Driverless Cars…closer than you think

In October this year Volterra Partner Paul Buchanan spoke at the Urban Land Institute’s conference Driverless Cars and the City.  The conference explored the implications for cities, mobility and the possible changes to urban realm. It was aimed at complementing initiatives delivered by Greater London Authority and London Transport Museum across the following themes: Challenging the current […]

‘No ifs, No buts’ … no decisions on airport expansion

Prior to the 2010 general election, David Cameron clearly stated his position on London airport expansion: ‘no ifs, no buts’ there would be no expansion of Heathrow. Now, more than half a decade later, the only decision that has been made has been to delay the decision making. Amid much controversy concerning delaying the publication […]

Valuing the Future. Why Climate Change Agreement is Hard

The two week long Paris conference on climate change seems to drag on interminably.  There are obviously many reasons why such summits find it difficult to reach meaningful agreements.  But a fundamental one is that the electorates of the West are being asked to bear substantial costs right here and now, in return for a […]

Black Friday, Games and the Stock Market

Black Friday has come and gone.  The massive surge into the shops which was anticipated in much of the media failed to materialise.  Many retail outlets were quieter than a normal Friday.  In contrast, internet shopping went wild.  Amazon had its biggest ever day in the UK, selling over 7 million items.  Argos and John […]

Could Ernie replace Andy? The Bank’s take on automation

The Chief Economist of the Bank of England, Andy Haldane, has been in the news with his predictions that up to 15 million jobs in the UK are at risk of being lost to automation. This is a huge number, around half the total number of people in work today. Haldane injected a note of […]

Groucho Marx and Property Bubbles

The commercial property market in London has been booming for several years.  The Bank of England is concerned about yet another property bubble building up.  The executive director for financial stability, strategy and risk at the Bank, Alex Brazier, warned in a speech last month that positive sentiment in the industry must be “tempered by […]

Bridget Rosewell announced as Commissioner for National Infrastructure Commission

Volterra partners Paul Ormerod, Paul Buchanan and Ellie Evans are delighted to announce Bridget Rosewell’s appointment as Commissioner on the independent National Infrastructure Commission. On Friday 30th October at the National Railway Museum in York George Osborne announced Bridget Rosewell as one of the seven highly experienced Commissioners to work with Lord Andrew Adonis. The new National Infrastructure Commission has […]

Driverless Cars and the City. Volterra’s Paul Buchanan speaker at conference.

The emergence of autonomous vehicles will have far reaching implications for cities, planners, real estate and the wider urban environment. Going beyond the technology, Urban Land Institute’s conference Driverless Cars and the City, explored the implications for cities, mobility and the possible changes to urban realm. It was aimed at complementing initiatives delivered by Greater […]

Integration won’t save the struggling Eurozone

Olivier Blanchard, the recently retired Head of Economics at the International Monetary Fund, has something of a track record with his predictions.  In 2013, he warned George Osborne that he was “playing with fire” with the UK’s recovery from the financial crisis.  Austerity had to be relaxed. We now know that we were actually nowhere […]

Bridget Rosewell speaker at The Great Manchester Economics Conference

On 2nd October leading Economist Bridget Rosewell spoke at The Great Manchester Economics Conference.  An event organised by The Saturday Economist in association with pro-manchester, this top level conference bought together the best economic minds in the country. Over 300 of the region’s professionals, leading experts and influencers in the world of economics gathered together […]