For centuries, Britain’s financial system has been a cornerstone of global commerce – a home of innovation, competitiveness and a hard-won reputation for stability. But today, as our economy grows more digital and globally integrated, it is increasingly reliant on an overlooked element: space. From high-frequency trading to GPS-enabled logistics, cross-border payments to timestamped transactions, […]
Psychologists largely agree that we all live with an inner pessimist. Why? Because for most of human history, reacting to danger – real or perceived – was essential for survival. This has left us biologically wired to overreact to threats and underreact to good news, which helps explain why emotional, end-of-the-world-style stories tend to stick […]
Last week, NHS GPs began prescribing Mounjaro for weight loss for the first time. But for many people reaching out to their doctor, the response is likely to be disappointing – the NHS has made it clear that the drug will only be available to those who meet a strict set of criteria. The public […]
This article is the first in a fortnightly series of policy proposals from John Penrose and the Centre for Small State Conservatives. ‘Productivity isn’t everything, but in the long run, it’s almost everything’. This famous aphorism, coined by Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman, should send shivers down every British spine. UK productivity trails France, Germany […]
A giant paradox cripples industrial Britain: we are a nation of inventors, and yet manufacturing is in decline. We nurture brilliant engineers, and yet commercialisation too often goes offshore – including to other advanced economies. This is a disaster for national prosperity. Collectively we spend a fortune on science and research. But if commercial exploitation […]
Energy is the great enabler. It comforts us by cooling our offices in summer and heating our homes in winter; it nourishes us by synthesising fertilisers and purifying water; it raises our infrastructure by forging steel and melting silicon into glass; it connects the world by mobilising cars, trains, and aeroplanes; it generates electricity, that […]
People say nothing works in Britain. That we cannot build anything any more. We hear about a decade of form filling before a spade is in the ground. Then, when we finally get going, only our grandchildren have a hope of seeing it actually built. But that’s not true everywhere. On March 14, digging started […]
Isn’t The Guardian just delightful at times? Take this recent piece, seemingly about fishing. Look beneath the surface, and the reporting actually manages to both diss the Left’s new favourite economist Mariana Mazzucato, and also show that central, let alone state, planning isn’t how productivity and economic growth happen. Of course, being The Guardian, they’ve […]
Last week, Boom Supersonic’s XB-1 jet became the first civilian aircraft to break the sound barrier since Concorde when the US company’s demonstrator aircraft achieved supersonic flight over a Californian desert. The aircraft, which accelerated to 10% faster than the speed of sound, is the company’s trailblazer product, leading the way to the development of […]
Can Britain strike a deal with President Trump and avoid the looming tariff trap? Why are leaders in the UK and the US falling short of the so-called “Reagan test”? And, could the UK be on the cusp of creating its own billion-pound tech titan? Join Douglas Carswell from the Mississippi Centre for Public Policy, […]
If you watched Peaky Blinders on Netflix, you might remember the charming Victorian village where Aunt Polly’s house was set. Those scenes were filmed in Port Sunlight, an iconic community near Liverpool inspired by the Arts and Crafts movement. Built by Lever Brothers, the precursor to Unilever, it offered vernacular-style housing to soap factory workers. […]
The following story contains spoilers for Avengers: Infinity War. Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Endgame is anticipated to be one of the biggest cinematic events in film history. The film is yet to be released, yet it has already shattered numerous box office records. The movie will follow up on the beloved group of superheroes and their […]
Over the Christmas week, CapX is republishing its favourite pieces from the past year. You can find the full list here. The battle of genetically modified foods is being waged in a mire of confusion and bad science. Scare stories over “frankenfoods” and “mutant crops” have insidiously manipulated the framing of the debate into a […]
Over the Christmas week, CapX is republishing its favourite pieces from the past year. You can find the full list here. A couple of years ago, I commissioned a study in which 1,000 Swedes were asked eight questions about global development. On average, every age group and every income group was wrong on all eight […]
Over the Christmas week, CapX is republishing its favourite pieces from the past year. You can find the full list here. You can now walk into a supermarket in every developed country in the world and expect shelves to be full and prices to be low. In the developing world, malnutrition has halved since 1990 […]
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