By: Paul Ormerod

Paul Ormerod is an economist at Volterra Partners LLP, author and an Honorary Professor at the Alliance Business School at the University of Manchester

All 196 Articles

Hikes to national insurance funds a level of public services we can’t afford

September 15, 2021

The government’s plan to increase National Insurance has sparked the predictable furore. The pressures to raise taxes to pay for the level of public services the electorate have come to expect is hardly new. The welfare state was created immediately after the Second World War. For a time, the financial demands were held in check. [...]
A service economy and shrinking workforce is the driving force of low economic growth

September 8, 2021

Extinction Rebellion’s fortnight of protests have only hardened existing beliefs and positions on both sides of the debate. But a book by Dietrich Vollrath of the University of Houston suggests that there may be much broader support for a low or even zero growth agenda than even XR might imagine. Vollrath does not address this [...]
Labour shortages make light work of fears of a post-Brexit unemployment surge

September 1, 2021

In the two decades before the Brexit referendum, there was a large increase in the number of people moving from the EU to the UK. In the mid-1990s there were less than one million EU citizens living in the UK. By the mid-2010s, this had risen to 3.6 million. The bulk of the increase came [...]
Science has been overrun with politics – it’s time to take it back

August 25, 2021

At the onset of the Covid pandemic in February 2020, the pages of the Lancet, a very prestigious medical journal, carried a statement eulogising China and the efforts it had already made to deal with the virus. For the luminaries who signed the statement, no praise could be too high for the Chinese. They had [...]
From Covid deaths to Usain Bolt: statistics are never black and white

August 18, 2021

Who is the greatest 100 metre male runner of all time? The answer seems obvious, even if you lack sporting common knowledge, it is only a quick Google search away. Usain Bolt’s time of 9.58 seconds is unchallenged. Both Tyson Gaye and Yohan Blake are quite away behind with records of 9.69. This year’s Olympic [...]
The influencer economy: online ranking systems are a purveyor of inequality

August 13, 2021

To the victor the spoils. This well-known phrase might be thought to relate to the recent Olympics. Except that it is not a really accurate description of the Games themselves. True, the gold medallist gains more kudos than the silver or bronze. But at future athletics meets, for example, all three can expect an increase [...]

New Companies House ID rule triggers 30 per cent slump in registrations

Why Snap thinks 2026 will be Sport’s most connected and branded year yet

London exhibitions 2026: From Tracey Emin to Anish Kapoor

By: Paul Ormerod

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