Expert insight, analysis and comment on key public policy issues
By Ian Crowther Filed Under: Featured Posted:
The European Central Bank met this week to begin debating a European-wide bank crisis plan. But if we are to avoid further systemic issues in banking, it is the whole structure that needs to be addressed, argues Ian Crowther. We are in danger of learning nothing from the financial crisis, with bankers, policymakers and regulators […]
By Justice Bawole Filed Under: All posts Posted:
Microcredit and International Development: Contexts, Achievements and Challenges. Edited by Farhad Hossain, Christopher Rees and Tonya Knight Millar. Routledge, 2011. Microfinance services have played important roles in the development of small and medium scale enterprises, writes Dr Justice Nyigmah Bawole. This title deals with contemporary experiences in the microfinance industry – and while it omits […]
By Kevin Anderson Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted:
In November 2013, Brendan May wrote a piece for the Guardian’s Environment Blog on ‘Why more environmentalists should fly’. In this article, Professor Kevin Anderson, Dr Dan Calverley and Maria Sharmina respond, strongly arguing the case against having more jet-setting greens. It was with growing dismay that we read Brendan May’s blog post, in which […]
By Stephen Wilks Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted:
Contracting out has become the ‘new normal’, writes Professor Stephen Wilks, with around half of all UK government spending now ending up in the pockets of private sector companies. But while public servants must operate within a robust constitutional framework, the same safeguards do not apply to the Public Services Industry. Which is the largest […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted:
Professor Colin Talbot reflects on an Autumn statement that was really a mini-Budget – and some fine detail that hints at the Chancellor’s ultimate intentions. Much of the comment on today’s Autumn Statement by Chancellor George Osborne will focus on the specific measures he announced (there were lots) and on the short-term politics of the […]
By Ed Cox Filed Under: Featured, Westminster Watch Posted:
During Manchester Policy Week, four leading thinktanks debated what government might look like beyond the General Election and towards 2020. In an abridged version of his speech at the event IPPR North’s Director, Ed Cox (pictured above, standing), says there is life beyond the current austerity measures – but only if there are significant changes to present […]
By Georgina Waylen Filed Under: Featured Posted:
The creation of a post crash economics society at the University of Manchester is being hailed as a radical new development. But is it really? Professor Georgina Waylen argues that feminist economics is currently being ignored – and yet it offers us new insights and innovative solutions. Despite its plea for a broader range of […]
By Colin Talbot Filed Under: Featured, Whitehall Watch Posted:
The Blunders of our Governments, Anthony King and Ivor Crewe. Oneworld Publications, September 2013. This is a must read book for anyone interested in British public affairs, writes Prof Colin Talbot. It is seminal, not so much for the insight it offers – much of what it says has been said before – but in the […]
By Alice Larkin Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted:
At last week’s Conference of the Parties (COP) in Warsaw, key figures met to discuss the small matter of how to combat climate change by cutting carbon emissions. Dr Alice Bows-Larkin travelled there with colleagues, using research to highlight to policy players just how much carbon emissions need to be cut if catastrophic temperature rises […]
By Francis Livens Filed Under: Featured, Science and Technology Posted:
The UK is to get its first new nuclear power station in a generation. Professor Francis Livens reflects on a policy shift that has seen nuclear power emerge from the wilderness to become a much-hailed clean source energy that will ‘help keep the lights on’. But, he warns, if nuclear is to be our future, […]