WEEKLY SELECTION

Adapting to climate change doesn’t make it go away. Reduced fossil fuel extraction will entail negative economic impact, particularly for low-income countries. New China-US communication and co-operation, albeit very limited, is better than nothing. Google’s coming regenerative AI search tool will turn our searches into a ‘doom loop’. A brief video on the huge existential question: are we alone? [...]

The greater the climate crisis becomes, so too the support for populist policies. How 17th century history helps understand what’s happening today in Russia and beyond. As today's social networks decline and perish what will come next? When less can be more, the art of compression [...]

Resolve and realism are needed now to respond to the challenges facing the global economy. The Wagner mutiny has narrowed Putin’s options. AI and SEO demands are exerting a lowest common denominator effect on internet content. The time bomb of real estate debt is already ticking. The science of food is far from exact [...]

Is China readier for a disorderly world than the US? It depends who you ask. Can AI spur growth without greater unemployment? Some think so. Whose to blame for the ongoing trend of the workforce quitting their jobs? Maybe the managers. Are our brains tricking us into believing everything has got worse? Looks like it. “Manners maketh man” - [...]

Globally there is less inequality, but locally that’s not how it feels. To counter this, 'we should pay more tax’ say the Patriotic Millionaires in the US. AI could save the world. Tea pickers in Kenya don’t agree. There are some rules, but no one-size-fits-all, regarding how much is enough in terms of socialising

Understanding the source of so much global economic and financial uncertainty. Understanding what the ‘non Western world’ really thinks about the West. Understanding the true purpose of Ukraine’s counteroffensive. Understanding why carbon capture isn’t ‘a free lunch’. Understanding why it really is great to be grateful [...]

Earth is in the ‘danger zone’ but it need not be terminal, it depends on us. In a Trump second term unpredictability will be the only given. Carbon credit discredited. Why so many of us got hooked on ‘Succession’. The unprecedented damage smartphones are doing to our relationships [...]

China will not soften its stance on international loans unless the IMF and World Bank do too. New AI tools are poised to change human behaviour. How far should the regulators go to protect our children on line? A guide to the benefits and costs of nature-based solutions in pursuit of climate resilience. Just what is alcohol doing to [...]

Why AI has probably reached the point of no return. Why fairness must be part of the decarbonizing process. Why geopolitical ‘swing states’ like India are likely to play a determining role in the new world order. Why eating beans makes nutritional and ecological sense. Why it's proving difficult for employers to get everyone back into the office. [...]