We are taught from an early age not to judge by appearances. Yet in politics we often do. This implies that in our engagement with politics we often make mistakes of judgement. We are swayed by emotions rather than by reasoning.
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This blog looks at different accounts of political persuasion and the significance of a politician’s facial expressions and appearance. 

Corruption is endemic in many parts of the world. Paying a bribe to an official, policeman, judge, or politician is seen as a normal cost of doing business, or simply necessary for living without hassle. The higher up one goes in the system of authority, the larger the payment.

This blog looks at a cautionary tale drawn from mid-19thcentury England found in the novel by Anthony Trollope, ‘The Three Clerks’ (1857). It is about corruption in the British civil service. 

​The narrative remains relevant today. It looks at the links between ethical standards and practice, and between social sanctioning and the law. It makes clear that there is no silver bullet such as ‘transparency’ that will eradicate corruption. 

Businesses in today’s market place, in both the financial and non-financial sectors now have to pay attention to the environmental and social impact of what they do, as well as to respect high standards of corporate governance. The group of standards is commonly referred to as ‘ESG’. ESG is now a mainstream activity. President Trump resists. He is mistaken (again).
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This blog sees a need to improve the authentication, oversight and scrutiny of ESG claims, ratings and indexing. Despite the efforts of bodies such as the SASB, (Sustainability Accounting Standards Board) and the Principles for Responsible Investment body (PRI) supported by the UN, there are conflicts of interest that produce a lack of rigor and consistency. The labels are scattered around like sprinkles on a tray of cupcakes.

The idea that we should have an artificial global currency detached from the currency of any single nation, or currency zone, has not figured on the international financial agenda for many years. In particular it did not surface in the response to the 2008 international financial crisis.

There are good reasons for this... and bad. The good reason is that the world is awash with liquidity in the aftermath of quantitative easing by the leading Central Banks of the world. We therefore do not seem to need any fresh source of liquidity that a globally managed currency could potentially provide. 

​The bad reason is the lack of support in the US, the Eurozone and China because of their own self-interest in relation to their own currencies. They do not have in mind  broader global considerations. 

The question is now re-emerging in the context of moves towards private, digital currencies for domestic and international use. Facebook’s proposal for the Libra, based on a basket of values, is particularly important. The US Fed, the US treasury and Trump himself have urged caution. This blog suggests we should be open-minded to this development.

 ​I went on a tourist trip to Cambodia earlier this year. I passed in one village, at the end of a property, a small shrine made of banana leaves. I was told that something bad had occurred to one or more of the family. The shrine enabled offerings to be made and for the bad to be propitiated. Life for the family could move on.
 
Cambodian society as a whole has an appalling recent history.  Its territory was the target of massive American bombing during the Vietnam War. Under the Pol Pot regime in the 1970s about 1.5-2m are estimated to have died out of a total population then of around 7m.
 
This blog discusses three ways about how to move on from disastrous happenings and appalling memories: propitiation, expiation and reconciliation.  It discusses the uneasy relationship between the way individuals deal with bad memories  and their collective handling by societies as a whole.

People like what they know. However, we are at a point of time in international politics when we are moving into a world full of unknowns – a world without order. 
 
This blog looks at the shape of the world without an order. ​

We are probably all vaguely aware that the everyday contacts we have with authority in our supposedly democratic societies is with unelected bodies rather than with elected politicians, It is unelected bodies that help keep our financial savings safe, help determine our monthly utility bills, protect our health by deciding what medical treatments are effective and when a food product is past its ‘sell- by’ date, that keep public transport ‘safe’ and inspect our schools. They are with us when we are awake and when we are asleep. By contrast, fortunately for us, we can switch off from politics and politicians.
 
At the same time there is considerable confusion about how such bodies fit within the democratic organization of authority. When President Trump has a sleepless night and criticises the US Federal Reserve in a tweet, there are some who would agree that central banks have acquired too much power. since the 2008 financial crisis. 
 
This blog looks at the main sources of  confusion in thinking about how unelected bodies fit within a democratic framework.

On this side of the Atlantic we are all fed up with Brexit. On the other side of the Atlantic we are all fed up with Trump. Both topics suck the oxygen from any room. Each sends otherwise rational humans clambering on to a much earlier branch in the evolutionary tree.
 
This blog avoids the politics of Brexit. It looks instead at some of the institutional and constitutional lessons. The saga of Brexit is unfortunately still far from over. The outcome is still unpredictable. Nevertheless  some of the key institutional lessons are already clear.