Coronavirus is the wolf on the loose

Matt Ridley

This time the warnings are not overdone My article for Reaction: In Aesop’s fable about the boy who cried “Wolf!”, the point of the tale is that eventually there was a wolf, but the boy was not believed because he had given too many false alarms. In my view, the Covid-19 coronavirus is indeed a […]

The Government’s energy policy could cripple global Britain

Matt Ridley

Britain has uniquely legislated to reach net-zero carbon dioxide emissions in 2050 My article for GlobalVision: As Britain relaunches itself as an independent trading nation, its fate will depend on how competitive it is. We have lots going for us, but we also have a heavily regulated economy, high labour costs and low productivity, so we may […]

We all need to change how we live our lives to fight this generation of pandemics

Matt Ridley

Culture and practice can change without putting Big Brother in charge My article for The Telegraph: In the 19th century Ignaz Semmelweis was vilified and ostracised when he tried to make doctors wash their hands after doing autopsies on women who had died from childbirth fever before going straight upstairs to deliver more babies. We […]

The Brexit boost for British bio-science

Matt Ridley

World-class laboratories have been freed from the dead hand of Brussels regulation Update: My House of Lords Speech on Genome Editing from 4th March   My article for The Critic: Britain is really good at biology. In physics and chemistry, or painting and music, we have often failed to match the Germans, the French or […]

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Questions and Answers from my reddit AMA

Matt Ridley

I visited reddit’s r/IAmA community Wednesday to answer your questions. Here are some highlights. Can you briefly summarise your position on climate change? Yes, though it’s not an issue I am focusing on much at the moment. My view is summarised in a lecture I gave in 2016 called Global Warming versus Global Greening. I’ve covered […]

The First Review of How Innovation Works and Other News

Matt Ridley

“An enthusiastic history of human technical innovation” From the Kirkus review of How Innovation Works: Throughout the book, the author delivers fascinating histories of technology that we take for granted. Many hands contributed to the developments of the steam engine, automobile, and computer. Ridley makes a convincing case that obsessive trial and error works better […]

Britain needs to rediscover failure if it wants to prosper

Matt Ridley

Britain needs to rediscover trial and error, serendipity, speed, and innovation My article from The Spectator: What was Brexit for? After finally taking Britain out of the European Union, the Prime Minister can now start to give us his answer — and the opportunity in front of him is pretty clear. He could speed up, […]

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