It is now an archive for my newspaper and magazine pieces. My blog can now be read at: www.spectator.co.uk/stephenpollard
Politics, economics and culture from the master. Unmissable.
Melanie Phillips home page
Melanie Phillips' peerless blog. Read, and learn.
Daniel Finkelstein's Times Comment Central
A daily must-read.
Tim Worstall
Lots of interesting nibbles - and a ruthless swatter of economic gibberish.
Harry's Place
Must-read left of centre blog from writers who understand the threat to the West.
Clive Davis
Always interesting selection of culture and politics, from an Anglo-American bent.
Samizdata
Libertarian blog, packed every day.
Norm's blog
The thoroughly sensible thoughts of renowned left-wing academic Norman Geras, Professor of Government at Manchester. And cricket, too.
Public Interest
Peter Briffa's inimitable take on The Yazzmonster and other assorted demons.
Reform
The public sector reform group; their website is an invaluable source of data and ideas.
Centre for the New Europe
The leading European public policy think tank.
Developed by:
| October | 13 |
| 2006 |
I think I've been wrong about Ms Toynbee. I've always thought that, much as I disagree with pretty much every thing she says, writes and stands for, and much as I think her journalistic standards can be damn near contemptible, she isn't stupid.
Looks like she is stupid. Very.
MessageSpace
Nobody can be as consistently wrong-headed about so many things and still be considered intelligent. Surely that's the touchstone of intelligence: the ability to observe the effects of ideas and draw inferences about their validity. Polly has been shown, time and again, to be ignorant of economics and business, both generally and specifically. Her stubborn refusal to acknowledge her mistakes does not bespeak a first-class mind. I mentally file Toynbee in the same category of reverse barometers that contains, inter alia, Simon Jenkins, Robert Fisk and George Monbiot (and more recently, the rather strange Andrew O'Hagan). To discover the truth of a matter, one merely has to read a column by one of these worthies: the diametrical opposite will invariably be found to be the case.
