Light week for me this week, I’ve been busy and hot and all of the news has been about the royal baby and I’m not too interested in that…
1) Rent control, the idea that dare not speak its name. I know I bang on about housing a lot, that’s because I’m at the pointy end of it..
Building a new property creates jobs and expands supply, and that is a real investment. But that’s not what many landlords do. They are “rentiers” and speculators on existing property, adding nothing to the economy, enriching themselves by gouging ever higher rents out of younger adults. Rent control will make this game unprofitable and cut house prices – a good thing, unless you are a chancellor so bereft of ideas that you think a property bubble is the only way to win an election.
2) Can you tell the city by the Starbucks location? I got 5 out of 20, but I did recognise my city so I feel good about that.
3) Why the case against GMO is overblown.
I think Monsanto is evil, that patenting seeds and suing farmers is unethical, and that some GMO crops (like Roundup Ready Soybeans) lend themselves to irresponsible herbicide and pesticide use and cross-contamination.
But I’m also not going to let my anti-corporate sentiments get in the way of a diverse and promising field of research.
Nic Dempsey 