Tag: politics
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Seven Threats to a Sustainable ‘Food Future’
In a hugely captivating and comprehensive look at the food supply chain in Britain, Jeremy Harding provides a look at “the future of food and its supply”–including food ethics, food security and the dire need for a sustainable future. Harding’s case is the most cogent I’ve read and it offers much more than a condemnation…
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India and the Definition of Middle Class
A newly proposed international definition of the middle class for developing countries, produced by the Center for Global Development for the World Bank, has some surprising conclusions for India. The report, produced by the president of the Center for Global Development, Nancy Birdsall, suggests that “middle class” is defined as everyone with an income above…
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The Religiosity-Racism Link
Admitting that there are “so many, many positive aspects and benefits to religiosity”, the authors of a meta-analysis on the subject have shown a positive correlation between religious affiliation and racism. Organized religion […], by its very nature, encourages people to accept one fundamental belief system as superior to all others. The required value judgment…
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The Relationship Between Police and Crime
Does an increased police presence decrease crime? That’s the seemingly simple and obvious question that Mark Easton poses on his BBC blog before explaining the difficulty in attempting to discern if a greater number of police helps to reduce crime. To set the scene, Easton quotes from a Steven Levitt study (pdf) that attempted to…
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Happy Citizens are Good Citizens
By fostering happiness in our cities, towns and villages we are simultaneously cultivating inhabitants that will give more blood, donate more to charity, and generally be better citizens. That’s the conclusion from a study looking at how happy people become better citizens as a result of being happy. Happier people trust others more, and importantly,…
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Why There’s No Good News
Discussing briefly a key tenet from his latest book, The Rational Optimist, Matt Ridley looks at how and why pressure groups limit the amount of good news reaching the general public and those in decision-making positions: There are huge vested interests trying to prevent good news reaching the public. That is to say, in the…
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Bonus Cultures and Ideal Banks, Schools, Hospitals
In light of the ongoing debate with regards to the financial sector’s so-called ‘bonus culture’, economist John Kay looks briefly at the history of the bonus and why the idea of a ‘bonus culture’ is a “poor joke” (using the example of teacher and doctor bonuses). At one time, the offer and receipt of a…
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Choice Architecture of Organ Donation
The supply of organs suitable for donation is vastly smaller than the demand. To try and increase the pool of potential donors a number of options have been tested: Redefining death so ‘living’ organs can be taken from donors who have died through brain death (via Link Banana), provide incentives for potential donors, or employ…
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Northern Ireland’s Segregated Peace
Twelve years after the signing of the Belfast ‘Good Friday’ Agreement signalled an end to the Troubles, Northern Ireland is in a state of ‘segregated peace’, says Kevin Cullen, describing the situation. Not only is there an official ethos of separate but equal, but an infrastructure underpinning it. There are three times as many so-called…
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Personal Responsibility and Our Irresponsible Behaviours
Even though we may be reluctant to pay a premium for our insurance because of others who engage in irresponsible behaviours (for example: smoking, overeating and health insurance), Sandeep Jauhar, M.D. reminds us of some pertinent results from the health care field. Jauhar provides evidence that “punitive measures to force healthy behavior” do not work;…