Reading for Battle
Battle Readings is a regularly updated compilation of articles, essays, and opinion pieces relevant to the themes of the Battle of Ideas.
Choose a theme from the listing on the left to narrow your search, or view all readings.
Economics
Green new deal could ease triple crunch in finance, environment and resources
The UK economy faces a triple crunch: a recession triggered by a major credit crisis, the looming reality of runaway climate change and critical resource depletion. As a result we face serious challenges to our livelihoods and increasing threats to our fuel and food security.
Andrew Simms, new economics foundation, 21 July 2008
The UK economy faces a triple crunch: a recession triggered by a major credit crisis, the looming reality of runaway climate change and critical resource depletion. As a result we face serious challenges to our livelihoods and increasing threats to our fuel and food security.
Andrew Simms, new economics foundation, 21 July 2008
The ‘Credit Crunch’ and London’s Economy
The UK economy is slothful rather than sound and too reliant on too few ‘essentials’; the credit crisis is symptomatic of deeper, structural problems facing the UK and Western economies; and these underlying problems are unlikely to be addressed in Britain by current government priorities.
Gavin Poynter, Rising East, July 2008
The UK economy is slothful rather than sound and too reliant on too few ‘essentials’; the credit crisis is symptomatic of deeper, structural problems facing the UK and Western economies; and these underlying problems are unlikely to be addressed in Britain by current government priorities.
Gavin Poynter, Rising East, July 2008
Ideal growth?
There is no reason to assume this ideological vacuity will last: if nothing else, the class struggle that economic development will produce means that history is not yet dead.
Lee Jones, Culture Wars, 10 July 2008
There is no reason to assume this ideological vacuity will last: if nothing else, the class struggle that economic development will produce means that history is not yet dead.
Lee Jones, Culture Wars, 10 July 2008
Protecting the Global Poor
Almost all rich countries got wealthy by protecting infant industries and limiting foreign investment. But these countries are now denying poor ones the same chance to grow by forcing free-trade rules on them before they are strong enough
Ha-Joon Chang, Prospect, July 2008
Almost all rich countries got wealthy by protecting infant industries and limiting foreign investment. But these countries are now denying poor ones the same chance to grow by forcing free-trade rules on them before they are strong enough
Ha-Joon Chang, Prospect, July 2008
The price of dubious advice - £100bn a year
Lord Lever was talking of advertising when he famously remarked that he knew that half his spending was wasted, but not which half. The same might be said of management consultancy.
The Observer, 6 July 2008
Lord Lever was talking of advertising when he famously remarked that he knew that half his spending was wasted, but not which half. The same might be said of management consultancy.
The Observer, 6 July 2008
Capitalism and Morality
A contribution to an invitation-only blog discussing Bill Gates' Creative Capitalism speech, extracts of which will appear in a book of the same name, edited by Michael Kinsley and Conor Clarke.
Paul Ormerod, Creative Capitalism blog, 29 June 2008
A contribution to an invitation-only blog discussing Bill Gates' Creative Capitalism speech, extracts of which will appear in a book of the same name, edited by Michael Kinsley and Conor Clarke.
Paul Ormerod, Creative Capitalism blog, 29 June 2008
Trust the development experts – all 7bn of them
Why should we care about the debacle of a World Bank report? Because this report represents the final collapse of the “development expert” paradigm that has governed the west’s approach to poor countries since the second world war.
William Easterly, FT.com, 28 May 2008
Why should we care about the debacle of a World Bank report? Because this report represents the final collapse of the “development expert” paradigm that has governed the west’s approach to poor countries since the second world war.
William Easterly, FT.com, 28 May 2008
Discarding the myths of development
Markets alone will not produce the growth in developing countries that will lift them out of poverty.
Steve Schifferes, BBC News, 21 May 2008
Markets alone will not produce the growth in developing countries that will lift them out of poverty.
Steve Schifferes, BBC News, 21 May 2008
The Growth Report
Fast sustained growth is not a miracle; it is attainable for developing countries with the "right mix of ingredients."
Commission on Growth and Development, 21 May 2008
Fast sustained growth is not a miracle; it is attainable for developing countries with the "right mix of ingredients."
Commission on Growth and Development, 21 May 2008
Britain is too complacent on innovation, Gordon Brown is warned
Gordon Brown will be told this week that Britain is in danger of falling well behind competitor economies and emerging countries such as China and India because of “complacency” over levels of business innovation.
David Smith, The Sunday Times, 18 May 2008
Gordon Brown will be told this week that Britain is in danger of falling well behind competitor economies and emerging countries such as China and India because of “complacency” over levels of business innovation.
David Smith, The Sunday Times, 18 May 2008
Chav-bashing: demonising the 'white working class'?
"The energy, verve and enthusiasm at The Battle of Ideas filled me with hope. Coming from India where so many people still lack the basic necessities that make human life worth living, it was heartening to see basic issues of equity and justice debated with such passion and fervour."
George Thomas, orthopaedic surgeon; editor, Indian Journal of Medical Ethics
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