Archive for October, 2010

Over the past week or so I have stumbled across several references to the debate on inequality in America. I am not sure whether this is a trend or not but I thought it was worth pulling them together. I should emphasise I have not searched for pieces on the subject – if I had […]

A reminder that I will be debating Tim Jackson , the professor of sustainable development at the University of Surrey, tomorrow week on Prosperity without growth? at the Battle of Ideas festival weekend in London. To get a quick idea of Jackson’s arguments they are summarised in his Ted lecture available to watch above. A […]

My introduction to the debate on “Limits to growth in 21st century” as part of the Great Debate Green Phoenix festival programme in Newcastle on 22 August can be watched above. The whole session is available here. This should not be confused with my debate with Jonathan Porritt in Newcastle earlier this week. That should […]

Westlaw News & Insight, an American legal news service from Thomson Reuters, has published an article by me on “A ‘new normal’ after Lehman”.

It is not possible to make a convincing case against austerity without countering the pervasive cultural aversion to prosperity. Read my latest spiked article here.

Cision, a global media intelligence provider, has named this website as one of its top 25 UK personal finance blogs. That is strange because I cannot recall any of my previous 1,276 posts that I would classify as being about personal finance. The most common tags I use include America, climate, consumption, development, economics, finance, growth, […]

The Independent has published an article by me on Prosperity without growth: a contradiction in terms? on its website.

This is my latest comment from Fund Strategy. An economist transported from the mid-20th century, let alone earlier, would no doubt find the contemporary discussion of economics bizarre. The focus is almost entirely on developments he would regard as at most of secondary importance, including inflation, quantitative easing and personal consumption. In contrast, the big […]

Obama could kill fossil fuels overnight with a nuclear dash for thorium, Telegraph, by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard. Evidently Carlo Rubbia, a Nobel laureate, is working on thorium as a clean, cheap and safe alternative to uranium in reactors. Are cattle an endangered species?, Rational Optimist, by Matt Ridley. The author finds that one of the plants designated […]

Given that Richard Layard’s Movement for Happiness is due to be launched in Britain in January it makes sense to be prepared. The former government’s “happiness tsar” will no doubt attack prosperity while arguing happiness should be the over-riding goal of state policy and for individuals. Two recent Battles in Print from the Institute of […]