‘The EU is in a funk’, I said on this blog a few days ago. I think malaise would have been more accurate. Funk involves panic, according to my dictionary. When I observe the EU, I’m not sure that I see panic. Yet the picture is grim.
Continue readingYear: 2023
Inflation bulletin, June quarter 2023
There is positive news in this quarterly update. The June quarter data for all three measures that I track is now available.
Continue readingThe tectonic plates that drive world politics
Tectonic plates move continents, create mountains and cause earthquakes. They move slowly, generate enormous potential energy, then release that energy in occasional calamitous grinding shudders. The social equivalent of tectonic plates drive international politics and war. To understand the state of current international politics, you must first look at the social tectonic plates below the surface.
Continue readingEthically Unconscious
What is an Ethically Conscious Global Aggregate Bond Index Fund (Hedged)?
Continue readingHebridean adventure
The Scot emerged from behind the bar wearing a kilt and heavy leather boots, his legs clearly strong beneath woollen socks.
Continue readingEngland
Churchill glares down from the wall at the elderly German gent taking breakfast. At a nearby table in the bay window, I am enjoying a full English cooked breakfast at the Churchill Hotel in York.
Continue readingThe English Channel
I’m standing on the stony English beachfront at Deal, Kent, on a clear summer morning. France is visible over the water. I keep a watchful eye on that foreign treacherous land.
Continue readingNaples
Mt Vesuvius stands like a guide post to incoming ships. The captain of a cruise ship orders the course just north of the Isle of Capri and then a heading straight at Mt Vesuvius. Soon the ship is secured at a Naples harbour pier, so close to the street that I can almost touch the bow.
Continue readingSouthern Italy
The long roadside grasses have gone to seed. As I drive, an approaching speedy motorist flashes into view from around the corner, in the middle of the narrow road. We both take evasive action.
My antagonist appears to be familiar with the routine. He dodges me, toots, remonstrates via hand gestures and speeds on as if nothing had happened. I take a moment to recover myself. I am in southern Italy, in the Basilicata region.
Continue readingIstanbul
A fresh wind blows down the Bosporous Strait from the north as I explore the waterfront of the divided city of Istanbul.
Continue reading
Australian Actuary 