Saturday, 31 March 2012
On the budget cuts in Spain
Yesterday, Spain announced an unprecedent tax cut of £22bn in order to meet the deficit target imposed by the UE. I have been asked by the BBC to comment on the current economic situation in Spain and its prospects. On Thursday I appeared on BBC News Channel and this morning on BBC5 radio. I will try to post the video of the former, but in the meantime you can listen to my mumblings (too early for a Satuday morning) about 1h14m. Just follow this link. It will be available for a week.
Wednesday, 14 March 2012
School of Economics annual staff vs senior honours students football result
Staff 3-0 Students
It was not a good day for the students but what a performance from the staff team.
The first important decision the students had to make was who would be the substitute. I am afraid that they did not cover themselves in glory when they automatically chose the only girl on the team, Catherine Adley. I am happy to report that there was no such bias in the staff team and the only girl on the team, Andy Snell, played the entire game.
It was clear that it was not going to be the students’ day when from a corner, the staff team decided to fire the ball into the box in the hope that after a few ricochets it would end up in the net. The improbable odds against this working are 2276709 to one. It worked.
The highlight of the match came when David (the tank) Comerford was marauding down the left wing and Catherine (the boys finally let her play) came across and took him out. It was a perfectly legitimate American football tackle but as the School of Economics is sensitive to cultural differences, the referee decided not to call a foul. Some other redeeming features of the student team were Alistair Dean who was brilliant in defence (although he got the only yellow card of the game for a spectacular dive) and Jared Anderson who showed some neat skills.
The staff team had a scare when from a staff throw-in, Ed threw the ball back towards the keeper. Sevi had taken over in goal (this was because, as he described it, after a bit of running he felt like his insides were about to fall out) and was turned the other way, looking up at the sky. Jupiter and Venus appeared to be very close together and he was contemplating the connection between this and the fact that the staff team were winning. Fortunately, Andy Snell who orchestrates things (without ever shouting or swearing) saw the danger and simply told Sevi to turn around. Sevi then nonchalantly picked the ball up just before it went over the line. This was the closest the students came to scoring.
The students did show commendable grace in defeat and not once did any one of them suggest that there should be a rematch. They truly understood that it is the taking part that counts.
Some consolation for students, after four years it is 2 wins each but the aggregate score is Staff 10-11 Students. Will the class of 2013 keep the students ahead? Tune in next year to find out.
Man of the match: Nick Vikander for running the equivalent of 7 marathons in less than an hour.
~Match review written by referee/player/match organiser Ahmed Anwar~
It was not a good day for the students but what a performance from the staff team.
The first important decision the students had to make was who would be the substitute. I am afraid that they did not cover themselves in glory when they automatically chose the only girl on the team, Catherine Adley. I am happy to report that there was no such bias in the staff team and the only girl on the team, Andy Snell, played the entire game.
It was clear that it was not going to be the students’ day when from a corner, the staff team decided to fire the ball into the box in the hope that after a few ricochets it would end up in the net. The improbable odds against this working are 2276709 to one. It worked.
The highlight of the match came when David (the tank) Comerford was marauding down the left wing and Catherine (the boys finally let her play) came across and took him out. It was a perfectly legitimate American football tackle but as the School of Economics is sensitive to cultural differences, the referee decided not to call a foul. Some other redeeming features of the student team were Alistair Dean who was brilliant in defence (although he got the only yellow card of the game for a spectacular dive) and Jared Anderson who showed some neat skills.
The staff team had a scare when from a staff throw-in, Ed threw the ball back towards the keeper. Sevi had taken over in goal (this was because, as he described it, after a bit of running he felt like his insides were about to fall out) and was turned the other way, looking up at the sky. Jupiter and Venus appeared to be very close together and he was contemplating the connection between this and the fact that the staff team were winning. Fortunately, Andy Snell who orchestrates things (without ever shouting or swearing) saw the danger and simply told Sevi to turn around. Sevi then nonchalantly picked the ball up just before it went over the line. This was the closest the students came to scoring.
The students did show commendable grace in defeat and not once did any one of them suggest that there should be a rematch. They truly understood that it is the taking part that counts.
Some consolation for students, after four years it is 2 wins each but the aggregate score is Staff 10-11 Students. Will the class of 2013 keep the students ahead? Tune in next year to find out.
Man of the match: Nick Vikander for running the equivalent of 7 marathons in less than an hour.
~Match review written by referee/player/match organiser Ahmed Anwar~
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