@charliejblake_ It's also not really just about ability - everyone at interview is bright, they're looking for specific personalities that will work with the tutorial system.
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James
33.5K posts
James
@TypeForVictory
UK-based investment analyst (ex-macro, now global equities), interested in econ & markets, defence, infra, etc. https://t.co/rF30HPOD4H
London, England Katılım Ocak 2013
1.3K Takip Edilen12.4K Takipçiler
What would a non-arbitrary process for objectively marking work in the humanities look like?
Does not exist I fear
JN@JonNeale
The issue with Oxbridge is that so many bright young people apply that the selection process is partly arbitrary. You could repeat it and end up with a different group of students who were just as able (and sometimes more so)
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James retweetledi
Seen that opinion poll in which millionaires say they're in favour of a wealth tax on millionaires?
It's an absolute masterclass in how to get the polling result that you want. And the detail shows the opposite of what we're told it shows.
Thread:
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Just trying to work out what a woman who was half swan and hatched from an egg looks like historically.
Ancient Briton@AncientBritonX
So here is my deep-dive into reconstructing Helen of Troy as a real Mycenaean noblewoman — using frescoes, genetics, Linear B, and Homer. Full video: youtube.com/watch?v=lEPWVL… In this video I explain the process behind the recent reconstructions that many of you have seen on my account. My debut return to YouTube after 2½ years and the launch of the ANCESTORS REBORN channel. I hope you enjoy it. And please subscribe if you do! #HelenOfTroy #Mycenaean #BronzeAge #History
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@ESOLallstars @charliejblake_ There's nowhere to rehouse people, because we have a shortage of about 4.5m homes thanks to high migration and low housebuilding (which you can thank NIMBYism and "consultation" culture for).
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@charliejblake_ She has a letter from the doctor saying the mould in the temp acc is dangerous as she is having chemo. Until our tenants union got involved she was being ignored by everybody
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I need everyone to understand that Oxbridge students are pumping out maybe 20 problem sets or essays every 8 weeks for 3 terms, which do not count for a grade at all
On top of the their formative labs/fieldwork/coursework
The structure is so different to any other institution
keewa 🇵🇸@keewa
Lewis do you understand how institutions like Oxford mould and shape students? Do you think Oxbridge educated people are superior to people who went elsewhere, or went straight into work? Lay it out for us
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@_Leyanelle_ @BlackM1710 @charliejblake_ Not true, they have the most generous bursaries by far - up to £6,370 a year based purely on household income, not academics. Comfortably pays for accommodation, food, and living - plus extra grants for books and even balls and clubs.
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@BlackM1710 @charliejblake_ You learn something new everyday! But yeh speaks to the same point. Also poorer students would usually require scholarships in such circumstances & thus have to excel at an extraordinary level even as compared to other Oxford students, in order to study there.
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As for wealth inequality, a huge portion of that is the steep rise in land values and rents (again, thanks population surge) and generous DB schemes.
But also worth pointing out that Britons *hate* equities and have extremely low allocation to them vs global norms, so have mostly missed out since 2008 on huge global wealth creation. The wealthiest don't do that - even if they're only in index funds, they've participated in growth happening elsewhere and got wealthier while ordinary people have trundled along in cash and premium bonds.
If you'd invested £10,000 in the S&P 500 in 2010, it'd now be worth about £90,000. If you'd held it in cash, as most people have, you'd have about £12,500.
But I'm not sure why people who chose not to take the risk should get a share of the rewards now via CGT hikes and wealth taxes.
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Britain is one of the few countries where labour share of income has risen since the 90s. Inequality has fallen. Productivity has flatlined.
Our growth is just population rising - faster than housing or infrastructure capacity, which reduces living standards.
Andy Verity@andyverity
This is the picture in the US but it's very similar in the UK. Out of all the money we make - national income - a greater and greater share has been going, not to the employees who generate that income, but to the shareholders who do no work for it but simply purchase a stake.
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@cicerorocks @John_Stepek The biggest driver of increased spending is the ageing population - state pensions, freebies, health and social care.
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@TypeForVictory @John_Stepek Higher labour costs for no increase in productivity; higher taxes (now and baked into the future through increased debt) to fund increased working age benefits for a bigger and bigger unproductive population, higher interest on debt and a bloated NHS; doom spiral.
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James retweetledi
James retweetledi
Andy Burnham's pledge to be 'for all of us' may include hiring a man for his Downing Street staff who called 9/11 a 'false flag' that the US 'knew of… in advance', made jibes against Jews, defended an advocacy group that called Jihadi John a 'beautiful young man', and said that exposés of the child grooming scandals were a 'racist campaign'.
Ali Milani, chair of the Labour Muslim Network, has been working closely with Burnham in the run-up to his election as Makerfield MP and Labour leader, helping with his social media, and has been repeatedly spoken of as an expected hire in No. 10's digital communications team.
What hasn't been reported in the coverage of Milani's potential new job is his views.
✍️ Andrew Gilligan
Article | spectator.com/article/burnha… | @mragilligan
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James retweetledi
There’s a tacit conspiracy to never discuss this.
The Tories don’t want to admit they presided over redistribution from high earners to low earners.
And Labour doesn’t want to credit the Tories with it.
Right? Wrong? You decide. But it happened.
Paul Johnson@PJTheEconomist
Neither big party wants to acknowledge this. Between 2010 and 2024 share of tax paid by high earners rose sharply. Big cuts in higher and additional rate thresholds, and in pension tax relief, hit them hard. Trade offs as ever. But please let’s not pretend this didn’t happen.
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@Nicoledso Pensioners will pay the equivalent tax to a working person on the same income.
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@TypeForVictory It does matter, especially for single pensioners.
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I'm afraid I think we should merge Income Tax and NI with new thresholds and rates, and abolish the personal allowance.
It'd be simpler, raise more, tax different forms of income more fairly, remove cliff edges, and be healthy when it comes to tax/spend debate.
Dan Neidle@DanNeidle
Increasing the personal allowance is a bad tax cut. 1. A £500 increase in personal allowance costs £5bn. Saves a basic rate taxpayer £100/year. 2. 1p cut in employee NI also costs £5bn. But saves median full-time worker £250/year Only one choice if you want to reward work
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@ArnoldLabour It's simpler to give targeted support to the very poorest through UC, and avoid allowance manipulation and cliff edges.
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@TypeForVictory Tax the very poorest eh? Genius.
Let people earning less than 10K pay for everything. That's sure to work and have no negative consequences
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@Nicoledso Doesn't really matter if you net it off with targeted distribution to the poorest (ie through pension credit).
Something like 12% up to 10k, 17% up to 20k, 22% up to 30k, etc. Not suggesting those as actual numbers, but more tiers and a smoother curve merging the taxes.
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@TypeForVictory And I’m for combining IT and NI and wealthier pensioners paying more but abolishing the tax free allowance completely??
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Similarly, simplify VAT to 20% on everything (besides the services too awkward to tax), broaden the base.
You can make it up in UC support etc, but simplifying and improving collection rates helps business and govt. The burden of tax is administrative as well as financial.
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@MitchScott_K1 @LaveenLadharam @BenjaminDa74767 @DanNeidle Many just cut their hours to stay under the £100k threshold (especially those with young children) or put more into their pensions.
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@LaveenLadharam @BenjaminDa74767 @DanNeidle There are low earners who are struggling to put food on the table, pay for rent and energy.
If you are getting taxed at 60% tax in this current economy you should count yourself lucky, just like I do paying 40%. It’s a privilege compared to those on minimum wage.
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James retweetledi
Increasing the personal allowance is a bad tax cut.
1. A £500 increase in personal allowance costs £5bn. Saves a basic rate taxpayer £100/year.
2. 1p cut in employee NI also costs £5bn. But saves median full-time worker £250/year
Only one choice if you want to reward work
Steven Swinford@Steven_Swinford
One of the most interesting lines in @patrickkmaguire's interview with Andy Burnham was on the £12,570 threshold for the personal allowance, which has been frozen for five years It's a huge stealth tax that generates ever more revenue over the time at a significant cost to everyone who has an income The Times reported earlier this month that team Burnham has been discussing tax cuts for lower earners Nothing confirmed yet, and there's a long way to go before Budget, but Burnham's comments suggest it's something they're thinking about When you look at Burnham's tax policies over the year they have had a consistent thread - wealth taxes/ taxes for high earners allied with potential tax cuts for low earners The trouble - to state the obvious - is that they are expensive, and Burnham needs money to fund his cost of living package/ increased public spending/ defence spending But throughout the interview he expressed frustration with how his is caricatured/ characterised, and that was particularly true around claims he is a tax raiser Here's the quote: 'One thing I heard the most on doorsteps in Makerfield was frustration about the personal allowance frozen at £12,570. 'I can't say anything now... but I kind of heard that and it's lodged in my mind. So when people think about, they're just characterising me as a tax raiser, well again it's never that simplistic is it?'
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