Demos Greenhouse
- Friday Rant - Train Tyres: A Tory Technofix John Redwood's review is published today. Except that it isn't. It's 'published' in the sense that some of it is being talked about. But it doesn't seem to exist as an actual published thing. The web site where it should be hasn't been updated since June. The glass of Tory transparency is still, it seems, frosted like the window of a Surbiton lav. Anyway, their attempt to control the agenda has been flummoxed somewhat by today's lovely discussion of John Redwood's technofix footnote. You'll... continue reading on 17th August 2007 Comments (1)
- I know what you did last summer - and I can save you 25% It’s striking how frequently there are stories about the insecurity of our personal information. There’s a few more today – here’s one, predictably about Facebook. They usually revolve around the idea that we don’t realise our personal information is shared, stolen or abused by lots of people and organisations without our knowledge. I suspect most people probably are aware that it happens. But we’re less sure about exactly why, and what the consequences are continue reading on 14th August 2007 in For Your Information
- The failure of market failure John Kay has an good article in Prospect this month, presumably based on his book The Truth About Markets, which I have never got round to reading. He argues that seeing state intervention purely through the prism of market failure risks leading us to an impoverished view of politics, democracy and collective decision-making. It’s a relatively long one and is hidden behind the subscription wall, so here are some his key points: continue reading on 14th August 2007
- They're all the same etc etc This is pretty good - tells you where all the candidates stand in the US presidential running, on some of the issues at least... continue reading on 13th August 2007
- Pubcast: in the red corner, weighing in at 50 pounds of emotional value... National Treasures began this Wednesday on Radio 4. It features panelists including Robert Hewison, who is a Demos associate, debating the relative cultural value of different British landmarks, art-works and institutions. On Wednesday it was The Thames Estuary (forwarded by Germaine Greer) vs Stonehenge (forwarded by Tristram Hunt). You can catch it after the Today programme on Wednesdays or keenos can listen again.These kinds of open civitasYou can listen to the... continue reading on 9th August 2007 in Demos Podcasts
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Reforming public service reform
There is a bit of a debate bubbling under about public services at the moment, which will be worth watching over the next year or so. The Tories are arguing that the government is subtly rowing back on the Blairite reform agenda – and that only they can be trusted to see it through.
To me this is interesting on two levels.continue reading on 6th August 2007 Comments (1) - Mill: timeless or timed out? Roy Hattersley has a provocative peice in the Guardian today, in which he argues that J.S. Mill’s version of liberalism is out of date. His two key points are: continue reading on 6th August 2007 in The politics of public behaviour Comments (1)
- advertising gets on the case Are the days of guilt-inducing adverts about how we should do our part for the environment over? Hopefully, yes. In exactly 25 days, we may see more ads from the green thing like this one: 'do you suffer from annoying wind'. Have you found any other creative approaches to green communication? I know there are loads out there. Let us know in the comments. continue reading on 6th August 2007
- carbon neutralizers A few weeks ago Demos published a report with NESTA titled The Disruptors about low-carbon innovation. Low carbon-innovation basically means people and companies who make things that can reduce our production of carbon. It's not necessarily about technological breakthroughs - but more about how technologies can be applied in new ways, so that they are used by people and their benefits are spread through society. The argument being that if we are going to make the transition to a low-carbon... continue reading on 3rd August 2007 in Demos Podcasts The Disrupters
- Home and Away I'd forgotten how slow news is in August. If you're struggling for something to read today, Matthew d'Ancona has an interesting piece on the intellectual genesis of Gordon Brown's 'hearts and minds' approach to counter-terrorism over on Comment is Free. d'Ancona argues that Brown perceives lots of parallels with the Cold War. People may also have missed Brown's own article for the Washington Post, where he sets out his formulation that the special relationship is based not just on shared interests or shared history, but shared values. Partly political positioning, but still worth a read. continue reading on 2nd August 2007