Richard Jones

A really interesting episode, highlighting the paradox that UK ranks as no 4 on the global innovation index, yet it's close to bottom of the leave on productivity growth. V good discussion digging below the aggregate, highlighting both UK's strengths & weaknesses in innovation.

“In many sectors this is the way globalisation works: a small handful of companies are responsible for the world’s production of a single widget” Great piece on the detailed texture of globalisation:the world economy is even more interdependent than simple trade figures suggest.

Important & rightly praised thread on why UK's problem is lack of demand for skilled people, not lack of supply. Result of chronic underinvestment in UK & resulting economic stagnation Some important additional context: post-GFC divergence in economic performance between UK & USA

Just finished @mjohnharrison’s marvellous new book. Essential reading for all of us who have suffered “the blunt force trauma of having reached the future”.

An interesting thread on the semiconductor strategy from @ProfRachelGaN - but it does emphasise that this is really science policy rather than industrial strategy (the former, of course, being much cheaper than the latter).

A great read from @AtheneDonald, & an important book for anyone who is interested in improving the culture of science, whatever their gender.

A great piece on Oldham's economic problems, featuring @FrancisAlun & @AndyWWestwood. Quotes a resident: “We just haven’t got any money" - sounds obvious, but so many SE-based politicians & commentators don't appreciate just how poor towns like Oldham are.

Really good piece from @Noahpinion on the new bipartisan Washington Consensus: an end to the primacy of free trade and laissez faire, for a concrete industrial strategy aimed at national security, industrial capacity and middle class jobs

Feeling quite smug now. They’re great books (though possibly not quite that great)

Good that there was so much consensus at this @ukonward event last night on the need for the UK to be serious about industrial strategy, and quite a lot of agreement about some necessary ingredients. Here's a good thread summarising the proceedings...

I enjoyed this evening's @ukonward event on industrial strategy, a lot of consensus amongst the panel on (a) the need for industrial strategy, and (b) some of the necessary ingredients for the situation the UK finds itself in. This is a good summary thread...

"Nuclear takes too long to build", say its opponents. Great post from @_HannahRitchie looking at the data. "The median time to build a nuclear reactor was 6.3 years", but there's a long tail. But some countries (like the UK) have just got worse at building anything.