To merge or not to merge…
Competition is the basis of a healthy capitalist economy. The proposed Ladbrokes/Coral merger highlights the question of when regulators should permit reduced competition, explains John Pal. The mooted...
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A Lesson from History: The Dangerous Power of Idealism
Extremist attacks have escalated in recent weeks – not just in Tunisia. Youths from Dewsbury and High Wycombe have reportedly died as a suicide bomber in Iraq and as a member of Al Shabaab in Kenya....
View ArticleMaking devolution work for all: Grabbing and grappling with the opportunity
The University of Manchester and Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) play host to the Making Devolution Work conference next week. To mark the event CLES’s Chief Executive Neil McInroy writes...
View ArticleCould DevoManc create an economy for the common good?
Mark Burton tries to imagine how city-region devolution might help to produce a fairer and more sustainable society. The Greater Manchester devolution deal is firmly rooted in a highly orthodox...
View Article’Federalismo’: lessons from devolution in Italy
When it comes to devolution, be careful what you wish for. Angelo Salento explains how it went wrong in Italy. We Italians tend to be believe our politics and history are unique. But there is a clear...
View Article43 and 36 – Locking in the smaller state: George Osborne’s ‘Summer Budget’
The general consensus is this is a “big” Budget with lots in it. It is, but unfortunately most commentators are missing the really big picture, says Colin Talbot. To be able to grasp what lies behind...
View ArticlePolicing marches and parades in Scotland: taking racism seriously?
From Easter to autumn, there are loyalist order and Irish Republican parades across Scotland. Stephen Ashe explores the policing of these processions, focusing on racism and sectarianism. In 2013, I...
View ArticleThe role of font type in policy implementation
How can information best be conveyed to influence behaviour? Choosing the right font type is surprisingly important, explain Dr Debbie Smith, Dr Andrew Manley and Professor Dame Tina Lavender. What do...
View ArticleFighting food fraud
The horsemeat scandal of two years ago put food fraud into the news headlines. Jonathan Spencer explains this was only the tip of the iceberg. Food fraud – the adulteration of food – is commonly the...
View ArticleManaging water demand
The water industry has tried to manage consumption through technological ‘fixes’. But only by understanding how and why water is used can demand be reduced, argues Dr Alison Browne. For many years the...
View ArticleDevolution: it’s a constitutional issue
Government today is trying to create a ‘system’ of devolution from a legacy formed of a tacit constitution and Thatcherite centralism, explains Professor Michael Moran. Devolution – whether to the...
View ArticleUnder new management? Devolution and regional economies
The gap in economic performance between London and the regions is large and will not be closed by devolving limited powers to city regions and Celtic nations that will adopt conventional economic...
View ArticleBritish Muslims do feel British, Prime Minister
While David Cameron has urged British Muslims to assert their British identity, the evidence is that they already do, explains Saffron Karlsen. There is a widely held perception in society that Muslim...
View ArticleTeaching at the heart of the system – A Teaching Excellence framework
Earlier this month the Universities Minister, Jo Johnson, mapped out his vision for the HE sector over the next 5 years. Here Carl Emery looks at the implications. Addressing the Universities UK (UUK)...
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Benefits and costs of party diversity
Why do Conservatives try so hard to increase their ethnic diversity while Labour takes minorities for granted? It all depends on who their target voter is. Labour’s target voters thought less of the...
View ArticleSocial climbing makes the English happy, but not Americans
In a paper published this week, and covered in the national media, Bram Vanhoutte explores social mobility in England and US. What are the policy implications of these findings? Social mobility, or the...
View ArticleThe Drug Resistance Crisis
Drug resistance and the lack of new antibiotics are creating a potential medical crisis, the government’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Dame Sally Davies warned in this year’s University of...
View ArticleSecuring the Internet
The scale and vast cost of cyber crime has been made clear in the last few weeks. Daniel Dresner suggests that stronger industrial standards may be the best response. Cyber crime is reportedly costing...
View ArticleThe limits to equal pay audits
Earlier this month David Cameron set out plans to force large firms to reveal data on the gender pay among their staff. Here Jill Rubery explores the possibilities and pitfalls of the policy. The...
View ArticleGreece and the future of the European Project
Agreement has been reached over a deal to keep Greece in the Euro, for the time being at least. But, Mustafa Cirakli says, the problems in the country and the whole Eurozone are far from over. Damned...
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