Conor 🇮🇪 on Twitter - "Ireland launched a campaign against greedy landlords with rent control, 52% tax, no deductions, no evictions. They succeeded & landlords left the market in droves Now there are 716 homes available to rent in the entire country and 150 queued for this one bed yesterday. #VanRe
If you want to make rentals readily available, make rental income tax free. It's unpalatable, but do we want readily available and affordable housing or do we want to crush greedy landlords."
Conor 🇮🇪 on Twitter - "Lots of people asking why landlords selling up would reduce stock. Just means people were able to buy cheap! No, because a rental may have 4+ tenants, while owner occupied houses usually have just two occupants. Occupancy is reduced with a heavy home ownership ratio"
Budget support for tenants and landlords being considered, Varadkar says - "The Daft.ie report found there were just 716 homes available to rent nationwide on August 1st, down from almost 2,500 a year ago. The national landlords representative organisation said the stark increases in numbers of landlords leaving the rental sector was not surprising. Susan Clancy, development officer at the Irish Property Owners’ Association (IPOA), said this was the result of “excessive and ever-changing regulation, punitive taxation and the vilification of landlords”. “Increased supply of accommodation is the only solution to the housing crisis, rent control reduces the supply of available accommodation, the evidence is clear; with increasing landlords leaving the sector since its introduction,” she said. The State needed to move away from housing policies that discriminate against private landlords and gave them “little incentive to participate in the rental market,” she said. “If private landlords continue to exit the market, the situation is going to get much worse,” she said. Focus Ireland said it was calling for “urgent Government action” to help stop the “exodus of landlords” from the private rental market... People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said the housing and rental crisis had “reached a new low”. Mr Murphy said the Government had “sat on its hands” and had failed to address the deepening crisis. “What we need are radical measures including the declaration by the Government of a housing emergency”"
‘The house was a mess, and the bill came to €9,000. It broke me’: Life as a small landlord - "The Residential Tenancies Board is there solely to defend tenants. We had a tenant absolutely trash the house; we got the deposit back, but the damage extended to more than €10,000, and we couldn’t claim tax relief on the repair work. The tax rate means it costs me a fortune to keep the house. Now that it is back close to the values we paid, we most likely will sell. We have really lovely tenants at the moment, but we can’t keep subsidising ownership in a market where we have no rights."
"I’m a benign landlord, with two properties, who is tired of every Government action that automatically assumes I am trying to screw my tenant."
"We had some horrendous experiences in the past, with people not paying rent or wrecking the property, and us having to clean up afterwards or deal with antisocial behaviour and subsequent complaints from neighbours, etc. During the recession it was extremely difficult to let and impossible to sell, and we were hounded by the bank. Thankfully, we eventually paid off our arrears, but it was a hard slog. Property owners have few rights and all the responsibilities. Now we only let for a maximum of six months and use it for house exchanges (and as a result have met some lovely people from other countries). We would rather leave it vacant for some time than have to deal with unsuitable tenants. Many people believe that owning a rental property is very lucrative. We put aside 60 per cent of the rent to pay for tax, PRSI, accountants’ fees, RTB registration, repairs and advertising, etc, not to mention the exorbitant €1,500 annual fee charged by the property-management company. The balance goes toward the mortgage, which we top up every month. Before we switched to six-month lets we had callouts from tenants at all hours for ridiculous things, such as a blown bulb at 11pm, a “floater” in the toilet at 7am, the toaster smoking as a result of being stuffed with a thick slice of bread at 8am, a cracked full-length mirror at 10pm — and we never not returned deposits, not because it wasn’t warranted but simply because usually when there was a problem we were so glad to see the back of those tenants we’d happily suffer the loss."
"I worked hard and built this house with my own hands — I’m a carpenter. I have been renting it out for a number of years, and have had all sorts of trouble, from the rent always coming up short to neighbours complaining about noise and parties. The RTB is tenant-oriented — and now it has another law where I must register annually. It’s another tax to pay their wages. The tenant pays nothing, because the landlord is a softer touch. I have to pay an accountant each year to do my tax, which is 52 per cent of profit plus a preliminary tax for next year. So what’s the point? It’s more trouble than it’s worth. People my age, in their mid-60s, have the mortgage paid. This was supposed to be a retirement pension. Instead it’s a retirement black hole."
"the biggest issue is the Residential Tenancies Board, which provides zero value for the fees it requires landlords to pay. Landlords have no rights: everything is set up around the tenant. As a landlord I have been able to rent slightly below market value, and I invest in the property annually to maintain its condition. I am fortunate to be in that position. I have experienced tenants request replacements for items they have broken, which is really difficult to justify. In general my experience has been good, but with a monthly management fee of 11 per cent, in addition to taxes, maintenance, unplanned expenditure and having no rights, I can see why private landlords are exiting. The media only advertises the tenants’ story. The full picture is never shared."
"we’ve rented it out for the past five years — and have been unlucky with some of our tenants. We have had to have it painted and decorated at least twice, as well as having to replace furniture. Add the mortgage repayment and the 53 per cent tax rate on any rental income and we’ve decided to leave it empty. It’s sad, as we have been inundated with requests to rent it."
"Having recently spent €12,000 on putting a second shower in my property, we are not entitled to increase the rent as we didn’t move a wall or make any other structural change."
"When your accountant tells you every year to sell the property, as it’s loss making, you wonder why you ever got involved. When young investors ask me should they invest in property, I advise them to avoid at all costs."
"Our tenant took advantage of the RTB loophole and stayed at the property for 16 months without paying rent. It took us years of civil and criminal courts to get it back, at a cost of more than €100,000 and our health. The damage he caused was horrendous. We will never, ever rent out a house again."
"the tenants stopped paying rent. I tried to reach out, the agency reached out, but no response. We filled in rent-supplement forms for them and sent them to the tenants. Complete silence. I opened a dispute with the RTB. It took about four months for the RTB to have a sitting. A week before it, the tenants moved out and left the key in the porch. Then the RTB informed me that unless I could find the tenants’ new address, it would be unable to go ahead with the hearing. So I was forced to close the dispute. The house was a mess, and the total loss, including repairs, came to €9,000. For some people this is not a lot of money, but it broke me. I have now a family member living in the house and helping with the mortgage. If this wasn’t my only property I would have sold it. I got no support, no justice. I feel sorry for the small landlords who are stuck in the system. The small “profit” you get after tax and repairs isn’t worth the damage and stress."
"I’m forced to increase the rent by 2 per cent each year when I’d prefer to leave the rent at same level if the tenants are good. By forced I mean that if I don’t increase rent, when a new tenant signs up I can only increase rent by 2 per cent on the previous year. So, as I have to put the rent up every year, the current tenants get screwed for an increase that would normally be passed on to the next tenants... a low-rent property that is sold is very likely to leave the rental market"
Landlords set to get tax break to stop them from leaving Ireland's rental market - "Landlords are set to get a tax break to stop them from leaving the rental market. The tax breaks, which will form part of a €1 billion cost of living package and will be announced in next month’s Budget, will likely spark controversy as rents have hit an all-time high across the country. Last week, a report by property website Daft.ie revealed tenants in Dublin saw accommodation costs were 12.7% higher in the second quarter of 2022 than at the same time last year."
Ireland's largest landlord says rents are 16% above its €1,688 average - "With an occupancy rate of 99.3%, all the property firm’s apartments are all but permanently rented even after accounting for short term tenancies"
Termination notices by landlords rise by 58% in six months - "The number of termination notices issued by landlords to tenants, as notified to the Residential Tenancies Board, rose by 58 per cent in the first six months of 2022 compared to the previous six months... Some 55 per cent of those were for the purposes of sale of the property. Sinn Féin spokesman on housing Eoin Ó Broin has called on the Fianna Fáil Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien to convene an “urgent meeting” on the rental crisis following a rise in the number of landlords choosing to leave the rental market... Landlords leaving the private rental market was “contributing to the absence of options for those wanting to leave homelessness and driving too many others into homelessness”, said Wayne Stanley, head of policy and communications at the Simon Communities of Ireland. “The homeless crisis in Ireland will only deepen if we don’t see further actions taken to make affordable homes available ... With enough ambition this can secure the homes that can see homelessness start to fall again”... The Government has extended rent pressure zones until the end of 2024 and has prohibited any rent increase in a rent pressure zone from exceeding general inflation or 2 per cent, whichever is lower."
Clearly the solution is to ban landlords from selling and force them to rent out their properties
Conor 🇮🇪 on Twitter - "#NewYork condo is rent controlled at $1,725. The Broker then engages in some rental arbitrage and sets his fee at $20k to balance things out. The owner gets screwed, the tenant gets screwed. the Realtor gets rich #RentControl in practise"
Broker's fee hits nearly $20K for one-bedroom NYC apartment - "The one-bedroom unit was initially advertised for $3,750 a month on StreetEasy, but the agent told prospective tenants that it was actually rent stabilized and would be a steal — just $1,725. That is well below Manhattan’s median rent, which hit a record $4,150 a month in July. And any future rent increases on the apartment would be limited by the city’s Rent Guidelines Board — which this year approved a 3.25% increase for one-year leases... The hunt for a New York City apartment has become so grueling that prospective tenants are standing on long lines to secure tiny spaces... Another agent at City Wide Apartments also asked a sky-high fee for an Upper East Side railroad flat, which was also rent stabilized, with a monthly rent of $2,250... The prospective tenant declined to pay the reported $10,000"
'There won't be any small landlords left by next year' - "Landlords are preparing to sell up in the wake of housing secretary Michael Gove’s sweeping measures to shake-up the private rental sector. “No-fault” evictions will be scrapped and all private rental sector properties will also have to meet new minimum standards, with tenants able to reclaim rent if homes fall short, under the plans outlined in the new Private Rental Sector Reform white paper. Landlords will also be banned from discriminating against tenants with pets or those receiving benefits... Small-scale buy-to-let investors say the new plans make their business models unviable and they will have to sell up for good. Amy Jones*, 50, who manages a portfolio of five buy-to-lets in Wales, said scrapping “no-fault” evictions means that many tenancies will be too risky for landlords to consider... “I’m appalled at the Government’s constant interference in the private rented sector. Landlords own the properties, not the Government. We have paid for these properties and they are our pension. It is a big assault on our property rights. “I have many allergies and my husband is allergic to dogs, in no circumstance can we allow tenants with pets. We wouldn’t be able to enter the house to do any checks.”... David Carter*, 60, who has a portfolio of 13 properties in the South West, said the Government’s plans will backfire because they mean he will no longer let properties to renters on benefits if he cannot easily evict them. Mr Carter has a long track record of letting to low income renters. He offers leases at the local housing allowance rates and in the past has run a house share as a “dry house” for recovering addicts. But losing “no-fault” evictions means he will have to stop"
This won't stop leftists bashing the Conservatives as evil - they need an enemy after all
Meme - David Hogg: "It's interesting to think about how so much airport security is the physical manifestation of surveillance capitalism- it's terrifying when you realize how that's just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the actual total information collected on us every day."
Anything a leftist hates is due to "capitalism"
Meme - Aaron Rupar @atrupar: "White House adviser Kevin Hassett: "Our human capital stock is ready to go back to work." #HumanCapitalStock"
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: "Human Capital Stock. An ugly term w ugly history, but for many powerful ppl it's their most honest view of workers: human stock. By their logic, the moment a person stops being useful to profit motive (retirement, health, etc) they are a liability. That's the system we live in."
Being Classically Liberal - Posts | Facebook - "Human capital stock is a well-established concept in economics which refers to things like knowledge, education, creativity, and social attributes which makes a population productive. Economists of all ideological persuasions study and understand the importance of Human Capital. In the profession, the term is not the slightest bit controversial. You would think AOC would know this, since she allegedly has an economics degree. But instead she chooses to virtue signal..."
Of course, if you mock AOC that just shows you are ignorant, sexist and racist
Entitlement Britain is becoming a poor country and too many people don’t care - "If you want to know why Britain is in such trouble, consider the disgraceful over-reaction to an old recording of Liz Truss arguing that British workers aren’t sufficiently productive, and that some people don’t work hard enough. She was stating the obvious, and yet her comments were dismissed as a “gotcha” moment by half of Twitter and as “grossly offensive” by Labour Party demagogues. When did we become so entitled, so self-satisfied, so allergic to any kind of constructive criticism? What hope is there for Britain if it is now politically incorrect to explain that hard graft at school and at work is a crucial route out of poverty? Why isn’t it obvious that we need to massively and urgently do whatever it takes to improve Britain’s dire productivity rate? For years, Tory and Labour politicians alike have taken the easy way out, obsessing about “sharing the proceeds of growth” and green social engineering, taking prosperity for granted, all the while slowly poisoning the economy with tax hikes, regulatory assaults, an increasingly insane housing and infrastructure planning system and injections of monetary crack cocaine. It has been a disaster: real wages, the ultimate measure of a country’s economy, haven’t gone up, on average, since 2006, the year before Northern Rock went bust. Output per worker hasn’t risen, and given that what we earn is usually related to what we produce, pay has stagnated. This is a disgrace, and requires us to undergo a period of brutally honest self-reflection of the sort Truss is proposing... Recent immigrants to Britain are often taken aback by our poor work ethic, lack of entrepreneurialism or respect for education, and the widespread sense of victimhood, in which people blame their problems on others rather than take personal responsibility for self-betterment. But they are also stunned by how high our taxes are, the wastage at the heart of the public sector, and the fact it is so hard to build anything or get anything done... One of the biggest barriers to change is the prevalence of middle-class Nimbyism, or at least the idea that things are good enough as they are, and that all new development – of homes, airports, power plants or water reservoirs – must be stopped."
Meme - "If my rent money is paying for my landlord's mortgage, shouldn't I be part owner?"
"This reminds of the time when I bought a Big Mac and became CEO of McDonald's"
Meme - "The student debt "crisis" solved:"
"1. You loaned $100k to a jobless teen
2. Take the L and learn some financial responsibility"
A lot of leftists were sharing this approvingly. Of course they'll get very upset if student debt is totally abolished, i.e. no more student loans are given out
Environmentalism among poor and rich countries: using natural language processing to handle perfunctory support and rising powers - "In international politics, is environmental protection largely a “rich-country” priority? We perceive four reasons why, although individual exceptions are possible, the answer would be yes: as a country meets more of its basic economic needs, it can better take on environmental policy’s long-term thinking, policy expenses, collective action problems, and quality-of-life issues. To cut through lip service paid by governments that are not serious about environmental protection, and the fact that the “BASIC” countries (Brazil, South Africa, India, China) occupy a gray area between rich and poor, we employ computer-assisted textual analyses on all 3,774 paragraphs of statements made by national governments between 1995–2012 in the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) within the World Trade Organization (WTO). Controlling for other factors, we find a general pattern of environmental discussions increasing as development level increases. This contributes substantively and methodologically to the literatures on the environment/development nexus and rising powers."
Of course, this doesn't stop the leftists from hating on capitalism and claiming that it's destroying the environment
Meme - "When you think that an employer making a profit is 'stealing the surplus value' created by the workers, but your ideology is literally built around the idea of people working to their full ability, but only receiving what they need to survive.
*Credit Card*: "Daddy's Money""
This leftist actually claimed that under capitalism, workers pay their employers to work - because employers capture surplus value
This new cafe in Toronto is proudly anti-capitalist - "The Anarchist Cafe has opened up at 190 Jarvis St. and strives to be a worker-owned, anti-capitalist, anti-colonial cafe, shop, and radical community space on stolen land. Formerly Pop Coffee Works, the cafe opened by Gabriel Sims-Fewer was the result of what he says was the disconnect between his radical leftist politics and the person he had to be for 40+ hours a week... Currently, he's the only employee but hopes to grow the business into a worker-owned and operated co-op where every single person (himself included) is paid the same with all operational business decisions being made by consensus-based democracy free of managers or institutional hierarchy."
So you don't need to pay?
Anti-Capitalist Teens Are Sharing Shoplifting Tips on TikTok - "The borrowing community is mainly US-based – Lucy and Destiny are both Americans – with teens from wealthier countries like the UK and Australia joining in. They exclusively steal from large chain stores, an act they encourage with the community catchphrase: “If it’s a chain, it’s free reign.” “We have so many companies that don’t care about their customers, only making money,” says Destiny. “If we can punish the corporation, we feel we have done our best.” They evaluate a company’s politics when deciding whether to steal from them... Although Lucy tells me that the anti-capitalism aspect is just an added benefit for her, it’s the whole point for some. Destiny tells me that she “borrowed” pet supplies from a chain pet store thought to mistreat animals and donated them to a local shelter just the other week... Terrence Shulman, an ex-shoplifter who runs a treatment centre in Michigan for shoplifting addiction, says that he understands the premise of stealing to get back at the system, but explains that stores generally bump up the prices of all items to account for shoplifting losses... The mindset growing on TikTok reflects real generational change. A 2020 YouGov report revealed that stealing from large businesses is viewed as more acceptable, and that two in five young people say “deliberate shoplifting is acceptable under certain circumstances”. For sociology lecturer Dan Mercea, what stands out about the TikTok community is their offline activity, in contrast to most online-only clicktivism"
Crime as "activism"
Meme - TRUDY @thetrudz: ""Do you work well under pressure?" Needs the response "is this job one that regularly engages actual emergencies (e.g. an ER, a fire department) or do you fabricate urgency through poor management, uneven distribution of duties and an inflated sense of self for upper management?""
The only jobs that should have pressure are the ones where people's lives are at stake. No wonder these people can't find jobs
Lick the Rich: Brooklyn Liberals Spend $10 To Eat ‘Anti-Capitalist’ Ice Cream - "For $10 each, customers enjoyed frozen creations shaped like Tesla and SpaceX mogul Elon Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Chinese business magnate Jack Ma, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg... Similar ice cream treats cost between one and four dollars... The group responsible for the stunt is MSCHF, a social justice-oriented artist collective."
Meme - Harley & @HarleyandNikki Replying to @rsansonesmith and @MichaelRapaport: "It really doesn't. They have insurance. Nobody is going to risk their life over cheap ass clothing. Management tells you straight up to stay out the way. You know what makes the price go up? Greed."
THAT dude @the_wizzrd: "Tell us you have no idea how running a business works without saying you have no idea how a business works."
Leftist logic: shoplifting doesn't raise prices because of insurance. It's just greed. Then again, they also blame corporate greed for inflation
Facebook - "Part of the reconciliation bill going through congress is tax reform designed to undo elements of the TCJA The left is claiming this is about fairness, but ironically, the parts of TCJA they are repealing is gonna cut taxes on the rich and raise taxes on everyone else Democrats have constantly criticized Republicans for supposed "trickle down" economics, but they're the one doing it now"
"SALT Cap Repeal Could Mean Net Tax Cut for Rich"
Stephen L. Miller on Twitter - Bernie Sanders: "Super-large yachts have become the status symbol of the billionaire class. And Russian oligarchs are not the only people who own them. While half of our people work paycheck to paycheck, members of the American oligarchy spend hundreds of millions to build their very own yachts."
"You own three houses."
Meme - George @GeorgeTakei: "We already redistribute wealth: from the many to the few, from the poor and middle class to the rich. Time to flip the script."
George Takei @GeorgeTakei: "Americans: We can endure higher prices for food and gas if it means putting the screws to Putin. Consider it a patriotic donation in the fight for freedom over tyranny."
Scandinavian Airline SAS Files for Bankruptcy After Pilot Strike - "The strike comes after failed negotiations over pilot pay and working conditions"
"Companies that can't afford to pay a living wage should go out of business."
The dream is for everyone to be employed by the state
Comment: "The corollary of this statement is "People whose labour is not worth a living wage should not be allowed to work""
Meme - *Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk* Communist: "Ew! It's the 1%!!!"
*Kim Jong Un, Stalin, Xi Jinping* Communist: "OMG! It's the 1%!!!"
TheFIcouple on Twitter - "There's approximately 12 million landlords in the United States. On average, 88% own just 2 rental units. Most investors are regular, middle class people, looking to make a better life. NOT real estate tycoons portrayed by the media. Proud to be the average landlords🙋🏻♀️🙋🏼♂️"
The Meme Policeman - Posts | Facebook - James Mercer: "9-5 is bullshit. unpaid lunch breaks are bullshit. working all day to go home and have 2 hours of free time before bed is bullshit. 5 day work week is bullshit. working yourself to death is bullshit. retiring at 65 (unlikely) is bullshit. starting your adult life in debt from student loans is bullshit. giving kids 7 hours of school and then homework to ready them for the neverending grind is bullshit. it is so frustrating that we have one chance at life on this earth and humanity chose taxes and credit scores and pollution instead of floating in the ocean and eating fruit and hanging out."
"This almost reads like a caricature, but it’s serious. There really is this notion for some that, but for capitalism, we could just be lounging and relaxing, munching fruit all day. It’s a surprisingly common viewpoint, particularly among the young, that’s sort of a fusion between the Garden of Eden and Rousseau’s idea of the noble savage. Indeed, both old and new-age Marxists often romanticized the noble savage myth; that man was good and uncorrupted before civilization, and that the modern economy turned everything and everyone into miserable, soulless automatons. Thus, if we just abolished capitalism we’d naturally return to a more fulfilled and happy world. Of course, Rousseau, like the Marxists who followed, knew little about how primitive man actually lived, or anything else about them. It was just a myth that appealed to them. In reality, what drove Rousseau was intense hatred of the world. As a young man, he went to Paris believing he’d be a great musician or poet, and was crushed when he failed, resorting to copying sheet music to pay the bills, the most menial of tasks. He developed a profound hatred of modern life. Later in life, he demanded his mistress abandon all 5 of their children at orphanages, which were notably abhorrent at the time, while his ideas went on to foment the bloody French Revolution. This meme has similar vibes of hating life while fantasizing about a world which doesn’t exist. One of the more interesting modern shows is Alone, where you get to see gung-ho, trained survivalists become noble savages. There are triumphs and happy moments to be sure, but the drudgery and harshness of nature takes its toll on nearly every participant. There is no sitting around eating fruit, it’s a constant battle just to stay fed and alive, and after a few weeks most are fantasizing about donuts or their life back home, only the hope of winning a bunch of cash keeps them going. Not getting paid for the plug, but give the show a watch if you haven’t already!"
Meme - "I SAW YOU LEAVE WITH CHET LAST NIGHT, BUT YOU DIDN'T HOOK UP WITH HIM?"
"OH, THERE WERE TOO MANY RED FLAGS"
"HOW ABOUT YOU SEIZE THE MEANS OF THIS DICK AND REDISTRIBUTE IT TO YOUR ASS, COMRADE?"
graunchocomies
The three despicable myths that are dooming Britain to eternal mediocrity - "What is behind this crisis of conservatism? Partly, it reflects the rise of a technocratic ruling class that is in charge whichever party is in power – an elite that is as intellectually insipid as it is devoid of principle. But it is also the result of the Conservative Party’s embrace of an unholy trinity of despicable myths that have become baked into conventional wisdom. The first is that an ageing population inevitably heralds an ever-growing welfare state... It assumes, in part, that people will automatically become dependent once they reach an arbitrary age, when many older people are quite capable of continuing working if they need to. It also ignores that it is only the very oldest people who rely intensively on the healthcare system. Studies suggest that technological innovations – as we discover and roll out new treatments for disease – may be a more significant driver of future healthcare spending. So is poor management of costs, epitomised by our chaotic procurement processes for everything from loo rolls to light bulbs... In many countries, patients make co-payments for services, in an effort to create a fairer system in which people contribute more to what they use – and yet no politician dares to suggest that British patients might fork out for anything other than prescription drugs. All talk of raising the retirement age has gone suspiciously quiet. The second despicable myth, however, is that average earners won’t need to pay for any of this largesse. The bill can be settled solely by taxing “the rich”. After the grim experiments of the 1970s, it seemed that Britain had finally learned the lesson that “the problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people’s money”. But around the time of the financial crisis – amid the public’s desire for vengeance against the bankers held responsible – the seed was again planted that it is not just practically feasible but morally imperative to bail out the masses by squeezing those with money, never mind the risk that they might flee to a more hospitable jurisdiction... the Tories have become hopelessly lazy about making the arguments for tax cuts in general. They have permitted the Left to frame the debate as an ideologically-driven one, as if there is no body of empirical evidence showing that reducing the tax burden can over time lead to a stronger and more dynamic economy to the benefit of everyone... The final myth is potentially the most dangerous. It is that the challenges Western societies face are so huge and so complex that they can only be addressed through a combination of collective sacrifice and state intervention. We saw this most strikingly in the response to the pandemic, and the lockdowns that have now catalysed the cost-of-living crisis. But it is creeping into policy everywhere. What drives the hubristic push for net zero other than a belief that the environmental cause is so important that the interests of the individual can be justifiably overridden in order to address it? The truth, however, is quite different. To tackle big problems, we need more freedom, not less. Only world-leading innovation by entrepreneurs and businesses can stimulate the new discoveries and technologies that will enable us to deal with supercatastrophic risks... The tragedy of Boris Johnson is that, with all his unbounded optimism, he was well placed to challenge the zero-sum pessimism that underpins all three of the myths that are turning Britain into a middling, despondent country. His failure to do so is bitterly disappointing. Still, it is merely the latest twist in a longer tale of Conservative failure"