Category Archives: Writing

The most important story in this year’s Budget is the downward revision of both productivity and GDP growth. In March, the Office of Budget Responsibility expected growth in productivity per hour to come in at 1.6% in 2017 and by at least 1.5% in the years thereafter. Now, they do not expect productivity to have increasedContinue reading “A gloomy economic outlook reflects the failures of the last two chancellors”

Ten years after the crash, the movement to replace neoliberalism is in the ascendency. Well organised campaigns cover everything from the promotion of pluralism in economic curricula to the application of new economic principles in local communities. Academics and campaigners, who prior to the crash were lone voices in the wind, have been joined by a growing chorusContinue reading “The movement to replace neoliberalism is on the ascendency – where should it go next?”

The Chancellor said today that the future is bright and that he is building a Britain fit for the future. But that’s not what it looks like to many people, including economists. The uncertainties of Brexit – which have already cut growth and raised inflation – are just the tip of the iceberg. As the IPPRContinue reading “The Budget Did Not Address The Deep Economic Challenges The UK Faces”

The arguments for mission-oriented industrial strategy in general, and the focus on a zero carbon mission in particular, have been well made. Historical examples – the moon landings provide the usual case – prove that it matters who is driving innovation and for what purpose. Public policy can steer the path of socioeconomic development toward solutionsContinue reading “How to deliver a national mission to decarbonise the British economy”

The mayor of London’s plan to introduce the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ) by April 2019 is a very important step in reducing London’s lethal and illegal air pollution. This air pollution is attributable to over 9,400 early deaths per year; the negative health effects it causes fall particularly hard on children and low income communities. The greatest sourceContinue reading “London should embrace digital technology to clean up its dirty air”

In times of disjuncture and hardship, an impulse exists to take flight from reality and retreat into the comfort of old-worn habits and familiar surroundings. To some, this offers the opportunity to reflect and reimagine. Many may simply desire to escape, or remain entirely ignorant to the problems at hand. For others, to be seenContinue reading “Davos’s time is up”

How can we face up to the enormity of environmental collapse? How can we collectively build a politics for the Anthropocene? Laurie Laybourn-Langton interviews activist and former climate diplomat John Ashton. Laurie Laybourn-Langton (LL-L): You’ve been at the forefront of combatting climate change through your role at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office and by foundingContinue reading “Imagination and will in the Anthropocene”

All states, markets, welfare systems, major religions, their justifying ideas and the people that fought to create them came about in a uniquely stable epoch geologists call the Holocene. This era was typified by a climate suited to human flourishing, and is now over. In its place comes the Anthropocene, the name for a timeContinue reading “Welcome to the Anthropocene”

Why didn’t Transport for London (TfL) invent Uber – and would Londoners be better off if it had done? The issues raised by this question are important and go beyond both transport and London and make us ask who and what the digital revolution is for. In the jargon, Uber is a digital platform thatContinue reading “Uber X TfL? Turn peer-to-peer transport into a public service”

London has always overcome the great natural and man-made challenges it has faced. In the Victorian era, industrialisation and empire supercharged London’s economy, leading its population to more than triple as people sought a more prosperous life. With them came a raft of problems, from sewage to disease, that eroded the quality of life forContinue reading “The next Mayor should channel the Victorians to make London the greenest capital in the world”