has coined a new verb that has an attractive ring to it:

pull a Hopkins intr. v.

1. to become faint or nauseated upon hearing a statement contrary to one's ideology or dogma.
2. to leave the room, usually dramatically, because of such faintness or nausea.
3. to feign such faintness or nausea as part of a ploy to establish or reinforce a social convention about the limits of acceptable discourse.
e.g.: "I pulled a Hopkins when I heard Bob say that, even though it has never worked, communism is 'a good idea.'"

Historical source:
"I just couldn't breathe because this kind of bias makes me physically ill. I would've either blacked out or thrown up." - Professor Nancy Hopkins, in response to Harvard President Larry Summer's conjecture that women are scarce in certain mathematical disciplines because of genetic differences between the sexes.

The best reaction to the debacle comes from Prof Steven Pinker who has written perhaps the definitive book on human nature to date:
Look, the truth cannot be offensive. Perhaps the hypothesis is wrong, but how would we ever find out whether it is wrong if it is “offensive” even to consider it? People who storm out of a meeting at the mention of a hypothesis, or declare it taboo or offensive without providing arguments or evidence, don’t get the concept of a university or free inquiry.

Anti-Economics

2005-01-24T20:58:00.000Z

Prof William Coleman appears to have started a column at the Social Affairs Unit blog with the theme of Anti-Economics. I was very impressed with a talk he gave at the IEA a while ago and I am looking forward to more from the column:

Consider the society that in 1870 had:
• the largest population of any Western country;
• the largest and densest academic system of any country; and
• had over the preceding 40 years made distinguished contributions to economic theory (including marginal utility theory, marginal productivity theory, and the first supply and demand schedules ever drawn).

That country is Germany. But despite the strength of its heritage in economics, from the time of the formation of German Empire in 1870, economics (as it is ordinarily understood) died. It was replaced by the German Historical School of Economics (GHS), led by Gustav von Schmoller, who could claim after a period of time that the appointment of any "Smithian" in the German University system was impossible.

Repudiating all theory, the Historical School dedicated itself to eliminating "Smithianismus" and "Manchesterismus", and providing rationalisations for the cartelisation of industry and the establishment of protection. They were keen advocates of "social welfare" programmes to preserve cohesion of the new state. They also eagerly lent themselves to the collection of colonies in Africa and the Pacific, and the construction of a massive naval fleet. Giving something to everyone, German lecture theatres were flooded with students keen to absorb the economic wisdom of the Historical School of the day.

The hostility of the Historical School to theory amounted to a program of intellectual disarmament. Did Germany suffer? Not immediately. Between 1871 and 1910 real GDP per head grew a more than respectable 73 percent. (Protectionists should note that Germany did not grow as much as Sweden. With a distinctly less protectionist policy, Sweden experienced a real GDP growth per head of 117 percent over the same period.) But economics – like medicine or dentistry – proves its value best, not in the easy times, but the difficult ones. The GHS amounted to a piece of intellectual disarmament, and this had two catastrophic consequences after 1914. The German hyperinflation of 1922-23 is directly attributable to the precepts of Historical School that had "proved" the falsehood of what we call "monetarism". The ineffectiveness of German economists in dealing with the Great Depression is also attributable in part to the intellectual impoverishment of the Historical School. The most effective responses to the Depression, recall, came from the centre of mainstream economics, in Cambridge.

Germany paid for its anti-economics in material terms. And perhaps it paid in other terms. For the costs of damaging the credit of economics will never be purely material. Economics is built on premises that have a far wider remit than the simply material. These premises include; the oneness of human kind; the value of rationality, utility, freedom; the strong likelihood that each person is the best judge of their interest. Damage these premises, throw them away, or cover them with doubt and derision, and it is not just a lower GDP that is in prospect. Anti-economics may yet be as dangerous as the guillotine.

Food photo and recipe of the week

2005-01-22T22:01:00.000Z

Braised pig's trotter 'Pierre Koffmann'

The recipe is too long to repeat but it basically involves the following:
boned, braised trotters stuffed with chicken mousse and poached, pommes puree, and a veal jus with mushrooms.

In his unique style, Marco Pierre White said the following about this dish: This is my favourite dish. If it had been a painting it would hang in the Tate. It's simple and earthy, but it's also elegant and intelligent. You can't take it any further. It's a complete meal. It's not a recipe for talking about; it's a meal to be eaten.

I was a little underwhelmed by the dish, to be honest. It is probably the richest dish I have eaten, and you can feel and taste the gelatine coating your mouth, but the flavour is a little too subtle for me. That said, it is a classic dish and well worth preparing at least once.

Unintended consequences of affirmative action

2005-01-22T18:33:00.000Z

This story in The Times illustrates the pitfalls of affirmative action.

Mr Dube, who has no birth certificate but thinks that he is 42, is a blatant example of a new South African business practice called “fronting”.
This involves white-owned companies promoting one of their former black employees, often from a lowly position, to director level. Then the person fronts the company, enabling it to portray itself as a black firm and receive favourable treatment when government tenders are handed out.
Under controversial Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) legislation, adopted in 2003 to try to speed up the slow pace of change in South Africa, companies who employ people termed the “previously disadvantaged” can expect favourable treatment. Another recent case of fronting involved a white businesswoman’s maid and her daughter who were made co-directors of her construction company.

Thomas Sowell's Affirmative Action is an excellent analysis of the failings of affirmative action.

Michelin guide 2005

2005-01-20T22:09:00.001Z

The 2005 Michelin Guide is out. Details from the Evening Standard and Squaremeal.

World's oldest pupil facing expulsion

2005-01-20T22:09:00.000Z

The Telegraph has a surreal story about an 84 year old pupil in Kenya who is facing expulsion.

He was popular with pupils and teachers and was made a prefect. But when he began his second year this month, some parents protested. Mr Maruge was a "smart Alec" prone to histrionics, one said.
"Our children don't concentrate," the parent said. "They are too busy wondering what he is going to do next. He tries to dominate the class."
Mrs Obinchu says the accusations are "poppycock" but parents counter that Mr. Maruge - who was top of his class last year - has become a teacher's pet and have questioned his grades.
A parents' delegation went to the mayor's office yesterday demanding his expulsion and the removal of the headmistress.
"If I am expelled I will surely die," said Mr Maruge.

Food on sunday

2005-01-16T15:12:00.000Z

The latest edition of the Observer Food Monthly is out, and quite frankly, it's crap. There is a half decent article on Ramsay in America amongst a load of rubbish on food and fashion which they have done before.
The quality of OFM has in my opinion declined steadily in the last 12 - 18 months.

The Sunday Telegraph has the second in a three part series of recipes by Tom Aikens which are innovative and interesting (no link) and an article on Marco Pierre White's move into pre-packaged food.

The Right Nation

2005-01-15T19:23:00.000Z

I have finally finished the impressive The Right Nation: Why America is Different.
Those with a deep understanding of American political and electoral history will perhaps gain the most from it, and I thought the attempt to be even-handed throughout suffered when the subjects at hand were not amenable to such treatment.

It really is a heavy weight book and will remain valuable for years to come.

The quote that sums up 400 odd pages of why America is different (or why conservativism is so strong in America) is apparently an old Ellis Island motto (p. 330):

The cowards never came, and the weak died on the way.

This goes a long way to explaining why America is so successful, and the failure to understand the demographic truths contained in this phrase explain much of the world's failure to understand America.

Food photo of the week

2005-01-14T16:12:00.001Z

From the website of the restaurant Morgan M in NW London.

Recipe of the week

2005-01-14T16:12:00.000Z

Red grapefruit souffle, almond ice cream

From London Eating, who got it from Morgan Meunier, I think.

Technological progress

2005-01-14T11:18:00.000Z

Whilst recarpeting my room I found some old newspapers from 1999 and the PC World advertisments illustrate the speed of technological development.

In 1999, £1000 would have bought me the following:
Compaq - Intel Celeron 466mhz, 128mb ram, 8 gb hd, 5x dvd-rom, 17 inch monitor.

In 2005, the same amount of money gets me:
Compaq - Pentium 4 530, 512mb ram, 160 gb hd, 16x dvd-rom + ram, 17inch flat monitor.

Not bad. So generally, for less money I can do more on my computer. For me, this is the essence of technological development, and makes a mockery of Diamond's claim below that we don't need such development. This type of development frees up resources to be used elsewhere more effectively.

Jared Diamond

2005-01-14T10:43:00.000Z

Diamond's new book has been well reviewed and criticised elsewhere but a couple of points caught my attention from his Times article.

Even if the human populations of the Third World did not exist, it would be impossible for the First World alone to maintain its present course, because it is not in a steady state but is depleting its own resources as well as those imported from the Third World

It isn't clear from the article how Diamond defines steady state. At the start of the 20th century lots of people thought we would by now have run out of oil, and some eccentrics still predict similarly. Yet the amount of oil left does not decrease in proportion with the amount used. This is a big clue to the fact that resources are not fixed, but are instead a function of social and technological development. We are of course depleting our resources on the one hand, but on the other we are diversifying them and increasing their size through economic and technological development.

Because we are the cause of our environmental problems, we are the ones in control of them, and we can choose or not choose to stop causing them and start solving them. The future is up for grabs, lying in our own hands. We don’t need new technologies to solve our problems; while new technologies can make some contribution, for the most part we “just” need the political will to apply solutions already available. Of course, that’s a big “just”. But many societies did find the necessary political will in the past

This sort of argument seems seriously flawed on two levels.

1. What is the “we” in this case? Where is this global democracy acting with one voice. You only have to look at one country, the US, to see that there is no “we”, but instead an “us” and “them” mentality. It is also questionable how many societies found the political will in the past. Which countries decided collectively to get richer and cleaner. I can’t think of one. For the most part, countries got rich and improved living conditions through a subtle blend of relatively stable political regimes, urbanisation and economic and technological development. They didn’t sit around and vote the same process into existence. The problem of converting individual preference into public good has been “solved” (in Diamond’s language) by effective property rights institutions - Don Boudreaux rightly calls Diamond’s analysis here ‘adolescent’ because Diamond seems unaware of the lessons of the Tragedy of the Commons.

2. Why don’t we need new technologies to solve our problems? To give an example, if we gave this argument 25 years ago when the average car engine was much less efficient, would it have been valid to say that we don’t need to innovate technologically to make engines cleaner, we just need to have a vote? Presumably Diamond has looked at global inequalities and solved the problem by transferring resources from the rich to the poor. But even if you ignore the practical problems of such an undertaking, it is unhinged from reality. It might equalise wealth for a very short time but countries and individuals will begin to diverge again as a function of aptitude, political environment, luck, etc... which would necessitate further redistribution ad infinitum.

Diamond seems to have a strange, a-historical view of the world whereby there are only a fixed number of problems waiting to be solved collectively and democratically once and for all, and then we live happily ever after.

Restaurant review

2005-01-05T15:48:00.000Z

Ma Cuisine - Kew, West London

Other reviews here, here, here.
This is the third of John McClements’ restaurants in the area. He has the well received Michelin starred McClements and another Ma Cuisine bistro.

Lunch for 2 = £35, with Evian water, and a glass of wine.

I had Toulouse sausages to start, followed by a selection of charcuterie and a vanilla creme brulee. The sausages were meaty but not too dry, and the creme brulee was perfect, if a little large! The charcuterie was excellent: petit salad with cornichons, a slice of salami, prosciutto type ham, a ham terrine, a duck, pork and foie gras terrine, and a slice of foie gras ballotine. The ham terrine (set with a clear jelly) was flavoursome and moist, and the richness of the foie gras provided for a filling meal. Unfortunately the plastic wrap used to cook and set the ballotine was left on, for which they didn’t charge for the coffee (average Lavazza espresso) and one dessert.

From the set menu (£14.50 3 courses) Mum had ham terrine (same as for the assiette charcuterie, served with a reduced balsamic vinegar sauce and petit salad), coq au vin (with potato dauphinoise and green beans in butter), and pear tart. The coq au vin was good, if a little dry in places, and the potato and beans excellent. The hot pear tart tasted only faintly of pears.

Overall, good value for money, very good food, slightly let down by lax service (a bit slow, missing serviettes, messed up orders). The decor is also a bit rough in places but this ought not detract from the food. I think the kitchen is on pretty much the same level as the nearby Glasshouse which charges twice as much for more elaborate food (my review here).

The Conservative strategy for the next election

2005-01-04T22:39:00.000Z

Michael Howard seems to have outlined the Tory strategy:

From the Telegraph:
Michael Howard, the Conservative leader, has promised to govern Britain for the "forgotten majority" which he claimed had been let down by Tony Blair's Government...
And he said voters faced "a clear choice" at the next election:
"A Conservative Government that gives power to people - or ever greater centralisation under Mr Blair.
"A Conservative Government that will get a grip on crime, immigration and disorder - or an ever-growing rights culture under Mr Blair.
"A Conservative Government that offers value for money and lower taxes - or more waste and higher taxes under Mr Blair.
"A Conservative Government that will reduce the number of politicians and bring powers back from the European Union - or more regionalisation, more politicians and more powers to Brussels under Mr Blair."

The soundbite that particularly struck me was:
The decline of responsibility and the proliferation of so-called 'human rights' have left us in a moral quagmire, unable to get a grip on rising crime and disorder.
This is a good starting idea for a book or essay, but I am not sure it is simple enough to win votes.
Firstly, the proliferation of human rights has increased the resources of some groups at the expense of society as a whole, so Howard's argument is not going to be popular with these groups.
Secondly, he will also find it hard to link abstract jurisprudence to the ordinary voter's concerns, and if he manages to do so, it might be in such a way that it engenders inter-cultural / racial tension.
Finally, modern human rights of the UN variety are very much in fashion in the media. Most superficial political discussion operates from the assumption that these "rights" are untouchable - that everyone has a "right" to a job, decent living, happiness....etc - without any mention of the responsibilities necessitated by such "rights", if there is any link to responsibility at all. Howard will need a massive effort to change this trend, and as it seems to operate on a timescale longer than 4/5 year electoral cycles, I think he would be better off focusing on Europe, tax, law and order, and schools.

Indian private schooling

2005-01-04T11:55:00.000Z

The FT has a brief article on the success of private schools in India:

But in their rapidly proliferating numbers, India's slum private schools are ushering in a social revolution that is largely beneath the radar of the country's policymaking elites. It is a silent revolution that conveys two important messages. First, India's poorest classes want their children to be educated - and they are setting aside money to pay for it; and second, they want their children to be educated in English.

The article then says: Few studies exist on the growth of private slum or village schools elsewhere in India. But anecdotal evidence suggests that Hyderabad is not untypical.

This is a bit surprising considering all the work James Tooley (and EG West) have done on precisely this issue. In fact, the FT article discusses the same issues as Tooley has documented extensively, such as pervasive state school teacher absenteeism and the bribes paid by private schools to get round heavy handed regulation. Tooley's research has clear laissez-faire implications, and has been published mainly by free-market institutions, so perhaps this is why the FT has "missed" it.

Operation Gourmet

2005-01-04T11:39:00.000Z

Terence Conran, one of the main players in the London restaurant scene, is potentially facing a tax bill of millions of pounds after an Inland Revenue investigation ('Operation Gourmet') into staff tips. Tips (troncs) left by customers are not subject to national insurance, so restaurants who have used this money to top up wages are being "asked" to pay the tax.
Pied-a-terre, for example, was fined £187000.
(Telegraph, Caterer).

How to get to the top - the nice way

2005-01-01T16:11:00.000Z

“What’s clear to me now is, screw the alpha male stuff,” says Robert Sapolsky, professor of biological sciences at Stanford University, after a lifetime of studying baboons in the wild. “Go for an alternative strategy. Go for the social affiliation, build relationships with females, and don’t waste your time trying to figure out how to be the most adept, socially cagey, male-male competitor. Amazingly enough, that’s not what pays off in that system. It turns out that females have a hell of a lot of control over who they’re mating with and, irrationally enough, they like to mate with guys that are nice to them!” (The Times)

The story also has a quote from Paul Zak - I got into neuro + behavioural economics after hearing him talk at an IHS workshop in 2003. Fascinating stuff.

Restaurant reviews - dim sum

2004-12-28T23:19:00.002Z

The Golden Palace, Harrow, NW London.
In the last couple of weeks I have 2 excellent dim sum lunches here. It has excellent reviews (here, here), is very busy, especially with Chinese (for what this is worth) and the dim sum is excellent value at about £2.50 - £3.50 a plate.
Standout dishes have been: fried lemongrass chicken, crab and broccoli steamed in seaweed rolls, cuttlefish cakes, and the star of the show: five spice braised beef belly. For £2.50 you get a small bowl of tripe, fatty beef belly, dumplings, and turnip in a delicious spicy beef broth. The best thing I have eaten in a restaurant of any kind for a long time. Duck tongues in tangerine sauce were disappointing - too bony and gelatinous. They join chicken feet in the "to be tried once only" category.
Service is attentive and friendly by Chinese restaurant standards and the bill for two (with 7/8 dishes) comes to about £22. Can't wait to go back.

Phoenix Palace, nr Baker Street, central London
£40 for dim sum for 2, with drinks + a rice dish. Generally no better than the Golden Palace and in places a bit worse. Beef dumplings (with mint and peas) were very good, and I have eaten an excellent eel dish here in the past, but the Golden Palace wins hands down.

The Right Nation

2004-12-28T23:19:00.001Z

I am currently enjoying The Right Nation. Why America is Different by John Micklethwait and Adrain Wooldridge and this quote really struck me:

The reason the first word spoken on the moon was "Houston" was Texas's skill at wielding political power (p.139).

Road pricing - German style

2004-12-28T23:19:00.000Z

The forthcoming German road pricing model is being studied by the UK government. The German system goes live on saturday, covering lorries over 7400 miles of road. The cost will be a function of size and emissions.

From the Telegraph: A typical four-axle cab and trailer unit will be billed £42 for the 353-mile trip between Cologne and Munich, equivalent to a journey from Manchester to Aberdeen.....Lorries will be fitted with cigarette pack-sized windscreen equipment that links with global positioning satellites to track the vehicle's progress. The number of motorway "segments" travelled can be checked by a separate network of roadside sensors.
The on-board unit receives both streams of data, calculates the relevant toll and triggers a payment demand from the central toll agency, where the vehicle's ownership details are pre-registered.

Drivers without an on-board unit are required to "book" their journey with the agency in advance, either on the internet or at one of 3,500 terminals installed at petrol stations and service areas.

Checks on possible toll evaders are made by number-plate cameras on overhead gantries and bridges, backed up by 300 mobile enforcement patrols that will operate 24 hours a day with powers to pull over suspect vehicles. Fines for non-payment will range as high as £14,000 for the most serious and persistent offenders.

The failure of multiculturalism - Dutch style

2004-12-21T21:27:00.001Z

I don't know enough about this situation, but if this Telegraph report is accurate, it is a further piece of damning evidence against a politically correct, multiculturalist welfare state.

An estimated 20,000 Dutch Somalis have left Holland for Britain over the past five years, escaping a multicultural model once touted as the most enlightened in the world.
They say they are frustrated by a system that keeps them trapped in welfare dependency and fosters ethnic tension.

Part of the problem seems to be red-tape which prevents immigrants working and confines them to welfare. Adan Igeh Hussein, of the Somali European Forum, said: "We don't want to depend on social benefits. We're a business-oriented people, but here the rules and red tape make it a nightmare to start anything. You have to have a certificate just to clean houses. In Britain it's so much easier if you want to set up a restaurant or a shop."

And the grass seems to be greener on this side of the North Sea: "We've been here for 12 or 15 years. The government gives us housing, it spends a lot of money, but it's still been a failure. After one year in Britain, everybody is very happy."

Festive price gouging?

2004-12-21T21:27:00.000Z

A shortage of Christmas trees in Hawaii has raised prices dramatically and caused people to queue through the night to ensure they get a tree. From the Telegraph:
The announcement of the prices - from £80 for a 4ft tree to £140 for one 6ft to 7ft - drew cries of dismay from the crowd and police were called to keep the peace....
Mele Kalikimaka Turner, a tree salesman who flew in the additional 130 trees - his forenames mean "Merry Christmas" - insisted that his prices were fair.
"There is a lot involved in bringing a tree to Hawaii," he said.
Barbara Taylor, one of the people queuing, said: "He thinks he's got us because he has the trees. But we have the money and maybe we won't pay."

British food culture

2004-12-20T15:15:00.001Z

Possibly inspired by the numerous TV chefs, the number of new catering firms and hotels openings has risen by 50% on last year to almost 16,000 (Telegraph)

However this needs to be put into context. Whilst there are lots of catering start ups, there are also lots of closures. From an earlier Telegraph article: In 2003/4, in London, 112 restaurants closed, an increase of 70 per cent on the previous 12 months when 66 stopped trading, a record in itself. The rate of closures is also much more severe than the guide recorded in the recession of the early 1990s, when six per cent of the restaurants went bust compared with 10 per cent last year.
However, new restaurant openings have also reached record levels - 135 opened last year - 10 per cent higher than the previous 12 months.

Red tape

2004-12-20T15:15:00.000Z

The inaugural Telegraph Regulatory Creep of the Year award has been won by Defra and the EC environment directorate. The Defra spokesman humbly said they didn't feel they deserved the award!

Karl Rove's big "new" idea - Thatcherism

2004-12-19T17:21:00.000Z

After revolutionising America's foreign policy, the Bush administration now intends to give domestic policy the same overhaul. They have a mission: radical welfare state reform. And they have a name for it: Thatcherism.
...
There is also a feeling of discovery. The victory was on a record turnout: the American public is far more conservative than even Rove's figures projected. After slaying liberalism, he needs a creed to bury it.
After a long ideological search, Rove has chosen Britain in the 1980s. Then Margaret Thatcher took on a left-wing consensus and embarked on an epoch-defining war that the president now aspires to wage in America. (The Business)

The interesting aspect of this development is the opportunity it may open up for Conservatives a few years from now - if it goes well. If Bush + Rove manage to reform welfare in a way that does not alientate both sides, it may promote the (re)acceptance of Tory values. But these are big ifs...

Anthony Flew

2004-12-19T13:15:00.000Z

The Sunday Times interviews Anthony Flew on his recent move away from atheism and contains the following gem: "One of the reasons I hate Blair and Brussels is that Blair is against Britain and British history!” His vehemence transforms the calm gaze of an intellectual into the stiff-armed gestures of a zealot. Noting my alarm, he concedes: “I’m getting very excited and why shouldn’t I? I was alive in the summer of 1940 and it is terrible to see the country being thrown away by the present generation and made subordinate to a corrupt bureaucracy!"

Recipe of the week

2004-12-18T19:37:00.000Z

Orange powder
As seen in the food photo of the week

Take orange peel, without the pith and dry in the oven (few hours at about 50 - 70 degrees). When dry, blitz (grind/process to fine dust) with or without sugar to taste.
Thomas Keller and John Campbell have microwave recipes but this method seems to work fine.

Food photo of the week

2004-12-18T19:35:00.000Z

Citrus terrine, lime tempura

Eddie 2004

2004-12-18T16:52:00.001Z

Bruce Irons wins the QUIKSILVER EDDIE AIKAU 2004 in Hawaii - the invitational surfing competition held only when waves exceed 20ft.

Best chef in the world?

2004-12-18T16:52:00.000Z

L'Enclume, the restaurant where you can eat up to 20 courses, including Gorgonzola French fries, lovage and apple dipper, gets an excellent review in the Times, which finishes with I don't know that Simon Rogan is not the best chef in the world.

The State

2004-12-17T17:38:00.000Z

Samuel Brittan has an ambiguous discussion on the nature of the State in the FT ($)

He has a good way of looking at the budget: Look at some of the items in the official Treasury summary of this year's pre-Budget report. Nearly all consist of the handing over of money from some citizens for the benefit of others...It is tempting to call the process "bribing ourselves with our own money

But gets a bit hazy when it comes to political philosophy:
Margaret Thatcher aroused furious reactions when she said there was no such thing as society. I would prefer to say with the poet W. H. Auden:
There is no such thing as the state
And no one exists alone.
What is called "the state" is simply a mechanism by which citizens can provide collectively for items such as defence and security, which cannot readily be provided either through the market or through voluntary co-operation. It is also a mechanism for transferring claims to income or property from one citizen to another.
The question is how much one set of citizens should transfer to another set. The transfers may require a complicated administrative mechanism, although not one as complicated as that provided by the present accumulated mix of goodies.
Such transfers cannot be ruled out a priori. Neo-liberals rightly say that income does not belong to the state. But to say this does not rule out transfers effected by government machinery. In any case, neo-liberals have yet to provide a theory of just property rights; and most of them are reduced to exegesis of the writings of John Locke, a 17th-century philosopher whose teachings need massaging before they can be applied to today's problems.

For excellent Lockean "massaging" see the work of David Schmidtz. We need private property because it is the only way of avoiding the tragedy of the commons, and this holds for non-environmental spheres (welfare for example). The internalisation of responsibility prompted by the incentive structure of private property promotes a harmonious and prosperous society. It is not perfect and people will abuse the system, but in a system of several property one person can do far less harm than in a system where all land is owned by the State. Basically, the justification of property rights is that they work. They might not be fair by cosmic standards (as Thomas Sowell would say) but here on earth, in reality, these standards are of secondary importance.

British eating habits

2004-12-17T13:17:00.000Z

1. 1/2 the population visited a fish + chip shop in the last 3 months.
2. 45% had a Chinese takeout, 35% a pizza, and 31% Indian.
3. The fish + chip shop of the year, Finnegan's, sells at least 300 portions a day.
4. We spent £25 bn on prepared food, £21bn on meals under £10 a head.
5. On average we spend £1250 annually eating out.
From this survey, reported in the Telegraph.
6. 22% of fish + chip shops in Scotland sell deep-fried Mars bars (picture). The Telegraph quotes a doctor: 'We did also find some evidence of the penetration of the Mediterranean diet in Scotland, albeit in the form of the deep-fried pizza'.

Michelin guide whistle blower

2004-12-15T23:41:00.001Z

A former Michelin Guide employee, who was sacked for criticising the guide, has lost his case for unfair dismissal, and may in the future face a further case for defamation. He alleged that the Guide was no longer an accurate reflection of gastronomic excellence as a result of the poor pay and working conditions of the inspectors (Guardian).

Gordon Ramsay

2004-12-15T23:41:00.000Z

Gordon Ramsay, self-publicist extraordinaire, as well as a talented (if less than original) chef, is in the news again. A famous guest at a charity function catered by Ramsay got so hungry whilst waiting > 1 hour for his food that he went across the road and bought a take away curry. This went down well with hungry fellow party goers, but less so with the event organisers. (Telegraph)

Treasure hunt online

2004-12-14T17:17:00.000Z

E-Bay has an online treasure hunt, which apart from offering decent prizes, is a good way to make yourself too busy to do any work.

Undermining the Empire

2004-12-14T16:06:00.000Z

There are 390,127 Jedi Knights in the UK, according to recently released figures from the 2001 census.
The highest concentration is on the South Coast, in Brighton.
More here.

Michael Crichton

2004-12-12T15:37:00.000Z

Philip Stott comments on Crichton's new book, State of Fear, which I plan to read in paperback (£13 for a novel is steep).
It got a surprisingly balanced reception on Newsnight review, although the experts were unsure who would buy the book because since it isn't the type of book they buy, they couldn't imagine who would buy it.

I was disappointed to hear Crichton say he doesn't believe in the greenhouse effect (if I remember correctly) because without the greenhouse effect, Earth would be uninhabitable. He obviously meant the enhanced greenhouse effect but it is careless use of language that has so confused the debate. We are now at the point where most people seem to believe that climate change is bad, and that we ought to stop the climate changing. Anyone with even a basic understanding of climate science knows this is complete rubbish. Abuse of scientific concepts and language by the media and pressure groups, innocently and deliberately, has lead to a meaningless debate that will result in badly inefficient policies, such as Kyoto.

In a generation or two, when we look back at why and how we put in place such a costly and ineffective policy as Kyoto, we will need to look no further than the misuse and simplification of scientific concepts so common in the media today. This erroneous framing of the debate will cost us dear in the future.

In today's Telegraph, Bjorn Lomborg succinctly frames the real policy options: Of course, in the best of all worlds, we would not need to prioritise. We could do all good things. We could win the war against hunger, end conflicts, stop communicable diseases, provide clean drinking, step up education and halt climate change. But we don't. And we have to ask the hard question: If we don't do it all, what should we do first?
Some of the world's top economists – including three Nobel Laureates – answered this question at the Copenhagen Consensus last May, prioritising all the major requirements for improving the world. They found that dealing with HIV/Aids, hunger, free trade and malaria were the world's top priorities. This was where we could do the most good for our dollar. Equally, the experts rated urgent responses to climate change at the bottom. In fact, the panel called these ventures – including Kyoto – "bad projects", simply because they cost more than the good they do.

The more important debate is how to allocate scarce resources (given that they are up for re-allocation), but this is a debate too nuanced for the media and leaves pressure groups with less room to manoeuvre. It is therefore a debate doomed before it starts.

Crichton's infamous "environmentalism as religion" speech is here.

Offshoring

2004-12-12T14:32:00.001Z

The Business has a good article on the benefits of offshoring, including how Indian firms are now investing in the UK.

Making money

2004-12-12T14:32:00.000Z

Rand, Hayek, Mises, Schumpeter and Adam Smith get a mention in the Telegraph.

Food photo of the week

2004-12-12T14:27:00.000Z

Tamaris - the new restaurant by Alain Ducasse, which serves desserts only. The menu is here (pdf)

How quicksand works

2004-12-09T21:53:00.000Z

A decent Conservative policy proposal

2004-12-09T16:49:00.000Z

Oliver Letwin's proposal to divorce politics from public finance is economically sensible but politically unrealistic, unfortunately. Unless he was in an unbeatable position, I would be very surprised if a democratically elected politician voluntarily reduced his ability to buy electoral success through targeted economic handouts. Such a policy would leave the door open for opposing politicians to offer such handouts as a means to electoral success.

How to waste £28,000

2004-12-08T23:10:00.000Z

A 1.9lb truffle bought for £28,000 has been buried after a chef accidentally left it to rot (Telegraph)

What is the "greatest force for cultural good on the earth"?

2004-12-08T10:16:00.000Z

The organisation's website is here and the quote is contained in this article from the Daily Telegraph.

The answer to this question depends on how you define culture, but surely more important than this organisation is the role of the rule of law which allows such organisations to flourish and engender "cultural good". A relatively stable system of justice to keep a tight leash on the follies of politicians and relatively free markets to allow goods and ideas to move voluntarily around the world are in my opinion far more important than the organisation in question.

The beginning of the end for Bhutan?

2004-12-05T17:37:00.000Z

Even by BBC standards this report on the development of Bhutan is particularly poor. This is the start of the story (my emphasis): The widespread availability of technology is having a big impact on culture in the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.
Bhutan has been hailed as the last Shangri-La. It is certainly a kingdom like no other, with a society guided by folklore and faith underpinned by a unique form of Buddhism.
For hundreds of years, this Himalayan land revelled in self-imposed isolation, at pains to keep its culture protected from the rapidly-developing world outside its borders.
But, step by step, Bhutan and its people have been waking up to life in the 21st Century and the change that inevitably comes with it.
Bhutan is not rushing headlong into technological development; it cannot afford to economically, for one thing, but there is also a real feeling that no attempt to bring Bhutan into the global village should be allowed to endanger its very unique local culture.

Note how Bhutan 'revelled' in isolation so much so that when it became more open, people bought satellite tv and have started to use the internet. Note also the strange notion that change is inevitable and is something that happens to people, rather than an effect of the actions of individuals.

Contrast this with a World Bank report which states: Bhutan has made great progress in improving the living standards of its presently estimated 828,000 people since it first set forth on a plan for modernization in the early 1960s. The report details the rise in life expectancy and fall in infant mortality since Bhutan began to open up and move away from a subsistence lifestyle.

It is also interesting that the journalist suggests these improvements in living conditions are less important than preserving a pre-modern culture, presumably for the benefit of Western tourists. It can’t be for the benefit of the indigenous population, because it seems they are embracing development.

The journalist can hardly contain his distaste for modernity: As if TV and video were not enough, the internet is also raising the spectre of destructive external forces.

He continues to struggle to hide his disappointment at the signs of progress and seeks solace in the fact that most of the population is still “simple”:
There is no immediate need to worry about the imminent collapse of Bhutan's society. Most Bhutanese still eke out a simple rural existence, but the government is determined to make technology a part of their future.
Microwave dishes and cellphone networks are enabling communication across the mountainous terrain, and solar panels are helping deliver electricity - all part of the drive into the modern age.
In future school children will grow up computer literate, their parents will use the internet to vote, and even grandparents will be treated in hospitals connected to the very latest health information databases. It is something the isolationist ancestors of this land could never have contemplated, but now the momentum seems unstoppable.

Technological and economic progress does involve creative destruction and loss of traditional cultures, but it would be wrong to attempt to stop this progress for three rough reasons:
1. The whole discussion assumes a collectivistic measure of society as some sort of world heritage site when in fact it is a collection of individuals. A different measure of culture sees change and progress as positive because it expands the options of individuals.
2. A lot of culture (perhaps less so in this case) is mix of influences from all over the world (see Tyler Cowen on this) and is not some sort of geographically indigenous product. Trying to preserve it at a given time is therefore to misunderstand how it orginated in the first place.
3. How are you going to do it without resorting to North Korean style enslavement? If the population of Bhutan were so happy in their past isolationist existence (this would be when they were revelling in it) why would they not reject most or all of this new technology? The answer (that they are being exploited and mislead by sinister capitalistic-imperialistic forces) reveals the hidden prejudices of people who make this sort of argument.

Communism is bad for your health

2004-12-05T13:35:00.000Z

While their cousins in the south have thrived physiologically, thanks to the comforts of capitalism, North Koreans remain as stunted in stature as they were after the Second World War. Adolescents look like children, adults like young teenagers. Nor is the height difference a slight one. After studying more than 2,300 refugees who have fled the north over the past four years, anthropologist Sunyoung Pak has found that the average young northern male is 5.9cm (2.32in) shorter than his southern contemporary. The difference for women is 4.1cm (roughly 1.62in).
'North Koreans are clearly suffering from chronic growth retardation,' said Pak, of Seoul National University in South Korea. Her studies, to be published in the international journal, Economics and Human Biology [abstract here], this month, suggest that North Koreans must have suffered severe malnutrition problems virtually since Korea split into two states in 1948.

(The Observer)

Why the EU sucks part 8

2004-12-05T13:14:00.000Z

From the 2004 European competiveness report (pdf) red tape + taxes are costing the European economy more than £700bn annually.

Food photo of the week

2004-12-05T11:48:00.000Z

Cover of Observer Food Monthly, out today. The chefs in skirts are Eric Chavot, Giorgio Locatelli and Shane Osborn + there are more inside.

Bastiat on Brown

2004-12-04T21:19:00.000Z

Following Gordon Brown's prebudget report the Times had the following headline Brown buys votes with £2bn Budget giveaways which reminded me of one of Bastiat's many wonderfully insightful comments:

The fact is, the state does not and cannot have one hand only. It has two hands, one to take and the other to give—in other words, the rough hand and the gentle hand. The activity of the second is necessarily subordinated to the activity of the first. Strictly speaking, the state can take and not give. We have seen this happen, and it is to be explained by the porous and absorbent nature of its hands, which always retain a part, and sometimes the whole, of what they touch. But what has never been seen, what will never be seen and cannot even be conceived, is the state giving the public more than it has taken from it. It is therefore foolish for us to take the humble attitude of beggars when we ask anything of the state. It is fundamentally impossible for it to confer a particular advantage on some of the individuals who constitute the community without inflicting a greater damage on the entire community. (The State)

Exit or voice

2004-12-04T09:51:00.000Z

A country bitterly polarised following a contentious election. Not America, but Ukraine.

Given that succession of the eastern part of Ukraine is a possibility, it would be refreshing to see whining US democrats follow the lead of some Ukranians, perhaps not by succeding, but by leaving the country or moving to a blue State.
It is also interesting to note the contrasting levels of political passion - in Ukranian, Yushchenko's supporters have been camping outside in freezing conditions for almost two weeks (webcam). In the US, Democrats can only manage to post lame messages on the web (see here).
Perhaps these self-important Democrats ought to look to the situation in Ukraine and see what real election fraud looks like, and realise how fortunate they are to live in America.

Where have all the liberals gone?

2004-12-02T23:16:00.000Z

This recent BBC Radio 4 program Where have all the liberals gone? looked at the bad name liberals have got for themselves in the US. It also illustrated the definitional problems liberalism suffers from when you consider the massive difference between classical and modern liberals.
Here is a taste:
Liberals even flip-flop about what liberalism is: an ideology, or a point of view; a way of using the state, or a way of resisting it. When liberalism started in the nineteenth century it targeted tyranny: then, as governments became more democratic, liberals embraced the state to free people oppressed by poverty and inequality, and give them rights. In today’s politics responsibilities displace rights. In a world threatened by violence and dissolution, electorates demand a state that is more restrictive, less permissive; less tolerant, more tough. In America, liberalism’s already a term of abuse.

More cheese

2004-11-29T14:50:00.000Z

To follow the recent cheese post, news that cheese prices are rising on the back of Atkin's diet influenced demand. Pizza companies in particular are suffering because the cheese accounts for between 40 and 60% of production cost.
Domino's chief executive David Brandon said: "Cheese prices are up about 22 cents year against year, so we’re heading through a market that's stronger than what we would normally experience." Demand for cheese in the US rose 4.9pc in the two years to 2002 and has increased 30pc since 1993. (Telegraph)

Amazing what influence one man's whacky idea can have in the marketplace.

UN scandal

2004-11-28T20:56:00.000Z

The Sunday Times has a good report on the UN oil for food scandal.

Recipe of the week

2004-11-27T21:01:00.000Z

Ginger caramelised pears, lime yoghurt

Ingredients (for 2)
3 firm pears
Sugar
Butter
Fresh ginger (about an inch or two)
Lime
Greek yoghurt

Method
Zest lime and mix with 2 tbsp sugar to taste, rubbing the mixture together to get the oils out. Mix into yoghurt. The flavour will improve if made in advance.
Make about 250ml sugar syrup (50/50) with the ginger
Peel, halve and core pears
Cook pears in syrup - they should absorb most of the syrup.
When they have absorbed most of the syrup and are nearly cooked, turn the heat up high and start to caramelise them. After a minute or so, add a few tablespoons of butter to make a sauce.

Food photo of the week

2004-11-27T20:58:00.000Z

Ginger caramelised pears, lime yoghurt

The smelliest cheese in the world is...

2004-11-26T17:49:00.000Z

The not so bella figura

2004-11-25T14:48:00.000Z

Despite the much-vaunted Mediterranean diet and the importance to Italians of presenting a “bella figura” (cutting a fine figure), surveys show that most Italian children are as addicted as their counterparts in other Western societies to crisps, snacks and fizzy drinks.
Sixty per cent of all Italian children under the age of eighteen are overweight, a figure which has doubled “in four or five years”, says Letizia Moratti, Minister of Education. (The Times)
A typical Italian diet (if we ignore the big differences between the regions) is high in calories because of the reliance on cheap carbohydrates (pasta, rice, potatoes) and big portions. I have eaten meals in Italy where there are two pasta courses followed by meat and potatoes and then dessert (usually piles of pastries from the local baker) and I am constantly surprised at the portion size in restaurants. This type of diet combined with a sedentary lifestyle is bad news.

Webcam of Ukranian protest

2004-11-24T16:26:00.000Z

Welfare woes

2004-11-23T23:06:00.000Z

Recently finished The Welfare State We're In by James Bartholomew and attended a talk by the author at the IEA. I was very impressed with the breadth of research, and the historical context provided for current welfare debates. If you were to complement it with The Voluntary City and Affirmative Action, you would have a very good idea of the problems of welfarism.
That said, there were a few points that sat less well:

1 - The constant reference (sometimes tacit) to a golden age of morality, sometime between 1850 - 1950. For example, it does seem to be the case that single parent households are not good places to be brought up in. Bartholomew links this to the incentive structure created by welfarism, such as the replacement of marriage and family as social support structures by state bureaucracy. I am not disputing this, but I would not dismiss modern morality so quickly. That gays, minorities, women,... have over time gained more say in society is surely a welcome trend, as is the meritocratic dilution of strict hierarchical structures (I believe Lord Bauer gave his personal history as validation of this last point - see here for more on Lord Bauer). I can see an argument that this is a continuation of the link between economic growth and a growing middle and merchant class. Indeed, the rise of the merchant class was an important component of the growth of capitalistic institutions. I would like to see examples of rich countries, with minimal welfare states (or similar to Britain pre 1945 or 1911), that have maintained the "correct" morality whilst they have undergone economic growth.
I think there is a tension between economic growth and such morality, but I would like to be proved wrong. I am not saying that free market economic growth is immoral, and whilst I accept that its relative amorality will be a problem for conservatives and modern liberals alike, I think marketplace activity promotes a type of morality which is preferable to pretty much any other, based as it is on voluntarism and the internalisation of responsibility.

2 - Bartholomew argues that democracy promotes the growth of welfarism because it enables politicians to buy votes with the promise of more benefits. I strongly agree with this point (and argued it in my thesis last year) but I would have liked to see more about how we can get around this problem. The author suggests reform can come by persuasion of the elites, from the failure of the system and from more localised democracy that discourages the growth of welfare by focusing the costs of welfaristic rent seeking. To be fair, this is probably the subject of another book, and I hope someone writes that book (or someone can recommend such a book).

3 - His argument relies on extrapolating historical trends something like this: if the state hadn't displaced private welfare post 1911, the gradient of this graph suggests that by now we would have a far better welfare system provided privately. Scientifically, this is close to conjecture, although I think as part of a larger argument, it is sound. Unfortunately, there seem to be a lack of natural experiments because most rich democracies have state welfare. It would be interesting to know how Hong Kong and Singapore have developed their welfare, if at all. He does talk about pensions in Hong Kong but it would be useful to know about their medical system (he told me in person he doesn't know about this).

4 - Last and least, I didn't like the numerous quote bubbles in the text, which is a bit too tabloid for me. But that's just me being a snob.

The cost of big government

2004-11-22T16:35:00.000Z

The Telegraph reports that red tape is costing British business £7bn a year, up £1bn from last year.
The official report by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales is here.

Food photo of the week

2004-11-21T16:50:00.000Z

Quince tarte fine, lime syrup

Recipe of the week

2004-11-21T16:42:00.000Z

Quince tarte fine, lime syrup

Ingredients
Puff pastry
Poached quinces (slightly undercooked)
Apricot/peach...jam
Limes

Method
Preheat oven to 220C
Roll pastry out to desired thickness and cut to desired shape. Prick with fork.
Slice quinces and arrange on pastry, leaving an edge of a few mm. Rest in fridge for 15 minutes.
For the lime syrup, zest and juice lime(s), add to some of the poaching liquor. Boil hard for 3 minutes. Strain and check taste.
Bake tartes for about 20 minutes or until golden and crispy.
Whilst tartes are baking, melt jam with a tablespoon of poaching liquor and brush this over the tartes when they have finished cooking to give them a nice glaze.
Serve with lime syrup.
Would go well with vanilla ice cream or some whipped cream.

Ban fish and chips

2004-11-21T16:31:00.000Z

An extremist animal rights organisation wants to ban fish and chips: Dawn Carr, the director of Peta in Europe, said: "We are not pulling any punches on this one. We don't think people should eat fish at all - and if that means they do not eat fish and chips, then so be it. People should go on a fishing boat and see the amount of suffering a fish goes through when it is caught."

Well, if "we" are going to ban hunting because it is cruel, why not fishing? Mainly because hunting has been banned because posh people do it, and fishing is unlikely to be banned because non-posh people enjoy it. If cruelty really was the reason, the argument would presumably proceed on utlitarian grounds, so factory farming would be the first to be banned, perhaps followed by fishing, then keeping birds as pets, and last and least, hunting.
That this has not happened is proof enough of the not so hidden agenda of ban supporters.

Terrorism and the media

2004-11-21T14:46:00.001Z

Two articles on the use of global media by terrorists - Michael Ignatieff and in the Observer.

The perils of competition

2004-11-21T14:46:00.000Z

Please support Elite Designers Against Ikea. (More here)

UN

2004-11-20T22:39:00.000Z

The impotency of the UN continues, but that is sort of the point, isn't it?
If they don't do anything, then they can't make mistakes, and can sit back and accuse those who actually try to help people. I would rather a hidden agenda that accidentally helps people than a holier-than-thou bureaucracy that does little more than talk about helping.

As well as the shamefully under-reported corruption of the Iraq/UN oil for food programme (here, here, here), there is internal staff discord.

Here is a blog devoted to the scandal.

Anarchy Somalian style

2004-11-18T14:41:00.000Z

An interesting BBC account of life in Somalia (the only country in the world without a government):

"Somalia is a pure free market," one diplomat told me.
And the central Bakara market certainly looks to be thriving. Some businesses, such as telecoms, are also doing well, with mobile phone masts and internet cafes among the few new structures in Mogadishu, a city where many buildings still bear the scars of the heavy fighting between rival militias of the early 1990s.
But is a pure free market a good thing?
Speaking from a theoretical point of view, some economists might say so, but in the very harsh reality of Mogadishu, it means guns and other military hardware are freely available in a market not far from the city centre.

Although Somalis are able to survive and some are even prospering, everyone I spoke to in Mogadishu is desperate for a return to some semblance of law and order - schools and hospitals can only follow security on the new government's to-do list.
"I just want a government, any government will do," one man told me.

The diplomat knows more about how to give a good soundbite than basic political economy. As de Soto has shown, markets are extremely inefficient in the absence of institutions such as property rights and the rule of law. There seems to be no rule of law in Somalia so it is incorrect to say there is a free market, and therefore false to infer from the Somalian situation that free markets are undesirable. Whilst Somalia does prove, unfortunately for the people living there, that anarchy is not necessarily a libertarian utopia, there are other examples of markets and other institutions working in the absence of government.
(more here)

UPDATE (21.11.04): Via Tom Palmer, a World Bank article that details where and how the private sector is providing a surprisingly good service. From the conclusion:
The achievements of the Somali private sector form a surprisingly long list. Where the private
sector has failed—the list is long here too— there is a clear role for government interventions.
But most such interventions appear to be failing. Government schools are of lower quality
than private schools. Subsidized power is being supplied not to the rural areas that need it but
to urban areas, hurting a well-functioning private industry. Road tolls are not spent on roads.
Judges seem more interested in grabbing power than in developing laws and courts.
A more productive role for government would be to build on the strengths of the private
sector. Given Somali reliance on clan and reputation, any measures allowing these mechanisms to function more broadly would be welcome; credit and land registries would be a good start. And since Somali businesses rely heavily on institutions outside the economy, international and domestic policies supporting such connections would help.

Nanny knows best

2004-11-17T19:46:00.002Z

Polly Toynbee in the Guardian: The nanny state is the good state. A nanny is what every well-off family hires if it can afford it. So why do the nanny-employing Tories use the word as an insult?

Unfortunately for Polly, the analogy is false, because unlike a State, a family does not employ nannies for other families. The State, on the other hand, employs nannies for everyone, irrespective of individual needs and wants. This is a strange type of nanny.

Furthermore, her example could be taken to undermine her argument if we define the function of a nanny as satisfying the desires of parents as clients. They want a nanny to look after their children - the functions involved here are unambiguous: cooking safe food, not abandoning the child...etc. Therefore, for a nanny state to be the good state, it would have to satisfy the desires of its citizens. Or in large, heterogeneous societies, the desires of as many people as possible. The State that most clearly fulfils this function is the minimal State because whilst it is far from perfect, it attempts to satisfy no more than those desires (police, law, security...) common to pretty much everyone. Here’s what I wrote in my thesis:

The liberal State cannot be neutral between all preferences ( Tomasi), but in minimising the need for the State to take sides, its relative amorality is everybody’s second-best preference (Barnett, pp. 303 – 308).

‘Everybody probably has more to gain from a system in which his decisions would not be interfered with by the decisions of other people than he has to lose by the fact that he could not interfere in turn with other people’s decisions’ (Leoni p. 164).

Leoni's argument, powerful as I might find it, is unconvincing without empirical evidence, and for that evidence, see Thomas Sowell's latest book which proves what harm affirmative action has caused all over the world. Other similar examples here and here.
I am not saying nanny does not know best, only that the spheres in which nanny does know best, are for the most part no larger than a family, and certainly far smaller than a State with hundreds of millions of citizens.

Unhinged legislation

2004-11-17T19:46:00.001Z

Why in the UK you can go to jail for failing to obtain an ID card for your pony, whilst stealing might only result in a fine.

Why the EU sucks part 7

2004-11-17T19:46:00.000Z

The European Union's financial watchdog refused to sign off the Brussels budget yesterday for the tenth year in a row, finding that 93.4 per cent of spending was either unsafe or riddled with errors (Telegraph)

Growth of farmers' markets

2004-11-16T16:08:00.000Z

From the Telegraph: The phenomenon of farmers' markets – the "real food" movement that has grown from nothing in seven years – is poised to make the break into the mainstream, according to producers....According to research from Farma, households spent £1.5 million last year in Britain's 4,000 farm shops and another £120 million in farmers' markets. Around a third of people have used a farmers' market or food shop in the last 12 months.

This is interesting because it proves that the growth of nasty, evil, supermarkets does not cause the displacement or crowding out of nice farmers' markets.
Over the last seven years, both farmers' and super markets have grown considerably. However, £121,500,000 pales beside the £33,557,000,000 spent last year at Tesco alone. High growth rates are not without significance, but pretty much any growth from nothing over a seven year period is probably going to beat Tesco's rates, even if Tesco makes as much in a week or so as farmers' markets do in a year.

I hope that the farmers' markets continue to grow and improve the quality and range of produce on offer, but it will take a very long time for them to come anywhere near Tesco, and they still remain the preserve of the relatively wealthy few.

Post election depression

2004-11-15T01:20:00.000Z

Democrats are apparently seeking medical help to relieve post-election blues, and thousands of people have taken to posting pictures of themselves intelligently expressing their horror that the votes of apparently less intelligent people have equal weight.

My favourite is: I'm so...LIKE...fucking sorry and stuff...for serious.

I can't wait until voting is limited to the obviously superior minority because all our problems will be solved. Islamic ideologues won't murder people who challenge their views, there will be no more crime, there will be full employment, there will be unlimited pollution free energy. WOW.
Why haven't we ringfenced voting by IQ before? Instead of limiting political participation by race, sex, or property for the last 2000+ years, we should have been doing it by intellectual and rhetorical criteria. The world would have been a better place.

Food photo of the week

2004-11-14T23:58:00.000Z

Lime and chilli dip (recipe below)

Recipe of the week

2004-11-14T23:45:00.000Z

Lime and chilli dip

Ingredients - approximate
1 lime (juice + finely chopped zest)
3 large thai red chillis (finely chopped)
3/4 tbsp white sugar
150ml white vinegar (rice, wine...)
50 - 100ml water

Method
Put all ingredients in a pot, + bring to a boil.
Boil on medium / high until the mixture has reduced and become sticky. Adjust sweetness/sourness as required.

Use as a dip for crispy, deep fried things, or let down with a little water for a quick sauce.

Independent food special

2004-11-13T17:16:00.000Z

Today's Independent food special is online (although I don't know for how long), which saves you wasting your money on the rest of the paper. Articles on Giorgio Locatelli, posh party catering, Tom Aikens and recipes by Mark Hix, inter alia.

In the main bit is an article on the new trend of so called 'molecular gastronomy'. It is quite informative, mentioning Harold McGee, but there seems to be definitional problems arising as to what constitutes this new trend. Heston Blumenthal of the Fat Duck is quoted: In fact, molecular cooking is not about unusual combinations or difficult dishes, it's about chemical and physical combinations.

I am a bit puzzled by this - cooking is all about science (how to make custard, mayonnaise...) so there is nothing new here except it has become more explicit. There are of course novel techniques but the main buzz about this style is the unusual flavour combinations (white onion risotto with parmesan air and espresso for example) but again, this is a continuation of a general trend. The combination of flavours is based on science - on how and why certain flavours do and don't taste nice. In this sense, as long as something tastes nice, it shouldn't be seen as mad. From a scientific point of view, I don't think there is any reason why vanilla and not thyme is the default ice-cream flavour. They work equally well in my opinion - it is more a tradition that favours one over the other.
It is little coincidence that certain flavour combinations are so popular (tomato + basil / chocolate + orange) and the new "wacky" flavours are but extensions of underlying scientific principles.

Debunking environmentalism

2004-11-12T23:12:00.000Z

Prof Philip Stott is back with a bang: Paradoxically, where 'global warming' is concerned, it is the liberal European elite left that is 'evangelical' and 'fundamentalist', not much-abused Middle America. LEELs are desperate for 'global warming' to be 'true'.
Moreover, ‘global warming’ has been turned into the number one evil of the world by Sir David King and his like, terrorism notwithstanding. It is seen as the ultimate product of the Mordor of the present age, George W. Bush starring as Sauron, ‘Lord of the Rings’, with his genetically-modified orcs and spouting smokestack industries. It is the inevitable outcome of a Faustian pact with the devils of capitalism, industrial growth, and profit. It is Christ tempted down from the High Places to the ruin of the modern world. It is the ‘Shire’ of Europe pitted against all the metal, mills and miasmas of Erin Brockovitch's America. It is Harry Potter versus the Voldemort of greed and gas-guzzling.
Dangerously, we have allowed this myth-making to lead to the authoritarian, but totally impractical, Kyoto Protocol, to the foolish assumption that we can create a stable, ‘sustainable’, unchanging climate (an oxymoron of the First Class), and to the viewpoint that climate change must be ‘bad’ for everybody. Sadly, there are going to be some extremely disappointed people. The Kyoto Protocol is a scientific and economic nonsense that will cost the world dear in economic terms while doing absolutely nothing the stop an ever-changing climate.

Prof Stott's Tropical Rain Forest is one of the best books I have read on the fallacies of environmentalism, and interestingly, a productive employment of post-modernist deconstructionist method (or whatever you call it).

Inter think tank rivalry?

2004-11-12T22:45:00.000Z

John Blundell, boss of the IEA, responds to a Guardian piece that insinuated, inter alia, that the Adam Smith Institute is less a think tank and more a political lobbyist.

In my opinion, you might compare the IEA to the FEE and less so to Cato, and the ASI to The AEI Brookings Center.

The ASI and IEA both produce publications by experts on topical issues, but the ASI seems to have a more policy orientated output. Nothing wrong with that, and plenty to commend, but receiving government money is dodgy for a free-market think tank. However, if the government is going to enlist the private sector, they might as well get the right people, so why not the ASI. De Soto does good work with governments, and I think the Global Prosperity Initiative at Mercatus has received government money.

Although John Blundell notes the independence of the IEA, not long ago, the Institute (and the CPS) was not such a stranger to power as Margaret Thatcher used to take bags of IEA books home to read at the weekends, and returned with heavily marked copies, and numerous questions.

To roll out a cliche, it is a sign of our times that, judging by his policies, Blair is perhaps more likely than Howard to have read the IEA's publications.

Socialised medical care

2004-11-11T13:27:00.000Z

From the Telegraph, why the establishment of the NHS may have been unnecessary: Healthcare in Britain was very substantial and impressive prior to 1948. Even the Labour Party pamphlet, which recommended a "National Service for Health" in 1943, could find little to criticise. There is mention of only one waiting list, for "rheumatic diseases". That implies that there were no waiting lists for all the other specialties and no waiting lists to see consultants. There was no mention of any shortage of doctors (which is so chronic now) or, indeed, of nurses. There was no complaint either, about the quality of care.
Why, then, was this system thrown out, to be replaced by a socialist model? Because, said the pamphlet, a good medical service should be "planned as a whole".
It is certainly true that pre-NHS medical care was not "planned as a whole". On the other hand, it worked.

French food problems

2004-11-09T13:35:00.000Z

According to the Telegraph, the French may be sacrificing gastronomic excellence for convenience: Figures from the food companies and the French National Economic Statistics Institute, INSEE, confirm this. They all say that the French, unable to escape the globalisation wave, are dropping grandmother's apron in favour of an easy life in the kitchen. Even if the French take the trouble to cook, they will often use processed ingredients, such as canned sauce, prepared meat and vegetables and industrial cheese.
"The way French people eat today is quite appalling; it's all ready-made, straight into the microwave," says French-born Eric Chavot, Michelin-starred chef at the Capital restaurant in London. "I'm shocked every time I go back to France - they don't cook any more."

The article quotes people on both sides, variously saying things are and aren't getting worse, but this quote is the most interesting: French restaurateurs, who work in a highly competitive environment, say they are under constant pressure to squeeze costs, due to the 35-hour working week and high taxes. For them, it becomes cheaper to use "cooking helps" (as those products are called) [bought in prepared food] than to employ more staff to do the ground work. "In terms of restaurant business, we feel totally paralysed in France," one restaurant owner says.

I don't know how French restaurants get around the 35 hr week. At the restaurant I used to work in, roughly 1/2 AA Rosette standard food, I would sometimes exceed 35 hours in three days. And as for top Michelin starred establishments, you might exceed 35 hours in two days. They might employ more staff to do the same amount of work, but this runs into training and continuity problems. Perhaps the staff "volunteer" to work overtime and are paid extra for their official hours. Or perhaps restaurants have an opt out from the law.

Last word on Michael Moore

2004-11-07T23:11:00.000Z

Michael Moore finally comes out and says what lots of self-appointed important people have been saying sotto voce: You have to feel sorry for the millions of Yanks in the big cities like New York, Washington, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco who voted to kick him out. These are the sophisticated side of the electorate who recognise a gibbon when they see one. As for the ones who put him in, across the Bible Belt and the South, us outsiders can only feel pity.

I don't think Moore has gone as far as the idiots who compare Bush to Hitler (Bushitler...etc), some of whom are even employed by newspapers (see the Guardian's psychologist Oliver James), but I do think that he has no respect for democratic pluralism. I admire him as a brilliant self publicist who has developed a movement completely empty of substance, but he has gone too far.
Some of the electorate are no doubt stupid and poorly informed - does it follow that they should not be allowed to vote? What is the endpoint for Moore? He is creating a picture of the US as a country divided between the stupid and intelligent. What is he trying to achieve? Obviously he is attempting to undermine Bush and cheapen his victory. But this makes me worry about what he would do if he had political power.
I just hope someone is recording the slandering of Republicans going on because come 2008, Karl Rove will have a very easy job - he just has to remind the majority what the minority thinks of them.

For men only

2004-11-07T17:32:00.000Z

From the Times, academics analyse how men compete for the fairer sex.

Tip to the ladies: go for the quiet ones - they may have evolved to a higher level and moved beyond the crude simian stage.

Recipe of the week

2004-11-07T16:50:00.001Z

Pasta with broccoli. Very simple + fairly healthy one pot meal, but timing is important.

Ingredients (for 2)
200/300 g pasta (any type of shells)
1 medium head broccoli, cut into florets only a bit bigger than the pasta shapes
1 clove garlic, 1 dried red chilli - finely chopped
half glass white wine
150ml double cream

Method
Cook pasta.
With 3/4 minutes of cooking time left, add broccoli to pasta pot.
Drain pasta + broccoli, saving 1 cup of the water
Put pot straight back on high heat, fry garlic + chilli in lots of butter.
Add wine + boil. Add cream + boil for 30 seconds.
Return pasta to pot + mix. Break up some of the broccoli to make a green sauce. Add pasta cooking water if too dry + check for seasoning.
Serve with lots of parmesan cheese.

Food photo of the week

2004-11-07T16:50:00.000Z

Home made mince pies

Democracy

2004-11-06T13:51:00.000Z

The Times on an extraordinary year for democracy in which more people [> 1.1 bn] went to the polls around the world than ever. (graphic here)

The limits of multiculturalism

2004-11-06T13:33:00.000Z

The murder of Theo van Gogh is indicative of a problem with consequences further afield than Holland. Peaktalk has a translation of the murder note on the body (I don't know if this is genuine) and links to other articles.
Freedom of speech is vital to a free society but free action is not. There are limits, and if you cannot respect these limits you ought to be removed from society.
Whether it is a thief who ends up in prison or a fundamentalist who seeks to forcefully convert society to his ideology and ends up deported or in prison, the benefits of a free society are conditional on adherence to the values of that society.
A political ideology that trumps the coherence of a free society with unthinking pluralistic respect and deference is dangerous.

Michael Moore responds

2004-11-05T21:40:00.000Z

Moore has begun his recovery from public humiliation. On his site he lists 17 reasons not to get too depressed following the election, not all of them serious, most of them as dishonest as his films.
#17 Finally and most importantly, over 55 million Americans voted for the candidate dubbed "The #1 Liberal in the Senate." That's more than the total number of voters who voted for either Reagan, Bush I, Clinton or Gore. Again, more people voted for Kerry than Reagan.

I presume this is true, but like his films, it leaves out the more important fact - more people voted for Bush than voted for Kerry.
Apropos my last post, Moore and his ilk cannot get their heads around the fact that they lost, fair and square. They continue to blame their defeat on stupid white middle American voters or focus on spurious claims of division to cover up their own inadequacies. They played the personality card and found that it was their own pompous liberalism that more people disliked.

Moore continues with a list of all the servicemen killed in action and their faces merged with Bush's. No doubt this is effective propaganda. I have family serving in Iraq, so I am not unsympathetic here, but there is no draft. Bush did not force these men and women to go to Iraq. They joined the army voluntarily and a career in the army is not a safe option. It is completely duplicitous for Moore to directly link grieving families with Bush (or any politician) as he does here and so shamefully in his last film.
I can’t say I am surprised that Moore has not conceded gracefully, given the huge hole he dug for himself, but if there is such a dreadful division in America, Moore is as much to blame as Bush. His "I am but a humble servant of the people" charade is belied by a lack of humility and decency.

US election fallout

2004-11-04T13:51:00.000Z

On balance, I am pleased Bush won, although I will admit that most of this satisfaction is derived from the suffering of the pompous, elitist left-liberal media elite here and in the US.

All I can say to Michael Moore, is that you are in the minority. How pompous to base most of your campaign for Kerry on the cry "Let's take our country back", assuming that he and his supporters were not only numerically superior, but also on the side of the angels. The latter assertion is unverifiable, but the former has been well and truly falsified. I look forward to his reaction, beyond the infantile picture on his website.
Similarly, the Guardian's Letters to Clark County has left that paper humiliated. It would have been far easier to accept defeat if they had campaigned on policy issues instead of personality.

As to reaction elsewhere, the majority of the liberal media and elitists have focused on "how to unite a divided America".
Robin Cook is quoted in the Times: I'm not sure whether the Bush team have got the skills to heal a divided America. Not only do we have a divided America but also a president who is highly polarising...
Stephen Pollard comments on other media reaction, including the BBC's continuation of the theme that because the country is so divided, Bush's mandate is to unite it.

The focus on a divided country is understandable to some degree because the anti-Bush crowd obviously had a very strong anti-Bush preference, but the strength of your preference is democratically irrelevant. (I think is one of the many weaknesses of democracy, but this is a discussion for another time)
Furthermore, by definition, post-election, America was always going to be divided, unless 100% voted for one candidate. Why would the US have been less divided if Kerry had won with the same figures? To some in the media, there is an underlying view that Kerry was the correct choice, and therefore the result must be explained away by inferring that Bush supporters are wrong or misinformed...

This view turns on whether you see democracy as a procedural or substantive process.
Most of the liberal elite saw it this time as a search for substantive legitimacy - ie: Kerry was the right choice and the electorate should have done the right thing by electing him. Therefore, the electorate made the wrong choice by electing Bush and Bush must try to placate the minority. This reasoning leads to front page headlines such as the Mirror's: How can 59,054,087 people be so dumb? Now if this is democracy, why not have a panel of experts run the country along the right lines? Or, better still, why not just let the non-dumb people vote?

That such views should feel repellent suggests there is an alternative, and more accurate view of democracy, as a procedural decision making process. It does not necessarily result in the correct policies (and I agree with those who argue that is mitigates against economically efficient policies - here and here) - instead it is a simple way for people to make a decision and to avoid costly unanimous decision making procedures. On this account, provided the election was fair and free (procedurally legitimate), which it seems to have been this time, there is little else to say.

To argue that substantive legitimacy somehow trumps procedural legitimacy is to argue against pretty much everything democracy stands for. It is to applaud the system when your guy wins, and cry foul when he loses. In short, it is cheating.

If all else fails, there is the Harold Pinter level of criticism: It's a black day for the world (Guardian).

UPDATE: round-up of left wing blog reaction at Instapundit.

Times global list of 50 top universities

2004-11-04T11:44:00.000Z

Review of Butlers Wharf Chop House

2004-11-04T11:29:00.000Z

Dinner for 3 at the bar (2 courses each, 1 bottle wine, side of chips, bread + water free) = about £50.
We ate off the set bar menu where 2/3 courses cost £9/11.
Morris gold black pudding, roasted apples and Celery & Stilton soup to start were good.
Mains of Beef stew, horseradish dumplings and a leek and mushroom pie were similarly good. The beef stew portion size was huge, so much so that I could't manage a dessert, which is very unusual. The chips on the side were of the proper, hand cut variety.
The free bread was excellent (from the same bakery that does all of Conran's restaurants in the complex) and the wine was English white (Bibbendum Ortega 2003 - medium dry + very fruity). Professional service.

All in all, excellent. And best of all, you have a ringside view of Tower Bridge, which opened as we were eating. Here is a photo of the view outside the restaurant.

If the prices were twice as high I would moan that the apples which came with the black pudding were too sweet, the less than crisp nature of the chips, possible overseasoning of the stew, the slight dryness of the dumplings and the intolerable heat of the room.
But, given you can have a very good meal for less than £15 a head with such a beautiful view of Tower Bridge, I can't really. I will definitely go back.