Nell and Ed

I found a number of articles in last week’s Economist particularly enjoyable including those about magic bullets (http://www.economist.com/node/21542716), India’s new biometric scheme (http://www.economist.com/node/21542814 in which Accenture, Wipro and EMC are involved), budget hotels (http://www.economist.com/node/21542760) and natural disasters (http://www.economist.com/node/21542755).

The Bagehot column (http://www.economist.com/node/21542756) also got me thinking about my Glasgow Gran. I am a firm believer in her old maxim that, “people take you at your own evaluation”. After reading all about Ed Milliband, (who I have to say I am fairly indifferent about), I possibly need to modify that thought slightly to say that, “people take you at your own evaluation so long as you remain within the bounds of credulity”. I suspect the key thing then is people’s ability (no doubt based on their inherent level of self confidence), to understand where that boundary actually lies… I’d love to tell people that I am the most competent astronaut who has yet to walk on the moon, and who knows maybe I actually even believe that, however I suspect even my closest friends and supporters might quibble.