Is the UK close to widespread adoption of driverless cars? July 30, 2014 Stian Westlake, executive director of research at Nesta, says Yes. Self-driving cars offer big benefits for consumers and for the economy. They’re safer. They’ll allow us to free up city centre parking and relieve drudgery for the 57 per cent of British workers who drive to work. The reality is near at hand. Google cars [...]
Argentina is flirting with default – and the consequences could be far-reaching July 29, 2014 Today marks the deadline for the Argentinian government to reach a deal with a group of creditors over a bond repayment dispute. The stakes are high for the downwardly-mobile country, which once ranked among the world’s richest. If it fails, Argentina will experience its second sovereign debt default in just 13 years. Why does this [...]
Why inequality in science is a good thing – if you care about progress July 29, 2014 DOES inequality in the output of scientists matter? Inequality is a fashionable topic, and evidence for its existence is keenly sought in all sorts of places. John Ioannidis, a health policy researcher at Stanford, and his colleagues have found it in the research outputs of their fellow academics. As they detail in a paper in [...]
Why won’t Labour have lunch with the City? We’d welcome an honest debate July 29, 2014 WHEN Labour left power in 1979, many of the party’s grandees and politicians accepted invitations to have lunch with me and a coterie of City bankers. Harold Wilson, James Callaghan, Peter Shore and Eric Heffer numbered among those who agreed to some gentle hospitality, providing an opportunity for all parties to exchange views and ideas [...]
Is making bankers take an oath the best way to restore trust in the financial system? July 29, 2014 Phillip Blond, director of ResPublica, says Yes. Rules-based approaches have dominated the regulatory response to the banking crisis. But more law does not produce better behaviour, and more regulation produces more complexity that’ll be gamed by people determined to get round any limits on their conduct. The real cause of bad behaviour is a culture [...]
Why the coming UK shale boom is good news for jobs and the environment July 28, 2014 SHALE gas production would be good news for meeting Britain’s energy needs, for jobs and for the environment, and yesterday’s launch of the 14th licensing round for onshore oil and gas was good news for shale development. First, gas supplies. The British Geological Survey has estimated that the North of England and Southern Scotland have [...]
Hollande’s solution to France’s economic tragedy is more failed corporatism July 28, 2014 THE UK is becoming a low-skilled, low pay economy, and ordinary workers aren’t sharing in the proceeds of growth.” How often do we hear this? Those who articulate these views, particularly on the left, argue that we need more state intervention in the economy: more “social investments” paid for by higher taxes, “worker representation”, industrial [...]
The NHS does face a crisis – but it will take more than a cash injection to solve it July 28, 2014 THE NHS arouses strong emotions, and the front page headlines across national newspapers yesterday, calling out a crisis in the health service, were just the latest example. But behind the talk of the NHS being in a “critical condition”, there are real causes for concern. Over a third of hospitals are now in deficit, waiting [...]
As Halifax reports buyer confidence slipping, is the housing market finally cooling down? July 28, 2014 Howard Archer, chief European and UK economist at IHS Global Insight, says Yes. It’s not guaranteed that current signs that the housing market is cooling will prove lasting, but house price growth has likely peaked. The new regulations under the Mortgage Market Review have clearly had at least a temporary effect in taking some steam [...]
Longitude Prize: Why open innovation can help us take on antibiotic resistance July 27, 2014 The battle against the bugs has become something of a crusade. A month ago, the public chose the search for an answer to antibiotic resistance as the topic for the 2014 Longitude Prize, a £10m challenge to help solve one of the greatest issues of our time. Recently, David Cameron committed the UK to leading [...]