THE LAST DITCH

Busiest Boxing Day is unlikely to save High Street slump – Telegraph.

What hope is there for British capitalism when journalists in quality newspapers don't know the difference between turnover and profit?

At Selfridges in London's Oxford Street, the store recorded its most profitable hour in the store's 100-year history – with tills ringing up £1 million in just one hour and 40,000 sales in the first 60 minutes

It's almost as bad as our politicians not knowing the difference between "investment" and "spending." It's one step from that to believing that the solution to debt is borrowing.

Years ago, when father wanted to buy a "classic" car and claimed it would be an "investment", mother said that (as it would produce no income, only costs) he could only call it that if he had a credible plan to sell it at a profit in the foreseeable future. That's the sort of education you can't get in Britain's schools (or from its newspapers) any more.

One response to “Money in motion -vs- profit”

  1. Kevyn Bodman Avatar
    Kevyn Bodman

    You are right to point out this sloppy thinking/sloppy writing/ignorance, but it’s nothing compared to the ‘exciting’ new concept of compulsory volunteerism that came up last week.That was also from a journalist, I think.
    A few months ago I sent an e-mail of rebuke to SKYNEWS after one of their presenters referred to Gordon Brown as Head of State.
    These errors are trivial in themselves, but put together they display a combination of ignorance,arrogance,laziness, a lack of critical thinking and a lack of respect for the readership or audience.
    Unfortunately critical thinking seems to be disappearing from our national discussions.
    And that’s part of the reason those in authority over us can get away with a lot of their nonsense.

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Tom is a retired international lawyer. He was a partner in a City of London law firm and spent almost twenty years abroad serving clients from all over the world.

Returning to London on retirement in 2011, he was dismayed to discover how much liberty had been lost in the UK while he was away.

He’s a classical liberal (libertarian, if you must) who, like his illustrious namesake, considers that

“…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”

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