From Covid deaths to Usain Bolt: statistics are never black and white
Who is the greatest 100 metre male runner of all time? The answer seems obvious, even if you lack sporting common knowledge, it is only a quick Google search away. Usain Bolt’s time of 9.58 seconds is unchallenged. Both Tyson Gaye and Yohan Blake are quite away behind with records of 9.69. This year’s Olympic […]
The influencer economy: online ranking systems are a purveyor of inequality
To the victor the spoils. This well-known phrase might be thought to relate to the recent Olympics. Except that it is not a really accurate description of the Games themselves. True, the gold medallist gains more kudos than the silver or bronze. But at future athletics meets, for example, all three can expect an increase […]
Embracing uncertainty is the only path out of the pandemic
A few days ago, Sajid Javid made one of the most thoughtful and encouraging statements by a government minister during the whole Covid crisis. Early In July, he seemed to be falling under the control of the modellers. The number of daily infections, he stated confidently, would soon reach 100,000, bowing to the so-called experts. […]
Say hello to the newest member of our team!
Volterra is delighted to announce that Andy McNaught has recently joined the Volterra team as an Economic Consultant. Having spent three years at an engineering consultancy, Andy has developed an expertise that is rooted in transport economics, modelling and appraisal. He has already hit the ground running as he is currently working on a research […]
To face mask or not to face mask? Covid etiquette is an experiment in human behaviour
To mask or not to mask? Along with scores of other things we never would have anticipated, whether or not to cover up our nose and mouth is the latest thorny issue in Covid etiquette. The answer from Boris Johnson is clear: in public spaces such as transport, bars, restaurants or other busy indoor places, […]
Blackwall Yard – Planning permission for the development of a large-scale mixed use complex on the banks of the River Thames has been granted
Plans to deliver approximately 900 residential units at Blackwall Yard – an area located on the banks of the River Thames in Tower Hamlets – were recently approved by the local council. The residential-led scheme will completely regenerate the area, opening up pedestrian links along the Thames. It will provide a new primary school and […]
Universities are failing us: they’re expensive, ill-equipped and entrench ‘left-behind’ towns in the UK
A record number of students have applied for university, with just over 300,000 submitting applications, according to UCAS. This represents 44 per cent of the entire year group, up 10 per cent on what was then a new record total in 2020. One of the main drivers has been the uncertainty the pandemic has created […]
Boris Johnson has sown dangerous ambiguity over Covid rules with mixed messaging for Freedom Day
Sixty years ago, Daniel Ellsberg, as a graduate student at Harvard, wrote a now-seminal paper on behavioural economics. The conclusions of “Risk, ambiguity and the Savage axioms” pose a fundamental challenge to the conventional economic model of rational choice, as well as the Government’s current Covid strategy. Despite its seemingly esoteric nature, an experiment carried […]
Levelling up will fail if Boris Johnson pushes for a nationwide approach
The phrase “levelling up” has permeated the political lexicon over the past year or so, but few seem to know exactly what it means or how to do it. Andy Haldane, outgoing Chief Economist at the Bank of England, put some flesh on the bones at a timely Policy Exchange seminar last week. For Haldane, […]
Sajid Javid’s sensible instincts to stop lockdowns must stay firm against the pessimists of Sage
So farewell then, Matt Hancock, as Private Eye’s fictitious poet in residence, EJ Thribb, would have put it. The former Health Secretary seemed to relish relaying the doom laden projections of the epidemiologists’ worst case scenarios throughout the pandemic. There will be many within the Conservative back-benches who will welcome him into their ranks only […]
