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a lot of nonsense talked about digital currencies

As long as digital currency technology remain at present levels, you cannot forge or print more units beyond a limit.

However, every government can 'forge' (near) endless amounts of their new units.

Little wonder that major central bankers are worrying about it. Fiat money systems are a major source of taxation.

Like with gold, people can trade in currencies that much more inherently limited/stable than fiat currencies.

Instability is possible, depending on how acceptable the currencies become. Hence, the instability of price as people try to guess the future of digital currencies. However, that instability is not inherent in the money form. It is inherent in human nature.

With fiat currencies there are built-in instabilities that are deliberately manipulated by states.

Digital currencies are a major invention akin to penicillin and aeroplanes. Such inventions have the potential to change societies.

Digital currencies are not an analogue of tulip bulbs.

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news2/economics072017.php#digital-currencies-181217

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the energy economics of electric cars - no pressure

"Building an electric car generates considerably more carbon dioxide than creating a comparable petrol model because so much energy is required for the mining and processing of lithium, nickel and other materials for the battery. The battery accounts for more than half the cradle-to-grave emissions created by an electric car. Fuelling that car from a coal-fired grid like China’s or India’s makes the emissions even worse.

With Europe’s mix of generating capacity — less coal, more gas, more wind and more nuclear — an electric vehicle does emit less carbon dioxide over its lifetime than a comparable petrol or diesel vehicle, but not by a large margin. As one study concluded: “We find that electric vehicles powered by the European electricity mix reduce [global warming potential] by 26 per cent to 30 per cent relative to gasoline . . . and 17 per cent to 21 per cent relative to diesel.”

Then there is the question of where the extra electricity is to come from. In recent years we have struggled to build enough power stations for existing users, let alone adding all cars and heating too, for that is the plan. Britain’s cars travel about 250 billion miles a year. Assuming the use of very small Nissan Leaf-style vehicles, that mileage would add an extra 16 per cent of demand to our existing electricity grid."

And more.

the web address for the article above is
https://www.abelard.org/news2/economics072017.php#electric-car-economics-300717

recovering from labour's economic disaster

In 2011, public sector pay was 18% higher than private sector pay and the UK had the highest structural budget deficit in the OECD. Restraint was essential.

The restraint on public sector pay has meant that the discrepancy between public sector and private sector wages has somewhat diminished since the early part of this decade, returning to its pre-crisis level (although, even controlling for workers’ characteristics, public sector pay is still over 3% higher than private sector pay, which does not even account for the more generous pensions in the public sector).
Tories plan to balance the books by 2025-26, which would mean the UK is due to be in deficit for 25 years. Softening this programme would be dangerous.
The UK’s tax burden is set to be the highest in nearly four decades by 2025.
For OECD countries with high budget deficits in 2010, a larger fall in government spending has been associated with larger deficit reductions, higher economic growth, higher wage growth and lower unemployment.
Ireland’s fiscal consolidation has been 2½ times as large as the UK’s, yet Ireland has seen unemployment fall by twice as much proportionally.