Philosophers have been making a killing in financial services since Thales of Miletus used options to corner the ancient Greek market for olive oil. So it is fantastic news to see several big banks continuing to recognise how much humanities graduates have to contribute in the twenty-first century: nearly half of the intake at Barclays is set to have an arts background. Continue reading
Filed under Business, Human nature, Liberal education
Who says the sky has to be the limit? Britain’s space industry has ambitions to become a global leader. The sector’s new growth plan, announced this week, includes establishing a British spaceport within five years. It wants our 6.5 per cent share of the global space market in 2010 to be 8 per cent by 2020. The latter would mean an annual turnover of £19bn in today’s terms, rising to 10 per cent of the anticipated £400bn market by 2030, creating 100,000 new jobs. Continue reading
Filed under Politics, Science, Technology
Britain needs better liars. Having lost our tolerance for taking reality straight up, we need a more palatable way to swallow hard truths. And for this, truth sugared by fiction looks like the best option we have left. Continue reading
Filed under Film, Human nature, Literature
It would be easy to dismiss the serving of the first lab-grown burger as classic silly season fodder. Yet this is one photo opportunity that really may mark a historic moment, even if most seem to be missing its exact importance. In vitro meat is significant not because it increases menu options for a few Western vegetarians but because it may represent the next great step upwards in global nutrition. Continue reading
Filed under History, Innovation, Science, Technology
It is great news to see that more senior business figures will be joining the House of Lords, including Sir Anthony Bamford, chairman of JCB and Dame Lucy Neville-Rolfe, former executive director of Tesco’s corporate and legal affairs department. At the same time, it’s not nearly enough – at least, that’s the judgement of some of the most senior figures at Britain’s blue chip firms. Continue reading
Hardnosed business sense can improve charitable outcomes. That should be obvious enough, but it is a story that doesn’t always get the attention it deserves.
How cheering then to read this week of the difference Toyota made to the efficiency of New York’s food banks by sharing its commitment to kaizen, or continuous improvement. Continue reading
Filed under Business, Economics, Innovation
