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Theme : public_behaviour
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Health strategy to take on obesity | Society | SocietyGuardian.co.uk
John Reid (as Health Sec) arguing:
"We need to find the right balance, rejecting both the nanny state and the 'Pontius Pilate' state which washes its hands of its citizens' health."
from : duncanoleary
11th June 2007
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Guardian Unlimited Politics | David Cameron's speech to RSA on civility
Argues:
- 'social responsibility' is not laissez faire but a framework of incentives
- govt. cannot be neutral on the family
- devolution creates ownership and responsibility (draws parallel with owning council houses)
from : duncanoleary
5th June 2007
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Professor Robert Cialdini on influencing public behaviour (RSA talk)
Argues that there are Six "weapons of influence": Reciprocation; Commitment and Consistency; Social Proof; Authority; Liking; Scarcity.
Suggest social norms are as important as economistic hard incentives.
from : duncanoleary
5th June 2007
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Matthew Taylor on Pro-social Behaviour (pdf)
Argues:
'Pro-social strategy therefore allies itself with three other sets of arguments: for participative forms of policy making, for devolved forms of decision making, and for co-productive forms of public service management.'
from : duncanoleary
5th June 2007
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David Miliband Spectator article
'From traffic to terrorism, the economy to the environment, our interdependence means that the extension of personal freedom relies on collective action (and if it needs underlining, not just state action)'
from : duncanoleary
4th June 2007
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'The right dialectic' | Danny Kruger | Prospect (September 2006)
Argues: 'fraternity is also the ghost in the machine of the debates about health and education, about housing and the environment, and about crime and its causes. In each of these areas the vital issue is how communities themselves, not the individual or the state, can address the challenges that face them'
from : duncanoleary
4th June 2007
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BBC NEWS | Green taxes 'would hit poor most'
'Poor families would be hardest hit by "green" taxes designed to protect the environment, research suggests...poorer households used a higher rate of natural resources such as gas, electricity and water, meaning they would face a bigger tax bill'
from : duncanoleary
4th June 2007
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Comment Central: Zero case for lying
The deputy chief medical officer, said that the change was meant to send “a strong signal” to the thousands of women...But she admitted that it was not in response to any new medical evidence.
This is merely the latest instalment of an extremely dangerous development. The public health profession has long seen itself as having a political role in making us behave as it wishes, rather than simply providing us with information.'
from : duncanoleary
25th May 2007
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Stern Review Summary (pdf)
'Putting an appropriate price on carbon – explicitly through tax or trading, or implicitly through regulation – means that people are faced with the full social cost of their actions. This will lead individuals and businesses to switch away from high-carbon
goods and services, and to invest in low-carbon alternatives. Economic efficiency points to the advantages of a common global carbon price: emissions reductions will then take place wherever they are cheapest.'
from : duncanoleary
24th May 2007
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Social costs of gambling nearly half that of drug abuse, new book concludes
Argues:
' The social costs of gambling, such as increased crime, lost work time, bankruptcies and financial hardships faced by the families of gambling addicts, have reached epidemic proportions, costing the economy as much as $54 billion annually, Earl L. Grinols, an Illinois economist, has written in “Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits,” published this month by Cambridge University Press.
This compares with the estimated annual $110 billion cost of drug abuse'
from : duncanoleary
24th May 2007
