It’s easy to sex up the business of paying tax
To fund the war against Napoleon in 1813, Princess Marianne of Prussia invented an ingenious tax-raising scheme. Wealthy Prussians were…
Could my slogan have swayed the Brexit vote?
People sometimes ask what slogan could have swayed the Brexit vote: the opposite of the touchstone phrase ‘Take back control’.…
Why don’t we see more big infrastructure projects?
In 2012 I finished a meeting in Berlin and headed to Tegel airport. Apparently mine was a historic flight, since…
In defence of inaction: why it’s usually best to do nothing
I recently came across the Small Robot Company, a British agricultural robotics start-up. Their vision is that with smart, autonomous…
The consequences of the new EU car speed limit
A once famous question posed to job-seekers at Microsoft was ‘Why are manhole covers round?’ The question was revealing not…
The uncountable problems with innumerate Brits
Alevels, from the perspective of a ‘choice architect’, are a disaster. While pupils are free to pick and mix freely…
Are IQ tests really the best way to measure nature vs nurture?
I have a dim memory from 1970 of a primly dressed distant relative visiting in a Baby Austin. This, I…
We put a man on the moon before wheels on suitcases. What else are we missing?
The Romans never invented the stirrup. It took 50 years after the invention of canned food for someone to invent…
![Video-conferencing could revolutionise how we work – so why have we failed to invest in it properly? [GETTY IMAGES]](https://spectatorau.imgix.net/content/uploads/2019/02/GettyImages_517017732.jpg?auto=compress,enhance,format&crop=faces,entropy,edges&fit=crop&w=410&h=275)
We don’t need more technology, we need better technology
I’d like to propose a new scientific institution: the IUT, or Institute of Underrated Technology. Rather than trying to invent…
Why HS2 doesn’t stand up to the test of time
In past years, I have been a critic of HS2. I might now change my mind. One simple tweak might…
Why it’s so much easier not to speak to people
I recently saw a series of photographs depicting a rural home in China. Pride of place in a grimly furnished…
Identity is just as important as wealth. Why don’t economists get that?
It has become commonplace for news reports to refer to almost any civic unrest, or even unusual patterns of voting,…
The most underpriced Christmas gift you can buy
During the second Gulf war, simply out of curiosity, I found myself visiting the website of a giant American mercenary…
Technology wastes as much time as it saves
I have just spent a weekend planning a family trip to Chennai and Hyderabad. Since some of the flights are…
Trump may have a point about fake news
In recent years, much scrutiny has been paid to the workings of social media algorithms. Driven by escalating competition for…
Sending more people to uni isn’t the answer
Imagine a world where employers judged applicants solely on their dress. Anyone in frayed clothes or scuffed shoes would never…
John McDonnell’s right – the four-day week could work
Most people were scandalised by John McDonnell’s proposal to promote a four-day working week. But before we get incensed about…
A non-stop flight to Perth showed me that better beats bigger
A few weeks ago I flew to Sydney to speak at a conference. The first leg was on the new…
Markets are clever precisely because people are silly
A month ago I wanted to travel to Bath for a 60th birthday party. From Kent, this either involves a…
Silicon Valley’s weird ideas on how to improve human life
Which is more diverse: London or Devon? That’s not a trick question. London is much more diverse than Devon. But…
Watch out comrade: big business is turning communist
Is it me, or is business becoming a teeny-weeny bit Stalinist? Common features include 1) Paranoia about political ideology; 2)…
Why data doesn’t always reveal the truth
In late 1973 the graduate admissions department at UC Berkeley discovered that for the forthcoming year it had awarded places…
There is nothing that makes you more anxious than being rich
H.L. Mencken once said that a rich man is anyone who earns more than his wife’s sister’s husband. The anthropologist…
When it comes to new technology, we’re all Luddites at heart
When I saw my first jogger in Wales in the early 1970s, I assumed he was running away from the…
It doesn’t matter how hard you work – just how busy you look
The behavioural scientist Dan Ariely once found himself chatting to a locksmith with a curious problem. The better he became…
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