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The track record of forecasters, except through extrapolation, is poor My Times column on why experts get the future as wrong, or more so, than non-experts: Michael Gove was mocked during the referendum campaign for saying that “I think people in this country have had enough of experts.” Critics asked pointedly if he dismissed the […]

Inequality is often worsened by government intervention My Times column on industrial strategy: In her first speech on the steps of 10 Downing Street Theresa May said that she intends to listen to those who “just about manage”, not to the wealthy and mighty. “When it comes to opportunity, we won’t entrench the advantages of the fortunate […]

What’s wrong with drawing attention to a new technology? Damian Carrington in the Guardian has attempted to imply criticism of me for writing an email to the energy minister in the House of Lords to draw his attention to a new technology for emissions reduction as a byproduct of an innovative manufacturing process. I explicitly […]

Social media’s echo chambers may do to society what radio once did   My Times column on the way social media polarises discourse and raises the political temperature:  Schisms of hatred seem to be fracturing the political landscape wherever you look right now: the police versus the black community in America, Sunni v Shia, Wahhabism […]

Banning a comparatively safe pesticide would be counterproductive   My recent Times column on the herbicide glyphosate: I once tried the organic alternative to the herbicide roundup for clearing weeds from garden paths: a flame-thrower. It was brutal for the environment, incinerating innocent insects and filling the air with emissions. Next week I might have […]

Female heads of government probably do bring something different I published this column in the Times recently. Since then it has become clear that Britain will probably have a female prime minister soon (Theresa May and Andrea Leadsom are the bookies’ favourites), and a female leader of the opposition (Angela Eagle ditto), as well as […]

Leaving the EU means joining the world     Here are three articles on the Brexit referendum of June 2016.   First, My last Times column before the EU referendum, published on 20 June:  I was just too young to vote in the 1975 referendum. I would have voted “Yes” to the European Community and […]

The EU is falling behind and it’s not bad luck, it’s bad policy My Times column on the European Union’s failure to grow digital giants: Last week I visited an island and stood among a crowd of puffins. If I turned my head I could see the lighthouse. If I looked up, the arctic terns […]

Zika is only the latest threat from Aedes aegypti My Times column on the threat from zika virus: Cancelling the Rio Olympics would do little to slow the spread of the zika virus. That horse has already bolted: more than 60 countries and territories already have zika. It will soon be almost anywhere that its […]

A major academic review reinforces the benefits of biotechnology My Times comment on a new report on genetically modified crops:   The exhaustive and cautious new report from the American National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine leaves no room for doubt that genetically engineered crops are as safe or safer, and are certainly better […]