The Chancellor made his autumn statement today - five days into December! You can read the entire speech here and the BBC's synopsis here. Two things stand out for me. First, the projections for future economic growth are pure guesses - it is hard to see the UK economy growing at 2% plus after 2014. Second, Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock Asset Management have been brought unto the nation's balance sheet, adding £70bn to national debt! The Labour government had conveniently kept most of the financial interventions from 2008 off the nation's balance sheet. Including these interventions increases UK national debt dramatically - click here.
According to Robert Shiller , speaking at Davos, Bitcoin is a perfect example of a bubble - story here . Shiller sees Bitcoin as a backwards step in the evolution of money. George Selgin , a free banker, takes an opposing view - click here . Although he doesn't believe that Bitcoin is money, he sees its development as a fascinating turn in the evolution of money. In particular, he lauds the fact that Bitcoin production is constrained and cannot be infinite. There is a short video below where Bitcoin explain how it works.