Belfast is buzzing. www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Europe lags the United States because of a structural deficit in first-mover innovation. This paper diagnoses the institutional roots of that deficit and outlines a coordinated political-economy pathway to address it. 🔴 zurl.co/1uhUW

Going to @ucl.ac.uk changed my life & gave me the best friends a person could ask for. It helped me think, write and argue. (Looking at you @jowolff.bsky.social @timcrane.bsky.social & others not on here) Happy 200th UCL. Keep breaking the tradition.

Europe's innovation problem New WP with Herbertson, Storper, Soskice, and Pardy researchonline.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/13...

Had a reference request at 9.47pm on Saturday night asking for the reference 'ideally' by midnight

Quick science policy thread 1 Changes in the governance of UK science since the mid 1980s make it extremely hard to be strategic (that was the point), in terms of both process (dropped) and capability (hollowed out).

"All around us – in our homes, in everyday life, in our hobbies and pastimes – we can see, if we care to look, the products of all kinds of technological innovation in products & the materials that make them, that collectively lead to overall economic growth" softmachines.org?p=3249

Rock-climber Alex Honnold is in the news again, for climbing solo a Taipei skyscraper - an excuse to recycle this old post of mine about the importance of technological innovation in climbing, (contrary to the claims of a well-known economist).

Huge caveats on the data but GVA per head in Cambridgeshire and Oxfordshire actually fell relative to the national average between 1998 - 2023

🧵 1/4 Yesterday I sat down with the @livingstandardsc.bsky.social, the @coopparty.party.coop, and several colleagues and experts to discuss how we can deliver growth felt by communities.

My contribution to the 'is Manchester growing' debate GVA data looks fishy, but ASHE data on wages seem to show some convergence (with caveats) (Source: ASHE, resident analysis)

My contribution to the 'is Manchester growing' debate GVA data looks fishy, but ASHE data on wages seem to show some convergence (with caveats) (Source: ASHE, resident analysis)

work with me and @drdaveobrien.bsky.social as part of @creativepec.bsky.social! we're recruiting a postdoc to work on the arts, culture and heritage sectors using quantitative methods. please share, please feel free to email me directly with any Qs! jobsite.sheffield.ac.uk/job/Sheffiel...

JOB! I'm hiring a postdoc for 2 years on my ERC MaMo project. Looking for someone with strong quant methods, ongoing work close to the project's aims, and a desire to publish in sociology. Start flexible in the next 12 months. Formal call out shortly, but contact me first.

📣 Call for Papers: 🗓️ 23-24 April 2026 at LSE Submit full papers: forms.office.com/e/9qVWeNTK0p Please share with colleagues & early-career researchers!

Will you be in #Madrid in late #February? Join @neillee.bsky.social & I to decode the #geography of #discontent and the structural rise of #populism. We map the territorial revolt in this @fundacionareces.bsky.social & #LSE masterclass. Applications: 9 February www.fundacionareces.es/fundacionare...

A lot of the analysis seems to be about falling shares of low income households in neighbourhoods, which in many cases (such as Woodberry Down) is probably driven by building large amounts of market rate housing. But other research suggests that will tend to lower rents and gentrification pressures.

Interesting if - in my view, misdirected - piece on gentrification in London www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Hola. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose y yo impartimos una clase magistral en Madrid sobre la Geografía del Populismo y la "Venganza de los lugares que no importan". ¡Es divertidísimo! Inscríbete aquí: www.fundacionareces.es/fundacionare...

Great piece by @paulswinney.bsky.social raising serious concerns about the UK's sub-national productivity data and what it can tell us. I share his worry that misleading conclusions about a northern city miracle may already be skewing policy debates www.economicsobservatory.com/have-the-uks...

I've seen a number of organisations and politicians use the data seemingly showing a productivity miracle in large northern city regions, especially Greater Manchester. Something didn't seem quite right. So I take a look in this piece:

Some novel analysis in amongst the AI slop

Pessimism is the world’s main economic problem economist.com/finance-and-...

One important difference: very little of my pension is invested in Turkey

Some sympathy, but evidence suggests firms in low-income areas do manage to access finance The UK has well-developed credit markets - pushing excessive lending risks distortions The priority should be demand: poorly managed firms submit weak applications www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Very good from Antonin et al www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/e...

Teaching @cjayanetti.bsky.social

Agree with this. Would add there is a sort of Mancur Olsen within-the-state collective action problem

The Ottawa Science Policy Nerds book club discussed @neillee.bsky.social’s Innovation for the Masses this week. Very positive reviews. And with arguably the clearest introduction to innovation most of us have read in ages, it’s going on some syllabi.

London's problem is the opposite. The quality of life and opportunities here are so abundant that there's no room for everyone that wants to be here, the opposite of what is the case in places where Reform polls well.

The world's largest city in 1170 was Fez, Morocco (source: Chandler)

Young people's moves contribute to inequality by sorting people with high earning potential to areas with high pay premiums. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Great new work by @xiaoweixu.bsky.social based on English admin data. @theifs.bsky.social @sriucl.bsky.social @cepeo-ucl.bsky.social

Much of the research in economics and economic geography treats cities as “black boxes.” We show that where #innovation happens within cities matters a great deal. Neighborhood #tech #clusters shape citywide innovation paths!

New paper: Star scientists heavily clustered in a few cities Please read and cite our paper and reinforce this concentration 👍

I don't (quite) agree but this is a great, well made argument

The National Wealth Fund is to make more of its own investments Good news - the NWF should be taking the early risk. But this is where their success in project identification and pipeline development will really be tested giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

We're recruiting for a Research Assistant at the @bennettschool.cam.ac.uk. We're looking for someone interested in one or more of the following - institutions; governance; devolution; place-based policy; and public administration. 2 years of funding in the first instance. Please share! 📆 5/1/26

Happy to see my paper out in the Journal of Regional Science. Thanks to everyone who contributed feedback along the way. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... @cityeconomics.bsky.social

Because I am incredibly busy, I find myself watching the Liz Truss show on YouTube. Totally agree with the attack on people who go to Gail's bakery.

Is Europe's best economic hope to follow Silicon Valley model of tech-led innovation? Four economists, incl @neillee.bsky.social, debate a big question prompted by Philippe Aghion's Nobel prize for economics win and his agenda for European R&D. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-euro...

Never clicked a link faster in my life. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

Totally obsessed with this www.tiktok.com/@googleearth...

Totally obsessed with this www.tiktok.com/@googleearth...

Agree or disagree (I agree), superb to see a politician do actual policy

Problem: you have two left wing parties in British politics. Solution: start a new left wing party to unify the movement Problem: you now have four left wing parties in British politics

JOB Assistant Professor (Education) in Economic Geography / Urban Planning Please share widely - any questions let me know jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

We have a new tenure-track job in @lsegovernment.bsky.social at AP level (empirical political science, open subfield): jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/... Please apply and share with colleagues who might be interested!

JOB Assistant Professor (Education) in Economic Geography / Urban Planning Please share widely - any questions let me know jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/...

Please join my campaign for six innings test matches