In case you’re feeling a bit tasty, recruitment is open for the new Chair of Ofcom apply-for-public-appointment.service.gov.uk/roles/8842

Richard is absolutely spot on. Sadly this is still not the norm in the UK. 👇

I've had two outstanding public service experiences this hols: a new passport within 2 days of application & a prescription ready to pick up within 2 hours of request. Time saved is a key (unmeasured) productivity metric: digital tech makes a huge difference when implemented well.

Be careful out there - rain has fallen on icy pavements making them treacherous. Even #sophiefromromania did some involuntary skating

Oh I loved this book. Also - anything by Kaushik Basu is a must-read

Happy New Year everyone! #SophiefromRomania wants to know why nobody is up on this lovely morning

#sophiefromromania rocking her new pink harness this morning

Hurrah - the new safe harness for #sophiefromromania has arrived. Not sure how impressed she is but we’ll feel more relaxed on walks

Guys guys guys, I found the archive of the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures (it's not an achievement, they've not hidden them) - you can watch every single one since they started televising them in the 60s: www.rigb.org/christmas-le... I love watching them every year, now I can see them all!

12/30/25: New info from #BLS on impact of #shutdown on #CPI data, including: How were Nov. indexes calculated? Why BLS chose carry-forward imputation? How missing Oct data will impact April 2026 rent & OER indexes? Statistical weighting changes made in 11/25? www.bls.gov/cpi/addition... #econsky

Dan Corry also

Many congratulations to the economists in the New Year Honours list - I spotted Paul Mizen, Andrew Scott, Tony Travers, Nancy Hey (@worklifeyou.bsky.social), Jonathan Wadsworth; and a special welcome to the Damehood for Wendy Carlin of @coreecon.bsky.social !

Took #sophiefromromania to a great new park today with pal Juno - she was mostly ok but always leaving the path in search of woods because wide open spaces scare her. So we finished with a romp off lead in our back garden

The 12th-century Romanesque nave at Ely Cathedral rarely steals the spotlight (thanks to that lantern tower), but it’s absolutely jaw-dropping

The winner of the 2025 Enlightened Economist book prize (ie. my top choice among the econ and econ-adjacent books I read this past 12 months): www.enlightenmenteconomics.com/blog/index.p...

Is Ent dot com already taken?

Great pre-doc opportunities at @econ.uzh.ch in Zurich for aspiring PhD candidates from low- & middle income countries or with a refugee/asylum seeker background. Predoctoral Program Global Talent Common Application: www.facultyhiring.oec.uzh.ch/auth/Apply/0... Please share widely in your networks!

Some tlc for Santa from #sophiefromromania before what’s left of him goes away until next year

⚫ Brigitte Bardot, actrice française légendaire, icône féminine des années 1960 et fervente protectrice des animaux, est décédée à l'âge de 91 ans, a annoncé ce dimanche la Fondation Brigitte Bardot.

“Where is everybody?” the prof asked as we set off on our Sunday walk in darkness at 0730.., #sophiefromromania and I said nothing, just got on with it, then home for a #bigbreakfast

Was walking from the Brentford ground to the pub after our stunning victory when I came across this little fellow who seemed bemused by the crowds…

You need a licence if you watch pretty much anything in the UK anyway. It's not just if you watch the BBC. www.tvlicensing.co.uk/check-if-you...

Well I just (eventually) rewatched Perfect Days. I love that movie.

It’s taken me literally 15 minutes and 3 remote controls (with @rorycj.bsky.social on the end of the phone trying to keep me calm and talk me down) to turn on a movie on the TV - is our setup uniquely complicated?

#OnThisDay in 1831, the HMS Beagle departs on its second voyage with an unknown young naturalist aboard. The ship will eventually visit the Galapagos Islands where the scientist, Charles Darwin, will begin to formulate his theories on evolution. #HistoryOfScience

Max Hastings —> Nail —> Head www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

End of year overview of posts on my blog Soft Machines. Featuring -the UK's economic stagnation -why the UK's new nuclear build programme failed -good & bad reasons for growing UK manufacturing -scenarios for the future of AI -Moore's law -university/R&D policy for hard times softmachines.org?p=3218

New, from me: Time for something fun - I wrote about themes and fashions of the Knives Out Universe (KOU). 🧵 donmoynihan.substack.com/p/exploring-...

Oh, that they have to think about it for more than a moment…

People, AI is not better search…

Solo walk with #sophiefromromania then home to Burford Blue boiled eggs

🦊 A Londres, 10 000 renards trottent toutes les nuits dans les rues. Devenus emblèmes de la ville, où ils font perdurer une once de vie sauvage, ces animaux suscitent autant d’attachement que d’agacement. Reportage à lire dans le Libé des animaux : bit.ly/4pTZnrJ

Worth 5 minutes of anyone's time to read about Ronnie. Consider having a tissue handy in case something should happen to get in your eye 🥹

And from me!

The Embassy staff of Germany, France and the United Kingdom sing Schedryk in the Kyiv underground. Wonderful!

Retired to bed early to read and find #sophiefromromania has commandeered my book. I don’t like to tell her she has it upside down.

Ciaran Jenkins and I have recorded another Channel 4 News/BBC News long-distance musical collaboration for Christmas. This year we play The Coventry Carol. To all who are celebrating, wishing you a happy, peaceful Christmas.

This thread has been saved from the wastes of Twitter! Go on; have a read, it’s a lovely Christmas Eve tale.

“Economics brings a toughness of thought to policy making,through insisting on thinking about opportunity costs, the balance of costs and benefits, and the likelihood that people will respond to incentives” Diane Coyle in “Cogs and Monsters”

🎄 Herring soup and piss ups: this is Christmas in Georgian Manchester. We look at how Mancunians in the 18th century made merry. manchestermill.co.uk/herring-soup...

Surely you’ve all been waiting for the Enlightened Economist book prize long list for 2025? www.enlightenmenteconomics.com/blog/index.p...

When the Manchester Guardian calls, the people of the North heed the call. And if those people are me, we inject Manchester Liberalism, even from across the Pennines, right back in to the paper of Northern record. Get your fill. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The government has adopted some long-standing Institute for Government recommendations to speed up public appointments, but a recent investigation raises concerns about how the process is run zurl.co/tqOGF

We're looking for a Professor of Public Policy to join our senior leadership team. They'll play a leading role in teaching on the School's postgraduate courses, & make a significant contribution to research & research leadership in the new School. Apply by 9 February 2026: bit.ly/4j6UMQ4

Still utopian: www.enlightenmenteconomics.com/blog/index.p...

My Habermas review for the FT www.ft.com/content/9f89... Jürgen Habermas: Germany’s political and cultural phenomenon

I riff on @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social’s discussion of institutions and growth to explain why banking may be an important missing link in economists’ understanding of how and why growth takes place. Institutions and growth: How banks used to provide the liquidity that fuels innovation and growth

#SophiefromRomania went on a good walk with Juno and Nuna but got a bit over excited when we met a group of friendly dogs

An extra leg to our morning walk when #sophiefromromania decided to head up towards a busy road- then she suddenly stopped as we neared the junction and said “are you mad?We’re not going there!”

Thoughts on the importance of teaching aspiring scientists about how to communicate their science to policy makers and the wider public, prompted by @dianecoyle1859.bsky.social and @michaelkenny.bsky.socials piece on the topic in Nature occamstypewriter.org/athenedonald...