Green energy is capitalism’s low-hanging fruit Written by Alex Massie8 October 2020 Viewers in Scotland can be forgiven for recalling that they have heard Boris Johnson’s pledge to make the United Kingdom “the Saudi Arabia” of green energy before. This, they will remember, was how Alex Salmond liked to describe Scotland’s energy potential, if only …
A new neoliberal moment Written by Alex Massie1 October 2020 There are many ways by which an idea may be discredited, but one of the simplest is to make it sound as though it must be a conspiracy, some kind of underhand but devilishly clever plot against the public. Alas, poor neoliberalism then. The neoliberal …
The defining tussles of the US presidential election Written by Alex Massie24 September 2020 If you thought this American presidential election could not yet become more febrile, more absurd, and more consequential than it is, then it’s time to think again. The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the age of 87 and long past …
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Tech ‘moonshots’ will create national failures as well as champions Written by Alex Massie17 September 2020 Earlier this month, the $40bn sale of ARM, the Cambridge-based technology firm, to the American company Nvidia was confirmed amidst some concern and some controversy. Yet again, it was claimed, a world-leading British firm was being snapped up by …
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Is meritocracy the road to the guillotine? Written by Alex Massie10 September 2020 Meritocracy, the belief in social mobility based on hard-work and ability, is both impossible to argue against and so thoroughly misunderstood it becomes necessary, eventually, to argue against it. It is one of the foundational creeds of modern life. Yet the term …
Germany’s European opportunity Written by Alex Massie3 September 2020 Earlier this summer, as the true depth and scale of the coronavirus emergency became clear, Germany assumed the presidency of the Council of the European Union. This was a coincidence of timing, but a fortuitous one nonetheless for, as chancellor Angela Merkel argued, “Europe needs us, just as we need Europe”. This …
Trump’s is a strength based on fundamental weakness Written by Alex Massie27 August 2020 In the course of his four years in the White House, Donald Trump has so successfully lowered expectations of what one might ordinarily expect from the president of the United States of America that it no longer makes sense to view …
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States of civilisation Written by Alex Massie20 August 2020 Earlier this month Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, visited the northern city of Ayodhya, birthplace, Hindus believe, of the god Ram and the location for a highly symbolic, and hence revealing, struggle for the soul and future of India. Modi was present to lay the …
An economic drought Written by Alex Massie13 August 2020 So here it is: the United Kingdom is now, officially, in a recession. This can hardly be considered a surprising development but the scale of the slump remains shocking. According to the Office for National Statistics, GDP shrank by 20.4% in the second quarter of 2020. …
Great risk, great reward Written by Alex Massie6 August 2020 Last week Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and by some measure the world’s wealthiest individual, appeared before the United States’ House of Representatives subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial and Administrative Law. The detail of that committee’s investigations into ‘Big Tech’ need not detain us today, …