With the summer holidays upon us, this week’s briefing provides a reading list of articles – and one podcast – designed to offer a distraction from the rigours of travel, leisure or, indeed, of continuing work.
These articles are free, although some websites may have restrictions on how many articles can be read without charge.
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The proliferations of remakes, sequels, and franchises in film, television, and theatre have sparked criticism of a lack of originality in modern entertainment. Noah Smith’s blog post explores this apparent stagnation in American pop culture, attributing it to technological shifts, creative constraints, and a decline in avant-garde innovation. Read here.
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Tariffs, rearmament, a cash-strapped welfare state and calls for new taxes on wealth may sound familiar but equally could describe Britain in the early part of the 20th century. This Works in Progress essay describes how the Liberal government of the day failed in its ambition to introduce a land-value tax and, the author contends, left a legacy of over-reliance on other taxes and ineffective local government.
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A smaller global population appears to be the obvious solution to the challenges of climate change. Author and researcher Hannah Ritchie refutes this idea, demonstrating that even drastic restrictions on having children would not turn the tide on carbon reduction. Read here.
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This account of the closure of an ethylene cracking plant on Teesside shows how industrial leadership is won – and lost. Ed Conway describes how the British chemicals industry pioneered innovations that were the envy of the world. That advantage has slipped away as foreign companies have caught up, regulation has added to costs and the supply of cheap, plentiful energy from the North Sea energy has wound down.
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The jet airline was one of the great innovations of the 20th century. This article from Construction Physics traces the jet engine’s origins in the 1930s, charting subsequent industrial advancements and exploring the engineering challenges that underpin this multibillion-dollar industry.
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The emergence of AI-powered chatbots in late 2022 sparked great excitement but the limitations of using models trained to imitate behaviours in their large training datasets quickly became apparent. More recently, as this article from Timothy B Lee explains, developers have been using learning by doing or “reinforcement” learning to create “agents” that can think step by step, reflect and respond to novel situations. As the capabilities of these AI models continue to increase, so too does the potential for economic gains and disruption.
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Globalisation has come under increasing pressure since the financial crisis. This research piece from our colleagues in Germany examines how the unwinding of financial integration and a decline in multilateral cooperation have weakened global economic linkages. It concludes by offering advice on how businesses can navigate increasingly fractured and contested global systems. (Downloading this report requires registration.)
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Electricity grids balance consumer demand with power generation. The intermittent nature of wind and solar energy means that batteries have become a key tool in this matching task. Following our recent Monday Briefing on the UK energy sector, this article by Construction Physics discusses the growing role of batteries in the US grid and explores how batteries are helping to improve grid stability and reliability.
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The UK’s recent Strategic Defence Review described Russia as “an immediate and pressing threat”. The Wargame, a five-part podcast from Tortoise Media and Sky News, pits a team of former British politicians and military leaders against a simulated Russian attack on the UK. The podcast explores vulnerabilities and underinvestment in the UK’s defence capabilities, examines the extent of dependence on our allies and offers a stark conclusion on the UK’s preparedness. Listen below.
A personal view from Ian Stewart, Deloitte’s Chief Economist in the UK. Subscribe and/or view previous editions of the Deloitte Monday Briefing here.