If you'd like to know why economic growth is slow....

By Tim Worstall

Then I shall tell you why economic growth is slow. We've become infested with an overweeningly bureaucratic state. I have examples from my own work but perhaps one from the public domain is better:

There was some bad news for York Potash project developer Sirius Minerals last week, after approval of its mine was delayed yet again, causing the shares to plunge.

I'm perfectly happy with the idea that a mine needs planning permission. Indeed, I've no problems at all with the idea that you need a permit to go dig a girt big hole in a national park. However, there's parts of this process that look absolutely absurd:

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