Bridget and the TESTRAD Consortium introduce London Britannia Airport
Volterra’s senior partner Bridget Rosewell formed TESTRAD to research the infrastructure potential of the Estuary and has worked with a number of experts to develop the ideas for an airport based there. This scheme has been merged with that of global architectural design firm Gensler and the TESTRAD Consortium has responded to the call from the Airports Commission with plans for […]
Discovering how HS2 will unlock economic development potential
Volterra is working with a number of partners to help realise the potential of High Speed 2 outside London. We have previously done research to show that HS2 is as much about capacity as about speed, and as much about jobs as about time saving. We are continuing to develop these ideas with some of the cities […]
Paul ‘airs’ his ideas on Positive Linking
Volterra partner Paul Ormerod was recently interviewed by Peter Day on his ‘Global Business’ programme for the BBC World Service. The programme centres around the question: ‘What on earth is wrong with economics?’; Paul airs his views as to the limitations of how conventional economics is taught and documented and goes on to describe some of […]
Follow Paul in CityAM
For a year now, every Wednesday Paul has a column in the successful CityAM newspaper. He covers a wide range of topics, such as: the underlying similarity of Andy Murray’s Wimbledon victory and economic recession (here); why we should be optimistic about long-term economic growth (here); why HS2 is worth it (here); a field guide to economists: the recovery denier […]
No free lunch. Defaults today mean less jam tomorrow
Potential defaults in the Euro zone have been in the news again. In Portugal, the ruling coalition parties and the main opposition Socialists have been unable to agree on a European Union-led bailout plan after days of talks. Yields on the country’s 10 year bonds have approached 7 per cent, compared to the 1.5 per cent in […]
Ignore the IMF: There’s no reason for its ludicrous forecasts to change sentiment
The economics department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is up to its old tricks again – changing its mind. Just three months ago, the team cut its forecast for UK GDP growth in 2013 to 0.7 per cent from 1 per cent, sparking charges that George Osborne should alter his policies. Last week, the […]
You wait for one bus then three come at once: Andy Murray and economic recessions
So Andy Murray becomes the first Briton to win the men’s singles for 77 years. When might we expect the next celebration? We can look at the typical ‘waiting time’, to give the concept a name, between victories from players from the same country. For example, Roger Federer won in both 2006 and 2007. Here, the ‘wait […]
Always Look on the Bright Side
The American economic recovery carries on apace, with a net rise in employment of almost half a million over the past three months. The Office for National Statistics has decided that the UK never had a double dip recession, and the texture of the economic news has turned positive. But economics is not called the […]
Banging up bankers is the wrong punishment – it won’t change behaviour
The behaviour of the banking sector in the run up to the crash is still very much in the public eye. But this is nothing new. Readers of a certain age may recall Bernie Cornfeld, and his company Investors Overseas Services (IOS). It failed dramatically in the 1970s after allegations of fraud. IOS encouraged the […]
Car crash on the Office for National Statistics website… Is it cos I is Welsh?
The website of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has recently been re-designed. A perfectly functional, low tech website has been transformed into a really cool delivery platform. It looks great. The only drawback is that it is very difficult to find any useful data on it. The ONS is the basic source of information not just […]
