I have argued in an earlier post that the recent banking failures that triggered the recession were as much a failure of appropriate regulation as of the market. The key words here are "appropriate regulation". Here in the UK the Government seems to have responded not by fixing that specific omission, but by gleefully spreading the tentacles of interference yet further into our business and lives. "We don't know how to fix that problem, so lets look busy "fixing" something else".
A classic example is the dramatic difference in "public information" style advertising here compared with the US. For one effective advert (like the stroke awareness campaign) there must be ten that just make you scratch your head in disbelief. (Do we need Government to tell us not to leave a hot cup of tea within reach of a toddler?) It is depressing to learn that the Government is the single highest spender on media space in the country (outspending even Proctor and Gamble). If the Tories need to find some quick efficiency cuts that would be a good place to start.
What has driven me to write today though is The Equalities Bill - or as The Week puts it "a charter for pen-pushers". This is being introduced by Harriet Harman (a one woman job creation scheme - her own job that is) and amongst other things it will impose on public bodies a "duty" to award contracts wherever possible to firms that employ the most women and ethnic minorities etc etc. I do not believe that positive discrimination is the way to solve the inequalities in our society - the result is a dumming-down that benefits nobody. Nor can you legislate "niceness". The aims of the new law include opportunity for all and an end to all social divisions. Oh and could we have more sunny days too please?
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