The Iran war started two weeks ago today. I think it is fair to say now that it has not gone as planned by the US and Israel. There has been no regime change in Iran and Iran has been… Read More ›
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Is Dubai a Contemporary Version of Inter-War Shanghai?
The ongoing war between the US, Israel and Iran has cast a spotlight on the position of the Gulf states and in particular the city of Dubai. It was by no means a surprise that Iran would move quickly to… Read More ›
Trump’s Tarriffs: Can We Sense Tectonic Plates Shifting?
President Trump’s theatrical announcement of swingeing tariffs on all territories of the world (including at least one uninhabited archipelago), are the subject of much media comment today. The EU, China and other countries have said they will retaliate. If so,… Read More ›
Flagging UK Economic Growth and the Danger of Absolute Decline
The Bank of England has reduced its economic growth forecast for the UK over the coming year from 1.5% to 0.75%. Forecasts of this type are always uncertain, but a mere 0.75% growth in the first full year of our… Read More ›
Opening Chinese Social Media to the West
There have been many reports over the past week about TikTok users in the United States ‘flocking’ to the Chinese social media site Xiaohongshu (小红书), or RedNote. It is said that at least 700,000 Americans have made this move. I… Read More ›
Sunsets of 2024
In the latest of my ‘Sunset’ posts, I include photos taken during the course of 2024 in Hendaye in France, Dover and London in the UK, Toronto in Canada and on the west coast of Norway. Hendaye, France – January… Read More ›
Donald Trump: A Transformative President or a Lame Duck?
I was not at all surprised when Donald Trump secured his reelection as President of the United States on 5th November. I had a similar feeling when he won for the first time in November 2016. He and Vice President… Read More ›
Three Main Trends in UK Politics: the Bad, the Worse and the Somewhat Positive
As we approach a general election that is likely to occur during the autumn of this year, I propose to comment on what I regard are the three key aspects of UK politics at the present time: The increasing acceptance… Read More ›
Rachel Reeves and Labour Economic Policy: a Welcome Emphasis on Planning Reform
The Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves appeared on the BBC’s ‘Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg’ today. Her handling of the interview by Laura Kuenssberg clearly demonstrated that she and the Labour Party are likely to have a more effective economic policy than… Read More ›
Return to Posting
It is a while since I last posted on this site. I have been occupied recently in researching the life and writing a short biography of the Chinese poet and army officer Ah Long (阿垅). That runs to around 20,000… Read More ›
The Story of Hu Feng
I have recently begun a new WordPress site on which I am posting biographical materials about the mid-20th century Chinese poet, writer and editor Hu Feng. A link to that site is here: http://www.storyofhufeng.com Hu Feng was one of many… Read More ›
Photos from the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Flypast- 2nd June 2022
I took the photos set out below from a small park near my flat in London: Michael Ingle – michaelingle01@gmail.com
London’s New Elizabeth Line – The Victorians Would Have Been Proud
London’s new ‘Elizabeth Line’ underground line opened this past Tuesday, 24th May. My flat in London is only a few minutes’ walk from Farringdon Station on the new line, so I tried it out on Wednesday by making a short… Read More ›
My Experience of Covid
After two years of efforts to steer clear of Covid I finally came down with it myself 10 days ago. I assume it was the BA.2 variant that is now dominant in the UK, but I cannot be sure of… Read More ›
The Sunak Tax Incident
The UK press is full of stories about the tax and immigration affairs of Chancellor Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy. In my view there is breathtaking hypocrisy at work here. Successive UK governments presided over by Labour, the… Read More ›
Michael Ingle - Interesting Times 