The Spectator

Nancy and the Keynesians Sir: Nancy Dell’Olio is a Keynesian (‘John Maynard Keynes, my hero’, 29 November), but if Keynes were alive today, he would be revising his doctrine. In the 1930s government expenditure was a much smaller proportion of GDP than it is today. So was the tax take. Then, with the private sector devastated by the slump, increasing government expenditure was the strongest lever to change sentiment and reflate the economy. Now, both the private and the public sectors are crippled with debt. Increasing government expenditure threatens the nation’s credit-rating, and tweaking VAT to encourage people to spend is at odds with people’s desperate desire to save.

Here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Fraser Nelson says that the system overreach must come to an end.  James Forsyth speculates on what's really behind the arrest of Damian Green, and wonders what's next for Gordon Brown after the political failure of the PBR. Peter Hoskin asks Alistair Darling how much we'll have to pay, and observes the political shrapnel ripping through the government. Melanie Phillips gives her take on the Mubai atrocities. Clive Davis writes on the policing of YouTube. And Americano asks whether Obama will create an American DFID.

Diplomatic bag Sir: Michael Nicholson’s story of a boat-owner finding contraband aboard from the previous owner (Letters, 22 November) reminded me of being compromised in Paris. As leader of a teenage school party, I suspected one or more of them of being in possession. As staff we searched suitcases and bedrooms with fingertip detail and found nothing for most of the trawl. I had warned the party in advance of the impending swoop and fully expected this outcome. But you can never guarantee no surprises, and we did find a stash of the substance tied in a waterproof bag, deep inside one toilet cistern. We dispatched the culprit home on the next Eurostar but that left me with the goods. What should one do?

Here are some of the posts made over the past week on Spectator.co.uk: Coffee House has edited a video to highlight Brown’s borrowing binge. Matthew d’Ancona responds to the Mumbai Atrocities, and says that the Pre-Budget report was a thin offering. Lisa Hilton delivers the latest society news, and commemorates another Johnson triumph. Fraser Nelson reports that the Tories have been angered by the arrest of Damian Green, and outlines Brown’s worst nightmare. James Forsyth insists that today’s MPs should stand up for the rights won by their predecessors, and says that the England cricket tour of South Africa must go on. Peter Hoskin asks whether David Cameron is going to crack down on public sector pensions, and responds to the Pre-Budget Report.

Here are some of the posts made over the weekend on Spectator.co.uk: Fraser Nelson says Gordon Brown is blasting out his false message, and surveys the prospects for Reykjavik on Thames. James Forsyth asks whether Brown's political positioning on VAT is any good, and outlines the coming Tory attack on Brown. Peter Hoskin reports on a more encouraging opinion poll for the Tories, and suggests how Brown might spin himself as our Value Added Saviour. Daniel Korski outlines the real choices. Melanie Phillips gives her take on Broken Britain. Clive Davis asks whether Gordon Brown is right or wrong. And Americano backs Caroline Kennedy for London.

The problem with Pakistan Sir: It is preposterous that Elliot Wilson pleads for the bailing out of Pakistan (‘Britain can’t afford a failed Pakistan’, 15 November). The country is not facing a natural disaster; its economic meltdown is self-inflicted — it insisted on acquiring nuclear weapons and cosying up to Islamic terrorism. Pakistan, both politically and economically, has always been a failed state. Ever since its inception in 1947, it chose to subsist on foreign handouts: first through the security structure of seato and cento and then by becoming a front-line state against communism and terrorism. It never bothered to learn the art of earning its living through strategic planning, economic reforms and investment in higher education.

The licence fee is good value Sir: Charles Moore has really talked himself into a corner this time with regard to his pathological dislike of the BBC (The Spectator’s Notes, 8 November). Like many other ‘BBC bashers’ on the Right he seems to gleefully welcome the Ross and Brand affair as a vindication of his views. If we accept his logic, and his analogy of being made to pay for something you dislike and did not order in a café, one would conclude that unless people like absolutely everything the BBC broadcasts on the TV and radio then they are justified in withholding the licence fee. Of course this would leave no one at all, no licence fee revenue, and therefore no BBC.