Another great video from RSA Animate in which Roman Krznaric argues the case for empathy as a force to make the world a better place for all of us. I love his ideas for exhibits in the museum of empathy.

Universal Basic Income: Why Not?

Here’s a video that introduces the idea of a Universal Basic Income. Many of you will be deeply suspicious of the concept. I certainly was when I first thought about it while researching my book. I was looking for solutions to the problem of how to recycle money through the productive economy, which is an…

The Problem Is Bigger Than The Bedroom Tax

Here’s an excellent article from Gerry Hassan in which he takes our politicians and media to task for failing to address the real problems in our society. He argues that the debate on the UK government’s welfare reforms is so narrow and shallow that it completely misses the point: we have a chronic poverty/hardship/welfare/finance problem…

Scottish Independence: Welfare Debate Going Nowhere

Last night’s televised debate between Nicola Sturgeon of the SNP and Anas Sarwar of Labour was as predictable as it was depressing. It was hard to concentrate on the substance of what was being said because they were persistently talking over each other, but a review of some excerpts this morning reveals that there was…

They just don’t get it, these “experts”. Here’s Adair Turner (former Director-General of the Confederation of British Industry, former Chairman of the UK Financial Services Authority, member of the Financial Policy Committee, part-time lecturer at the London School of Economics) explaining very clearly why debt is the main problem with the UK economy and then completely…

Good article from Fraser MacDonald on theguardian.com about how the possibility of Scottish independence has energised debate about policy amongst those of us who lie between the dull tub-thumping of the Yes and No campaigns. He suggests that momentum for positive change will persist regardless of which way the vote goes. I hope he’s right.

Blame Ignorance, Arrogance And Indolence, Not Immigrants

This article by Jeremy Warner in the Telegraph is disturbing on two counts. His erroneous argument is a distraction from what’s really wrong with our economy, and it has stirred up a foul nest of malcontents (see the comments below the article) who appear to blame immigrants for everything that’s wrong with our society. Jeremy…

Good article from Tom Streithorst in which he argues that the problem we now have is a lack of consumption due to a lack of money. He suggests this is because our industry has become very good at producing stuff with very little labour, which means money isn’t being distributed widely enough to allow people…

In response to the conflict in Syria there are many alternatives to military action that are infinitely more worthwhile for the innocent civilians in Syria, and for the UK’s global reputation. Bernadette Meaden gives us a few good ones here. Just because Parliament voted against getting involved in more killing doesn’t mean that we can…