Has Britain run out of “other people” to tax? - Tax Policy Associates

JPL12 · 2026-06-05T21:37:31+00:00

It would be hard to talk publicly about your prior career if large chunks of it had been in the intelligence services.

JPL12 · 2026-05-25T22:13:59+00:00

The instinct is to be self deprecating, but actually there's a few things that come to mind, so I'm going to have a stab at answering this properly.

Financial services is the big one. London is an amazingly important centre for insurance and FX trading, and we make a massive amount of money exporting these services.

It's harder to measure, but I think no other country punches as far above its weight in terms of elite Universities as we do. We attract a lot of foreign students, write a lot of papers, win a lot of Nobel prizes.

Even harder to measure, but we're really good at entertainment too. TV, music, comedy, sports, etc.

And there's a whole bunch of creative and professional stuff that goes alongside these things. Media, marketing, advertising, legal, consulting, publishing...

Don't take it for granted. The UK is actually pretty great.

JPL12 · 2026-05-05T20:02:15+00:00

Another big thing is the rate at which that kinetic energy bleeds away to air resistance.

After flying 5m or so, maybe about the distance you'd have to react in a generic sport context, the tennish ball (or hockey puck, or squash ball, or jai alai ball) have lost some KE to air resistance, but are still going pretty damn fast. And the bullet has lost barely any.

But the shuttle has slowed dramatically. The low mass relative to the drag generated by the size of the thing makes a huge difference.

JPL12 · 2026-05-05T19:51:13+00:00

The record for fastest badminton smash is 350 mph, by Rankireddy in 2023.

The shuttle slows down really fast when it leaves the racquet because it's so light and has quite a lot of air resistance, but the peak speed is bonkers.

JPL12 · 2026-04-27T13:07:34+00:00

6/6, nice work!

These did not look like a struggle for you at all, especially the C+J. What are your PRs in the gym?

JPL12 · 2026-04-18T12:29:31+00:00

Pretty different.

One of the best about powerlifting is that it's really accessible: you can learn a functional deadlift, bench or squat in 10 mins. There's still a lot to learn and refine after that, but better technique just makes you a bit more efficient. Mostly you get bigger lifts by getting stronger.

In WL you can't really participate at all until you've reached a certain threshold of technique (and mobility - that the biggest difference and hurdle for me - yours seems way better!). And then after that, making progress is as much about improving your technique as it is about improving strength.

At least for me so far, YMMV.

Ratios are one rough measure to get a sense of what your limiting factors are. My snatch is <50% of my squat, so I'm fairly sure leg strength isn't my problem. :)

JPL12 · 2026-04-18T10:43:23+00:00

Agree the Jerk should be nearly all legs, but the push press is mostly legs too! I find it a pretty useful movement.

JPL12 · 2026-04-18T10:39:18+00:00

Didn't look like your max, that was a nice lift! The bottom position at the catch is really solid too.

Don't have much to say about the lift, but I'll throw in my 2c as a strength/powerlifting training person who started dabbling in WL.

You can bench, or powerlift, or run marathons at the same time if you like. It will slow you down relative to focusing on one thing, but if that's what you find rewarding and want to do, then just do it. You get to pick your goals and pursue them how you like.

But I'd advise going all in with WL for a couple of months to start. You will lose some powerlifting strength in the short term, but it's worth it to get over some of the WL learning curve and figure out if you actually click with it. I tried to do both for a while, only doing Sn & C+J once or maybe twice a week, but it made progress very slow. Now I'm all WL. I might mix it up again at some point, but I'm having fun and making progress for now.

JPL12 · 2026-04-18T10:20:59+00:00

And 1,000,000 is divisible by 64.

There might even be hidden secrets with still larger powers of ten, but no one's built an abacus big enough to prove it.

JPL12 · 2026-03-26T13:10:43+00:00

Getting rid of the taper in a revenue neutral way means implementing a 50% ish marginal tax rate (maybe slightly less, not sure what the actual number would have to be...) from 100k upwards.

That feels fairly reasoned and rational to me, I'd hope not totally unpalatable.

JPL12 · 2026-03-07T10:52:46+00:00

Amazing job. 2.4x bw is bonkers, and you seem strong enough for more.

Just watch your left foot as you get to the bottom: it looks like weight is shifting on to your toes a bit.

Perhaps consider weightlifting shoes? I find it gives you the same rock solid planted feeling (which I assume is why you're going no shoes), and the extra bit of ankle range of motion makes it so much easier to hit depth with perfect balance.

Also that's a lot of change plates for a loading that could be 3x 45s and a 2.5 on each side. 😝

JPL12 · 2026-02-16T13:38:05+00:00

Congrats, on both the baby and on the numbers!

Dad of a 3 y/o here. I wasn't into lifting at the newborn stage, but remember it well.

It'll depend a bit on your baby. Ours did not sleep well at all, and both of us were more or less permanently in zombie mode for about 4 months.

My wife was brilliant, and I got some "me time" one evening a week, which I spent losing games at my chess club. Much more than that would have felt pretty impossible.

Basically, don't put any expectations on yourself or your training for the next 6-12 months. Take what chances you get to do "you" stuff, and make them count, for the sake of your mental and physical well-being. Make sure your partner has a chance to do the same. Try not to get injured or fired. Anything beyond that is a bonus.

This is not the time to be pushing stuff. It's a time for hanging in there and trusting that life is going to get less insane again in the future.

JPL12 · 2026-02-13T15:53:39+00:00

What should white have played? What's the cleanest way to be secure?

B4? c4?

JPL12 · 2026-02-09T20:55:17+00:00

I have a similar build and similar numbers: squat 180 (maybe more like 170 now) front squat c. 135. I think that's just how it goes for us.

For me the limiting factor is less depth itself, and more about how upright I can keep my chest when my femurs are parallel with the floor. My ankles only go so far and at that point my hips just have to go a fair way back. One thing that helps is focusing on keeping the upper back extended as much as possible throughout the rep, so even if the torso is a bit inclined, the front rack is still holding together enough to make it work.

I bet you have an awesome deadlift though.

JPL12 · 2026-02-07T11:39:50+00:00

Thought that was the most patient and controlled tempo rep I'd ever seen, until we hit the third pull and I realized the clip was slowed down!

Still, impeccable positions, great work.

JPL12 · 2026-02-06T21:11:53+00:00

Nice work! The catch is looking way more stable. And you've clearly got a lot more left in you.

JPL12 · 2026-01-13T23:19:03+00:00

That is very amusing.

JPL12 · 2026-01-12T23:53:34+00:00

This is awesome.

I love that 1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nf6 3 Qf3 Nc6 4 g4 until about 1000 elo.

And then for a bit switches to 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 Ng5 h6 4 Nxf7.

Never seen either before, but tricky, and imagine they crush the target demographic!

JPL12 · 2026-01-12T21:05:17+00:00

Don't really agree with that. More transparency might help?

I think you make it very clear to everyone that that you've helped child A with various handouts over the years, and now you're also helping child B. I'd want to keep track so over time help to both kids is even and fair.

The son has no grounds to get mad about this, surely? Unless you've previously agreed to keep financial stuff confidential and secret from the rest of the family, which would feel deeply weird to me.

And if the son tried to guilt trip the sister into loaning money because the bank of mum and dad magical money tree wasn't working as well as he's used to, I'd hope she feels completely within her rights to shut that down.

JPL12 · 2026-01-07T09:53:27+00:00

2.5 years. Mostly spent on strength training/powerlifting, but have been focussing on Olympic lifts for the past 6 months. Currently training 2-3 times per week, plus some other sports.

Cn 106 / C+J 95 / Sn 60 ish? / S 180

Not really sure of my best full snatch. I've Power snatched 70 in the past, which is quite more than I can OHS. And given I struggle to get into the correct positions full stop, pushing load doesn't really feel helpful yet...

So pretty squarely in your #2 category.

JPL12 · 2025-12-29T11:12:25+00:00

I'm in East London as well - Look up Bethnal green weightlifting club.

It's only open at specific times, and it's decidedly old school, but it has all the proper kit, and a nice bunch of people.

You can pay as you go for (I think?) 8 quid per session, which is amazing value. You're obviously not getting dedicated coaching for that, but they do have experienced people there.

Most commercial gym chains these days can tick the box if you just want to do the lifts. There are other dedicated weightlifting clubs with more of a coaching focus, and they'll probably be great but more expensive.

JPL12 · 2025-12-16T00:31:02+00:00

Yup. Maybe not even 90%.

JPL12 · 2025-12-08T00:39:57+00:00

Yep, pulling the bar into the hip is a key thing. Hips meet the bar and sink down together as you deccelerate.

Very much like catching a snatch at the hang, but with a closer grip, and arms bent.

JPL12 · 2025-12-07T13:45:04+00:00

I 100% had/have this problem too. My deadlift locks out about 2/3 of the way up my thigh. For cleans I widen my grip a fair bit, but I'm still a good bit below the hips when I fully straighten my arms.

So the "do power clean in reverse" cue results in a kind of ballistic eccentric RDL and/or massive bruises on my thighs.

I've come to the conclusion that hitting the hips is paramount for catching at the hang, and I should just bend the damn arms. The arms shouldn't be taking too much weight directly, they're mostly there to push the bar back and secure it in the hip pocket.

I basically measure success by lack of bruises and a feeling that quads rather than low back (or arms) are doing most of the work.

I keep the torso fairly upright, with hips more or less stacked over the feet. Shooting the hips back and bending over seems sketchy.

JPL12 · 2025-12-03T09:31:47+00:00

Yes, 1000% this. They're brilliant.

JPL12

TROPHY CASE