Ground control
Control of land has been a key driver of wealth, power and conflict for most of human history. The industrial revolution changed all that as power shifted from landowners to …
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Enlightenment goes viral
I am not a believer in conspiracy theories, but for one moment let’s imagine there exists a shadowy secret society bent on world betterment… The Society had been increasingly worried. …
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Keep calm, don’t carry on
I was asked recently, did I think there was time to avoid climate chaos. I couldn’t help myself. I got caught by the urge to reassure: “Oh yes,” I said, …
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Which way does digital point?
How did we end up here? Midwife to the Internet, Tim Berners-Lee, called his vision for the web “utopian.” He wanted it to be a place where all people had …
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What is corruption?
After all, it’s hard to bite the hand that feeds you. As a teenager, I recall my father informing me that to make real money you need to be close …
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Rein in men
Women’s reality is often invisible in economic analysis and that’s not hard to see. And the lack of women in economics too is clear, even outside the mainstream. The …
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Building forward is better
It now seems like a long time since the ritual Thursday clapping and the peace that allowed us to hear the birds. As the tragedy of suffering and death grew …
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In black and white
I benefit from multiple privileges. White? Tick. Male? Tick. Posh? Tick and so on. In fact the world is largely designed by people like me for people like me. My …
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Accentuate the positive
It all started with hope. Now we have viral infection. But there is still hope. I came up with “hope” as the theme for this issue in the autumn. I was …
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Chasing tales
Calls for a more circular economy – otherwise known as “closing the loop” – are now commonplace. We have got recycling, we try to reduce waste, and plastic packaging is …
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