@bswud Avatar @bswud Ben Southwood

Ben Southwood posts on X about london, inflation, money, infrastructure the most. They currently have [------] followers and [---] posts still getting attention that total [------] engagements in the last [--] hours.

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Social Influence

Social category influence finance 18.4% countries 17.6% travel destinations 11.2% social networks 1.6% technology brands 1.6% luxury brands 0.8% automotive brands 0.8% stocks 0.8%

Social topic influence london 5.6%, inflation 3.2%, money 3.2%, infrastructure 3.2%, ben #1620, france 2.4%, edinburgh 2.4%, denmark 2.4%, stuff 1.6%, madrid 1.6%

Top accounts mentioned or mentioned by @scphughes @rdeconomist @tomwright165389 @septicsceptic1 @worksinprogmag @aaronlubeck @smnhmd @s8mb @danialmazan @jcoshingham @aarmlovi @accelereta42 @dorfmanp @joeyhiles1 @woodenskeleton @wgrumblepants @markkoyama @pietergaricano @kaneemerson @norfolkforever

Top assets mentioned Lithium (LITH) Gloom (GLOOM) Uber Technologies, Inc. (UBER)

Top Social Posts

Top posts by engagements in the last [--] hours

"When animal breeding really got into gear in Britain in the 1700s some crazy stuff happened. The North Devon draught ox was bred for horse-like speed. It could trot at 6mph keeping pace with a draught horse"
X Link 2026-02-12T15:17Z 19.8K followers, 104.7K engagements

"Madrid has some of the best roads of any city in the world. This one for example has not been deleted but just moved underground: a nice win win. I think they even widened it when they dug the tunnel. Madrid prioritized people over cars along the River Manzanares and the results are phenomenal. Every city with waterfront highways should be doing this https://t.co/PZ1M4lAl4p Madrid prioritized people over cars along the River Manzanares and the results are phenomenal. Every city with waterfront highways should be doing this https://t.co/PZ1M4lAl4p"
X Link 2026-02-14T12:51Z 19.8K followers, 27K engagements

"Heathrow has a big latent advantage over Charles de Gaulle and Schiphol: people. [----] million people live within a reasonable distance of LHR vs [--] million for CDG & [----] million for AMS. In fact MAN has a bigger catchment in raw population terms than the Dutch and French flagships. Mind you Ile de France and North Holland have incomes/outputs per capita about [--] percent higher than the North West of England so this will be partly balanced out. What this shows is how much more dominant Heathrow could be if it had more capacity. LHR flights grew [--] percent during the 1980s and [--] percent"
X Link 2026-02-04T15:39Z 19.7K followers, 167.6K engagements

"NYC used to consistently build 5-10 new subway stations every single year. Since [----] we have built [--]. Not [--] per year [--] total over [--] years. We need to get back to building transit on a grand scale. This is what our system could look like: https://t.co/m3CONAPo7u NYC used to consistently build 5-10 new subway stations every single year. Since [----] we have built [--]. Not [--] per year [--] total over [--] years. We need to get back to building transit on a grand scale. This is what our system could look like: https://t.co/m3CONAPo7u"
X Link 2026-02-06T09:47Z 19.8K followers, [----] engagements

"This is very important. What I find particularly offensive is when nonparents opine that they would never let their children watch an iPad in a restaurant or stuff like that. This is why people don't have children. It's fine that you don't breastfeed. It's fine that your children watch TV. It's fine that your children share a bedroom. If we want people to carry on becoming parents then it's important that we avoid putting unnecessary and escalating pressure on mums and dads. It's fine that you don't breastfeed. It's fine that your children watch TV. It's fine that your children share a"
X Link 2026-02-09T14:38Z 19.8K followers, 13.3K engagements

"@aarmlovi Do you think parking benefit districts would be able to carry public consent My other idea would be to use the revenue for infrastructure that drivers would appreciate eg some new bridges and/or a couple of E/W tunnels under Manhattan to allow traffic to bypass it"
X Link 2026-02-10T07:32Z 19.8K followers, [---] engagements

"The agglomeration theory of everything The West thinks China wins on subsidies and robots. Wrong The real edge is industrial density: suppliers skills tooling and patient capital in one place Tariffs may buy time. But only industrial ecosystems can buy leverage https://t.co/mKTmahduzB The West thinks China wins on subsidies and robots. Wrong The real edge is industrial density: suppliers skills tooling and patient capital in one place Tariffs may buy time. But only industrial ecosystems can buy leverage https://t.co/mKTmahduzB"
X Link 2026-02-11T14:43Z 19.8K followers, [----] engagements

"Does anyone have any more opinions on my cordurobe https://x.com/Ned_Donovan/status/2021617160376979656s=20 @bswud Lovely content thanks for sharing After the podcast did you have a geography class in the 1970s to teach https://x.com/Ned_Donovan/status/2021617160376979656s=20 @bswud Lovely content thanks for sharing After the podcast did you have a geography class in the 1970s to teach"
X Link 2026-02-11T16:08Z 19.8K followers, [----] engagements

"@accelereta42_ Im sure youre right sorry. I made even worse slips of the tongue in the episode. Luckily Mark was there to set me right"
X Link 2026-02-11T16:40Z 19.8K followers, [---] engagements

"@TomWright165389 I think there is a lot to be said for background deflation though of course there are all the usual arguments that it makes macroeconomic stabilisation more difficult"
X Link 2026-02-11T16:49Z 19.8K followers, [---] engagements

"In the milieux Ive been in for the last decade being against inflation has always been considered downmarket dclass and embarrassing. But the recent international turmoil around the cost of living crisis tearing up mainstream political forces opened my eyes to another way of looking at inflation: as a matter of social trust. After national defence money is the central thing that states provide. When the money they provide is no good the public get really upset really quickly. Inflation destroys civilisations. Extremist politics follows high inflation. It comes up again and again in the"
X Link 2026-02-12T08:32Z 19.8K followers, [----] engagements

"This whole thing is absurd. A normal intake for one of these plants would cost [--] million. Go ask an engineer. At least [---] million was spent purely for fish deterrent reasons. [--] MPs and Lords (including Jeremy Corbyn) have written to Ed Miliband to oppose reforms to make it easier to build nuclear plants. Let's be clear. The letter is based on misinformation. The letter claims that the Nuclear Regulatory Taskforce used flawed evidence and massively [--] MPs and Lords (including Jeremy Corbyn) have written to Ed Miliband to oppose reforms to make it easier to build nuclear plants. Let's be"
X Link 2026-02-12T15:40Z 19.8K followers, [----] engagements

"@Septicsceptic1 Im not sure thats right. Consider if everyone was rebated the entire tax bill on an even split vs if they were rebated it in a highly progressive benefit system. The continent is more like the former; UK is more like the latter"
X Link 2026-02-13T10:16Z 19.8K followers, [---] engagements

"This paper is totally preposterous. Living near a nuclear power plant apparently raises your chance of getting some cancers in some age ranges but not others in other age ranges for no obvious reason. But get this: even if the paper's effect were real (it's not) it cannot come through radiation since radiation isn't perceptibly higher near nuclear power plants when we do measure it. In this case people NEAREST to Massachusetts nuclear power plants probably experienced [----] msv per year of radiation instead of [---] msv the background rate for MA. Dig into any low-dose radiation study and you'll"
X Link 2026-02-13T14:07Z 19.8K followers, [----] engagements

"Look what I got in the post"
X Link 2026-02-13T16:55Z 19.8K followers, [----] engagements

"@aaron_lubeck Surely the pictured C19th courtyard blocks were also planned from the top down Eg here are Copenhagen & Stockholms [----] and [----] top-down plans"
X Link 2026-02-14T08:31Z 19.8K followers, [---] engagements

"@joeyhiles1 @woodenskeleton @aaron_lubeck Im in favour of top-down planning but its a myth that Paris was planned topdown by Haussmann. He created a couple of dozen new boulevards. Nearly the entirety of Paris is unplanned pre Haussmann fabric"
X Link 2026-02-14T08:40Z 19.8K followers, [--] engagements

"It doesnt show up in most population density metrics because theyre either foolish (total people vs total territory) or coarse grained. But properly measured Spain has the most densely populated cities of the developed West and the least unplanned sprawl. A map of population distribution in Europe (black = at least one inhabitant per square km) Always stuns me to see how empty swaths of Spain are https://t.co/BzK79WXUXb A map of population distribution in Europe (black = at least one inhabitant per square km) Always stuns me to see how empty swaths of Spain are https://t.co/BzK79WXUXb"
X Link 2026-02-13T09:18Z 19.8K followers, 47.8K engagements

"@WG_RumblePants If we did that itd be a bit unfair to let England keep Wales. As much as I think that England & Wales Ireland and Scotland are the three kingdoms in the Atlantic Isles"
X Link 2026-02-14T12:57Z 19.8K followers, [----] engagements

"- Man with Downs admitted with a broken hip easily fixed with surgery. - Mistakenly marked down as 'nil by mouth' for NINE DAYS. - Due to disability cant explain hes hungry. - Literally starves to death on the ward. Nobody notices him slowly dying. https://www.itv.com/news/2025-10-01/i-dont-want-to-die-downs-syndrome-man-starved-to-death-in-hospital https://www.itv.com/news/2025-10-01/i-dont-want-to-die-downs-syndrome-man-starved-to-death-in-hospital"
X Link 2025-10-03T08:30Z 19.8K followers, 1.7M engagements

"Inflation destroys civilisations. Extremist politics follows high inflation. It comes up again and again in the historical record: In Rome debasement to pay soldiers led to rapid inflation. Diocletian blamed profiteers in the Edict on Maximum Prices in [---] AD introducing price caps. New world gold drove up Spanish prices. By the 1600s 1/2 of adult men were rent-receiving: soldiers or priests. Hyperinflation destroyed trust in the Weimar state making it ripe for extremist takeover. Empirical studies find more antisemitism in places hit hardest. 1960s and 1970s price hikes led to protests and"
X Link 2026-02-11T15:56Z 19.8K followers, 76.7K engagements

"We are going to get fare freezes but also reduced penalties for poor performance What skewed incentives & priorities. State-run railways can be very good (see Switzerland MTR) but also bad (see DB). Private-run railways can be very good too (Japan). They key is incentives. Exc: Ministers are considering plans to scale back delay repay refunds for late running trains. Insiders say the move will be presented as a way to standardise differing compensation schemes as the governments nationalisation drive ramps up. But ideas under consideration https://t.co/FtPSbdm9fM Exc: Ministers are"
X Link 2026-02-14T10:33Z 19.8K followers, 19.7K engagements

"Interesting-looking magazine here And i also inhaled the new @WorksInProgMag magazine https://t.co/6pOcAAxgwG And i also inhaled the new @WorksInProgMag magazine https://t.co/6pOcAAxgwG"
X Link 2026-02-15T10:19Z 19.8K followers, [----] engagements

"Hear that Its the sound of hundreds of thousands of noble office workers streaming in to create value for the world. The call of agglomeration"
X Link 2026-02-16T08:39Z 19.8K followers, [----] engagements

"In [----] Austin TX closed Robert Mueller Municipal Airport the original city-owned airport built 1928-30 and turned the site into a nice masterplanned New Urbanist suburb. Grid. Medium density. Tree-lined boulevards. On-site amenities. Classic vernacular architecture"
X Link 2026-02-17T11:00Z 19.8K followers, [----] engagements

"We know that places with a freer supply of housing have lower homelessness. But why Most homeless people couldn't afford to rent even at half the price. It's because cheaper housing means bigger housing and more friends and family with spare rooms. https://worksinprogress.co/issue/why-housing-shortages-cause-homelessness/ https://worksinprogress.co/issue/why-housing-shortages-cause-homelessness/"
X Link 2024-12-09T09:07Z 17.6K followers, 65.4K engagements

"The UK dramatically cut its roads budget in [----] leading to a rapid decline in road building. In [----] only Poland Romania and Bulgaria had less motorway per capita in Europe"
X Link 2024-12-10T15:30Z 17.6K followers, [----] engagements

"Brilliant map here. It shows how new towns need to be targeted to places where they can release land value overwhelmingly around London and in the South East and not where they actually destroy value in the North. The total potential land value capture is [---] billion or 6.4bn a year assuming a 30-year development period 📈 But this potential is distributed very unevenly across the country. Nearly [--] per cent of potential land value capture is on sites around London. 👇 https://t.co/7xF3sXdh5o The total potential land value capture is [---] billion or 6.4bn a year assuming a 30-year development"
X Link 2024-12-10T15:59Z 17.5K followers, [----] engagements

"Ever since Keir Starmer Rachel Reeves Angela Rayner and other leading Labour figures announced they were interested in new towns there has been a wave of research into where these new towns should be. Location is vital. A quick 🧵"
X Link 2024-12-11T13:23Z 17.5K followers, 55.9K engagements

"Even further back in July @KaneEmerson and @SCP_Hughes argued that there was one location in particular that would work best for a new town: Tempsford where the West Coast Mainline crosses East-West Rail. Create Streets and Britain Remade echo this https://ukdayone.org/briefings/new-towns-for-a-new-britain-where-britain-s-next-new-town-should-be https://ukdayone.org/briefings/new-towns-for-a-new-britain-where-britain-s-next-new-town-should-be"
X Link 2024-12-11T13:23Z 17.5K followers, [----] engagements

"I explain in a thread here why location is so vital for new towns as all of these studies agree and how it explains why Skelmersdale Cumbernauld and others failed where Milton Keynes was a moderate success and Edinburgh New Town an enormous one. https://x.com/bswud/status/1821134593057034670 The main two ways that cities have expanded in history are speculative outward growth and steady urban and suburban intensification. But there is a third way: masterplanned new towns. If done well new towns can be a brilliant way of growing cities. 🧵 https://t.co/Cn7ajudXli"
X Link 2024-12-11T13:23Z 17.5K followers, [----] engagements

"Lithium ion batteries hydrogen dramatically increasing transmission none of these is going to fix Europes energy issues in the near term. Without reopening nuclear there will be enormous energy spikes and lots of coal and gas burning. https://www.siliconcontinent.com/p/intermittency-trap https://www.siliconcontinent.com/p/intermittency-trap"
X Link 2024-12-18T10:13Z 17.6K followers, [----] engagements

"@Norfolkforever Yes although funnily enough crime is down on every reasonable measure (crime known to police murder rate victim survey) since 1997"
X Link 2024-12-20T09:41Z 17.5K followers, [---] engagements

"@robinhanson Very few buildings involve an architect. Homes built for the market are generally architect-free (and generally in popular pastiche styles). Architect designed buildings are usually publicly funded or commercial"
X Link 2024-12-23T18:22Z 17.5K followers, [---] engagements

"@Cobylefko Is this a render of somewhere that has been built"
X Link 2024-12-24T18:34Z 17.6K followers, [---] engagements

"With a tiny bit of the Create Streets agenda beautifying public places and the Ed West agenda leaning into Harry Potter & historic theming plus if we built 1000+ more hotels we might even be able to win this thing"
X Link 2024-12-24T21:05Z 17.6K followers, 11.5K engagements

"@Kangaskhan6 Cant depend only on one city (or even on four: London Ox Cam Edi)"
X Link 2024-12-24T21:33Z 17.6K followers, [----] engagements

"@StatisticUrban Imagine how much wed dominate if we built more hotels in the Cotswolds Cornwall and the Lakes and we rebuilt the historic centres of our [---] most damaged settlements (And maybe every town or city should be assigned a Harry Potter house)"
X Link 2024-12-25T08:09Z 17.6K followers, [----] engagements

"@ehsssan Its the gloom that people hate. Sunlight is so scarce. I agree the mildness is nice"
X Link 2024-12-25T08:10Z 17.6K followers, [----] engagements

"@ffkayauk London is no1 but dont forget Edinburgh Oxbridge. Lots of potential in the rest of the country too"
X Link 2024-12-25T08:11Z 17.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@PSDuffy True. Best summer you can get. Still lots of cloud risk on any given day though"
X Link 2024-12-25T08:12Z 17.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@smnhmd The UK already has very low crime. Could certainly be a lot lower (big priority of mine) but crime is not the reason that people dislike Coventry town centre. Victorian UK had basically open borders migration was only low (except Irish) because of the high cost of migrating"
X Link 2024-12-25T13:22Z 17.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@tfromthemeadow @smnhmd There are lots of reasons why I dont think that that story is determining what we see. But just one: France has seen similar migration waves to us (till [----] at least) and invested much more heavily in infrastructure"
X Link 2024-12-25T14:38Z 17.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@GoetzScott93648 They go to Oxford Cambridge and Edinburgh (other than London). Think how much better we could do if everywhere was more like that"
X Link 2024-12-26T08:29Z 17.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@IronEconomist Its a bit more complicated than I suggested"
X Link 2024-12-27T09:52Z 17.6K followers, [---] engagements

"People look to credible signals of what societys values are when they decide how to invest their time and effort into their lives. A new system of honours would create common knowledge that we value innovation. I see its honours announcements today and would like to remind everyone of how it needs to be reformed. We need an entirely new order of chivalry. It costs a pittance and @Ned_Donovan and I even already got one of the heralds to create the designs. https://t.co/15YLIeHGsD https://t.co/DY5UqJ6i6C I see its honours announcements today and would like to remind everyone of how it needs to"
X Link 2024-12-31T09:28Z 17.6K followers, [----] engagements

"Monaco is expanding by three percent: literally growing into the sea. Should Britain reclaim land from the shallow bits of Dogger Bank The country of Monaco is growing by 3% as a new six-hectare district called Mareterra is being reclaimed from the sea at a cost of [--] billion euros. It has luxury apartments and villas costing up to $200 million plus a new park a small marina waterfront promenade and shops. https://t.co/cB39GW4PMc The country of Monaco is growing by 3% as a new six-hectare district called Mareterra is being reclaimed from the sea at a cost of [--] billion euros. It has luxury"
X Link 2025-01-22T09:22Z 17.5K followers, 16.4K engagements

"This is top-notch work: really an exemplar of what a modern policy paper can and should be. Lets hope its as influential as it deserves to be. Ultimately expansion matters because it will deliver for ordinary people across the UK. We calculated that for an average family of four going on a holiday blocking the third runway means their flights will cost [---] more. Read our full briefing here: https://t.co/n1J1LqZPOA Ultimately expansion matters because it will deliver for ordinary people across the UK. We calculated that for an average family of four going on a holiday blocking the third runway"
X Link 2025-01-23T16:04Z 17.5K followers, [----] engagements

"Wow: I never thought I'd see the day @TomClougherty is on Twitter"
X Link 2025-01-24T15:54Z 17.5K followers, [---] engagements

"@Marc_Vanguard_i @cremieuxrecueil It must be counting tourist crimes in the numerator but not tourists in the denominator or something"
X Link 2025-01-28T22:47Z 17.8K followers, [---] engagements

"Keir Starmer yesterday: private investment in the UK is effectively banned like Margaret Thatcher we will work to carefully unban it to generate growth. Seems good https://www.thetimes.com/article/20aed89c-735e-42b7-81af-078d4090467c https://www.thetimes.com/article/20aed89c-735e-42b7-81af-078d4090467c"
X Link 2025-01-29T10:17Z 17.6K followers, 29.1K engagements

"Nearly everything that California has tried to boost housing production has failed except allowing ADUs. But ADUs can never be very ambitious. Here is an attempt to use the logic of ADUs (popular with affected homeowners) to build something more ambitious. Had a great chat yesterday w/ Tal Alster about Israel's TAMA [--] program and potential extensions to SFH - plex projects in the U.S. 🧵/17 https://t.co/VR2K4e8Vlq Had a great chat yesterday w/ Tal Alster about Israel's TAMA [--] program and potential extensions to SFH - plex projects in the U.S. 🧵/17 https://t.co/VR2K4e8Vlq"
X Link 2025-02-04T10:45Z 17.6K followers, [----] engagements

"There is a field of developing economics where you try and work out what are the most binding constraints on a developing countrys growth. One major signal is looking at the things that are especially expensive in that country. The UK has the most expensive energy in the world"
X Link 2025-03-03T11:22Z 17.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@lanarkboy ❗ thats fucked up. Another one"
X Link 2025-03-08T12:45Z 17.6K followers, [---] engagements

"UK local government finance is almost uniquely centralised and UK local governments face extremely high effective 'tax rates' (from central govt) on any money they raise. This means it is often not worth their while to grow and they only do it because they are forced to"
X Link 2025-03-17T09:53Z 17.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@AaronBastani 👌🏻. And as a bonus once local govt has its social obligations mostly removed it can return to its job of creating local public goods like infrastructure clean streets nice paving & driving local growth. Impossible without social care fix"
X Link 2025-03-22T21:58Z 17.6K followers, [---] engagements

"Start by assuming everyone commutes to work by car. This is the land-hungriest option possible. Going by rail because it is faster than walking uses the least [--] sqft. Then walking. then a bus. All the way to a car with driver only which needs up to [---] sqft"
X Link 2025-03-26T10:10Z 17.7K followers, [----] engagements

"@Fat_Jacques Amazing Thank you for sharing. Do you know how much extra this cost Or have any idea how I might find out"
X Link 2025-03-26T11:33Z 17.7K followers, [---] engagements

"Now thats a cool dog"
X Link 2025-04-04T17:37Z 17.7K followers, [----] engagements

"@ULTRASH1TPOST @BrilliantMaps @s8mb @SCP_Hughes As a patriotic Briton I usually tend towards the British view of things but on this one I have sympathy for the French after speeding South for hours at 130kmh last summer 11mph faster than British roads will even let me go"
X Link 2025-04-10T10:55Z 17.7K followers, [--] engagements

"For me it is pretty important that every policeman and council officer who participated in the cover ups faces justice so that next time round people will be scared of getting in trouble for their actions. Impunity breeds complacency. We waited for the government to do the right thing and begin a national inquiry into the Grooming Gangs crisis. They didn't. At @crush_crime we are launching a Bill - with cross-party support for a national inquiry from Labour to Conservatives and Reform. There is no excuse https://t.co/iKHYEwdUtx We waited for the government to do the right thing and begin a"
X Link 2025-04-29T08:08Z 17.7K followers, 23.5K engagements

"@lesguersten Most of the countrys elite think these decisions are stupid and as the govt wants growth and is in a tough situation I dont think it can afford stupidity here"
X Link 2025-06-09T07:40Z 17.8K followers, [---] engagements

"This was inevitable but Im glad the process is over. Rolls Royce is one of the UKs most impressive companies so hopefully they will eventually deliver some good reactors for a decent price. Congratulations to Rolls Royce SMR selected as the preferred bidder to deliver the UKs first ever Small Modular Reactors. Were delivering the biggest nuclear building programme in a generation. Creating thousands of jobs driving growth and boosting our energy security. https://t.co/0cxj8HbUMj Congratulations to Rolls Royce SMR selected as the preferred bidder to deliver the UKs first ever Small Modular"
X Link 2025-06-10T07:16Z 17.8K followers, [----] engagements

"What a great birthday present for Sam to get to release an issue of his favourite magazine on his birthday Works in Progress issue [--] is live 🚅💊 - One weird trick to build a metro - The FDA's secret liberalisation of animal drugs - How Japan builds infrastructure through cities - Brain-computer interfaces - How NZ invented inflation targeting And more https://t.co/oekKVF4yZc https://t.co/k1q7pd8yal Works in Progress issue [--] is live 🚅💊 - One weird trick to build a metro - The FDA's secret liberalisation of animal drugs - How Japan builds infrastructure through cities - Brain-computer"
X Link 2025-06-12T12:32Z 17.8K followers, [----] engagements

"Space is cheap out in the suburbs or in satellite towns and if one train is delayed there is space for it to go without delaying any other train. This means that subways are much more reliable and can run at max frequency (many go above [--] trains per hour)"
X Link 2025-06-12T15:28Z 17.8K followers, [----] engagements

"But these suburban networks don't have to be a millstone around our necks because we can turn them into amazing metro networks for the price of a few kilometres of tunnel. In Manchester (UK) this means tunneling between Piccadilly and Victoria 1.3km as the crow flies"
X Link 2025-06-12T15:30Z 17.8K followers, [----] engagements

"Korean nuclear power is about seven times cheaper per gigawatt than British nuclear power. The Koreans have never had a nuclear release In the UK our next 3.2GW nuclear power station to come online will cost [--] billion. This would pay for [--] APR1400s with 21GW of capacity. A major factor in high British costs is due to our convoluted approval process. https://t.co/9PJRcR88c9 In the UK our next 3.2GW nuclear power station to come online will cost [--] billion. This would pay for [--] APR1400s with 21GW of capacity. A major factor in high British costs is due to our convoluted approval process."
X Link 2025-06-26T08:35Z 17.8K followers, [----] engagements

"@NewCor18146 Thats not a contradiction of the point. Its best if we dont have to fill every home at the same time so we have some slack. And French people are much more likely to have second homes (which is great)"
X Link 2025-07-04T14:59Z 17.8K followers, [---] engagements

"@estrariol97898 How in practice do you think this makes it easier Both Paris and London are surrounded by farmland. Is the view (for example) that London would expand but the farmland is too valuable to be worth turning it into homes because land is so scarce"
X Link 2025-07-04T15:00Z 17.8K followers, [---] engagements

"@HappyConveying I'm not certain how much difference it makes. The Netherlands is considerably denser than the UK but still builds a lot more. One reason is that you don't always have to use new land: nearly all of the UK's built area is homes of one or two storeys"
X Link 2025-07-04T16:05Z 17.8K followers, [---] engagements

"Is there an accepted reason as to why New Zealand seems to have such high state capacity (scare quotes because Im not certain that its capacity per se but it seems to make very civilised decisions). Like with VAT. Honestly such a joke that the UK (with 13x more people) can't even pass zonal pricing when we've had locational marginal pricing from [---] nodes since the late 90s https://t.co/3KX8vXJSMx Honestly such a joke that the UK (with 13x more people) can't even pass zonal pricing when we've had locational marginal pricing from [---] nodes since the late 90s https://t.co/3KX8vXJSMx"
X Link 2025-07-11T09:49Z 17.8K followers, [----] engagements

"@DaniAlmazan_ I just chose it for the rhythm of the sentence really sorry to offend. It could have been 'even Sweden' (because they're so small) or 'even India' (because they're a developing country"
X Link 2025-07-18T10:12Z 17.8K followers, [---] engagements

"@DaniAlmazan_ Well the UK has 2x Spanish GDP and opened its first nuclear power plant [--] years before Spain so being overtaken in absolute terms was surprising to me"
X Link 2025-07-18T10:41Z 17.8K followers, [---] engagements

"This is $500000 per hectare (but the upfront cost is actually zero: they are paying contractors in land). Could the UK government give anyone who raises Doggerland 10% of the land if they give the country 90% Would be a good site for a detention centre. The Maldives is extremely land constrained. It is currently reclaiming [----] hectares from Fushidhiggaru lagoon. The expected cost is about $650m but the government is footing none of it. Instead the contractor will get 4% of the new land. 10ha were completed in the first week. https://t.co/Q5CRE7JIxP The Maldives is extremely land constrained."
X Link 2025-07-24T12:09Z 17.8K followers, 28.8K engagements

"@matbogus I think it would be needlessly expensive to put our nuclear power plants that far away from population centres. The offshore wind turbines are there already but they are lucrative only where there are gigantic subsidies"
X Link 2025-07-25T11:44Z 17.8K followers, [--] engagements

"The Ministry of Power speaking in Parliament in [----]. "No one disputes that within the measurable future generation by nuclear energy will become substantially cheaper than by coal.""
X Link 2025-07-25T13:04Z 17.8K followers, [----] engagements

"Nearly every suburb in the West was downzoned between [----] and the 1950s. But there is a reason for optimism: todays housing shortages mean that upzonings may often today be value maximising exactly where they are needed most"
X Link 2025-08-08T10:37Z 17.9K followers, [----] engagements

"Sir Frederick Eden surveyed the English poor in the 1790s. Here is the annual budget of a gardener in Ealing (then a satellite of London inbetween where this map marks Acton and Hanwell). Note how he spends money on sugar tea beer meat and school fees"
X Link 2025-08-13T17:20Z 17.9K followers, [----] engagements

"Korea generated more [--] percent more nuclear electricity per Korean in [----] than Britain generated TOTAL electricity per person. Nuclear power produced only [----] percent of South Korean electricity. Korean nuclear power generation grew by 8.7% between the first half of [----] and the first half of [----]. That was three times the government's planned 2.9% growth of nuclear. That resulted in reduced coal use and less fossil energy imports. Article link in reply. The increase https://t.co/TRlECjiqKB Korean nuclear power generation grew by 8.7% between the first half of [----] and the first half of"
X Link 2025-08-19T15:18Z 18.5K followers, 142.9K engagements

"The UK is entering completely uncharted territory. No developed country has ever tried depriving its economy of energy to this extent before. 2/ Start with history. Britain's situation is not usual. That's true in terms of electricity bills as the chart above shows. Now possibly an even more important perspective: energy use. Today there are no countries as rich as Britain which use as little energy per head. https://t.co/kXTbqb7xQn 2/ Start with history. Britain's situation is not usual. That's true in terms of electricity bills as the chart above shows. Now possibly an even more important"
X Link 2025-08-19T15:29Z 17.9K followers, [----] engagements

"@JamesHSBrown I usually agree BUT I think this is a special case because of the wasted space inbetween the arteries and the enormously high value of getting the road out of the way AND the ridiculously high property value. (I'm told I underestimated and there are some 4000psf sales)"
X Link 2025-08-22T10:31Z 18K followers, [---] engagements

"At school under age [--] white British students (like me) significantly underperform most other ethnicities by whatever metric I can find. For example in the table below you have the proportion getting a level [--] (basically a decent pass a C+ or B-) in both maths and English at GCSE (major exams for students aged 16). These results are replicated (pretty much the exact same order of ethnicities) across grades at age 10/11 teacher-rated progress in grammar reading writing etc. and essentially everything else I can find. Most strikingly if you go to the attainment [--] results you can sort a table of"
X Link 2025-08-22T10:33Z 18.4K followers, 210.3K engagements

"In a classic [----] paper four authors found that aggravated assaults were getting much less lethal over time as emergency medicine improved. This flattered murder rates from 1970-1990 downwards they were actually worse than this seems but as much as five times"
X Link 2025-08-22T14:12Z 18K followers, [----] engagements

"@D_Browner Im afraid thats completely false. If it were increased efficiency youd expect to see a lower price because demand had fallen. In fact you see a higher price showing that supply has shifted down"
X Link 2025-08-26T19:20Z 18K followers, [--] engagements

"Avoine the commune that hosted the first EDF reactors became known by locals as the Kuwait of Indre-et-Loire after annual revenues there jumped from the tens of thousands of Francs to the MILLIONS in one year"
X Link 2025-09-04T13:12Z 18.4K followers, [----] engagements

"@beckyquick83 OK how about they let the existing payout shrink with inflation but massively subsidise wages in certain industries"
X Link 2025-09-05T08:03Z 18.4K followers, [--] engagements

"Belief follows feeling; feeling follows practice. Religious belief declines because we stop doing religious ritual NOT the other way round. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62452-z https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-62452-z"
X Link 2025-09-09T08:53Z 18.5K followers, [----] engagements

"Houston TX. Townhomes will appear on your vacant lot as quick as you like. [----] & 2025"
X Link 2025-09-10T13:38Z 18.5K followers, [----] engagements

"https://www.google.com/maps/place/1718+Huge+Oaks+St+Houston+TX+77055+USA/@29.8022074-95.49115083a83.4y112.95h91.85t/data=3m71e13m51sYpEFusjJHeiwiaGN6NpxzA2e06shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-1.8495373611025059%26panoid%3DYpEFusjJHeiwiaGN6NpxzA%26yaw%3D112.945833030907657i163848i81924m63m51s0x8640c43a81370c5d:0xa4b835857f8995658m23d29.80213714d-95.490667716s%2Fg%2F11c5q7qnz6entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkwNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D"
X Link 2025-09-10T13:38Z 18.5K followers, [---] engagements

"Nice low-value industrial lot you got there. Would be a shame if someone were to. turn it into some new townhouses"
X Link 2025-09-10T13:39Z 18.5K followers, [----] engagements

"2022 & [----] https://www.google.com/maps/@29.7891433-95.43489393a75y219.81h91.66t/data=3m81e13m61sHkwiGk9fbVF1WXLHvHDWtw2e05s20240601T0000006shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D-1.6625090043655177%26panoid%3DHkwiGk9fbVF1WXLHvHDWtw%26yaw%3D219.814705907694967i163848i8192entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkwNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D"
X Link 2025-09-10T13:39Z 18.5K followers, [---] engagements

"Low-density suburban housing becomes medium-density suburban housing"
X Link 2025-09-10T13:40Z 18.5K followers, [---] engagements

"https://www.google.com/maps/place/5302+S+Capitol+St+Houston+TX+77023+USA/@29.7403546-95.3242713a90y162.71h89.31t/data=3m81e13m61s-QIhqCtTyG4lanU38SaYaQ2e05s20240601T0000006shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D0.6942229126651682%26panoid%3D-QIhqCtTyG4lanU38SaYaQ%26yaw%3D162.714485251604887i163848i81924m63m51s0x8640be8e28296855:0x38a9437bb972a0058m23d29.740064d-95.32384116s%2Fg%2F11scv0pfj0entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkwNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D"
X Link 2025-09-10T13:40Z 18.5K followers, [---] engagements

"A tiny bungalow in [----]. Several large townhomes in [----]. Is there anywhere in the developed world that allows densification on par with Houston TX"
X Link 2025-09-10T13:46Z 18.5K followers, [----] engagements

"https://www.google.com/maps/place/117B+E+43rd+St+Houston+TX+77018+USA/@29.8253092-95.39972323a75y68.2h88.48t/data=3m81e13m61sHkW_vf_O26En9e-2wtQS6g2e05s20240501T0000006shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fcb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile%26w%3D900%26h%3D600%26pitch%3D1.5226317603026729%26panoid%3DHkW_vf_O26En9e-2wtQS6g%26yaw%3D68.19829530510737i163848i81924m63m51s0x8640c7868328b325:0x416b37195fa7c9b18m23d29.82574174d-95.399007216s%2Fg%2F11wfcx8wglentry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkwNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D"
X Link 2025-09-10T13:47Z 18.5K followers, [---] engagements

"The biggest problem here is obviously the politics so we need to design the policy around the politics. Even revaluing business rates is very difficult let alone a change this dramatic. The govts ideas here are pretty good. Im not sure what the government has briefed but it sounds like phasing stamp duty out (by buyer opt out) into a new ongoing property tax set at the net present value of expected SDLT revenues at the moment of opting. Excellent idea if so https://t.co/3KxKhg1yvx Im not sure what the government has briefed but it sounds like phasing stamp duty out (by buyer opt out) into a"
X Link 2025-09-15T10:11Z 18.5K followers, [----] engagements

"@jonatanpallesen Uber driver this morning was a railways project manager who worked in N LDN commuted from Maidstone a town in Kent. Sold his flat in SE London moved with his wife and two sons to avoid crime & bad schools. Ubered as second job. He was a British African but same deal"
X Link 2025-09-15T10:41Z 18.5K followers, 21.1K engagements

"If we think that the Treasury's balance sheet in the short run is the biggest issue then this is the solution: charging SDLT as normal but switching properties over to the new property tax when they transfer (and x SDLT covers x of that property tax) https://catchingmice.substack.com/p/fixing-stamp-duty https://catchingmice.substack.com/p/fixing-stamp-duty"
X Link 2025-09-16T08:13Z 18.5K followers, [---] engagements

"This is the best report ever written on nuclear reform in the UK. If the government follows this we will be building cheap nuclear power plants quickly within months. Britain once led the world in nuclear power. Today were building the most expensive nuclear power station in history. Why And how do we fix it The answer is here: https://t.co/jneC5GYMk6 Britain once led the world in nuclear power. Today were building the most expensive nuclear power station in history. Why And how do we fix it The answer is here: https://t.co/jneC5GYMk6"
X Link 2025-09-16T12:51Z 18.5K followers, 10.2K engagements

"@Real_JKE Have you seen what happened in Denmark"
X Link 2025-09-16T20:44Z 18.5K followers, [---] engagements

"@Dan_YIMBY @thomasforth Taiwan exempts owner-occupied property and farmland so nearly all important land uses. Denmark does have an approximately real land value tax but it also taxes property so it's not as different as it seems"
X Link 2025-09-17T14:13Z 18.5K followers, [---] engagements

"Far-UVC is a spectrum of light that kills germs but seems to be safe for humans. What if you're not sure Then let's not shine it at humans at all but just upwards into the ceiling of rooms then use fans or AC to circulate the air through the 'virus death zone'"
X Link 2025-09-22T13:25Z 18.5K followers, 17.1K engagements

"Far-UVC probably isn't harmful to skin though and when produced with high fidelity it should not even cause irritation"
X Link 2025-09-22T13:26Z 18.5K followers, [---] engagements

"The krypton-chloride excimer lamp. Excimer is a contraction of excited dimer a short-lived high-energy molecule formed when the krypton and chlorine temporarily bond in an excited state as an electric current is passed through the gas mixture"
X Link 2025-09-22T13:26Z 18.5K followers, [----] engagements

"@aesthete_93 @SCP_Hughes It basically looks fine. I wish they had done a nicer design but I strongly suspect that they are doing what the council's design guidelines ask for"
X Link 2025-09-23T15:04Z 18.5K followers, [---] engagements

"@chris_e_larkin @SCP_Hughes I wonder if that's true. do you think these (1995 build) faced less opposition https://www.google.com/maps/@51.46784050.00471848a35y240.54h64.51t/data=3m11e3entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkxNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/166900913#/channel=RES_BUY https://www.google.com/maps/@51.46784050.00471848a35y240.54h64.51t/data=3m11e3entry=ttu&g_ep=EgoyMDI1MDkxNy4wIKXMDSoASAFQAw%3D%3D https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/166900913#/channel=RES_BUY"
X Link 2025-09-23T15:16Z 18.8K followers, [--] engagements

"On June [--] [----] Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines hurled approximately [--] million tonnes of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere a part of the atmosphere far above our head (roughly [--] kilometers and up) where there are no clouds and relatively weak winds. Over the next eighteen months land masses cooled by approximately [---] degrees celsius. Pinatubo was not the first such eruption: El Chichn lofted seven million tonnes of sulfur dioxide and cooled the planet approximately [---] degrees in [----]. The [----] eruption of Mount Tambora the largest global eruption for at least [----] years led to the"
X Link 2025-09-24T08:47Z 18.5K followers, 13K engagements

"I am interested in the idea that it would be good to ban or strongly discourage all off-balance-sheet spending (eg social housing requirements CfDs). There would be downsides it would make some things harder to purchase but I suspect it would also improve social trust"
X Link 2025-09-30T11:15Z 18.5K followers, [----] engagements

"I think this should probably also apply to taxes. We have an enormous number of off-balance-sheet taxes through the withdrawal of benefits in all sorts of crazy ways. I suspect these stealth taxes do more damage to labour market incentives (and trust) than open taxation"
X Link 2025-09-30T12:41Z 18.5K followers, [---] engagements

"@JackKavanagh12 I don't want central government to fund it That's exactly the problem we have got to where 2/3 to 3/4 of local govt money is effectively coming from the centre"
X Link 2025-10-06T10:12Z 19K followers, [--] engagements

"China pays 4.5p (0.43 Yuan) per kilowatt hour for nuclear electricity equiv to [--] per MWh. This is see as a powerful draw for private capital. Britain recently paid [-----] per MWh (103 in 2019) and no private capital can be drawn into market. https://www.caea.gov.cn/english/n6759361/n6759362/c6792869/content.html https://www.caea.gov.cn/english/n6759361/n6759362/c6792869/content.html"
X Link 2025-10-07T13:39Z 19K followers, [----] engagements

"Also Leeds actually does have an extensive railway network in terms of coverage (except in the north east) but there are infrastructure constraints on running it as a fast frequent metro service"
X Link 2025-10-09T09:00Z 19K followers, [---] engagements

"The West Yorkshire County Council was abolished in [----] for the W Yorks Passenger Transport Authority which had fewer powers. In [----] the govt actually granted all the powers for a Leeds tram (with a legit route) but it never got funded. https://x.com/CoKeynesian/status/1976266580419018778 There used to be a West Yorkshire County Council covering all of the aforenamed area with powers over transport. I wonder if it had never been abolished it could have built the Leeds Supertram itself. https://x.com/CoKeynesian/status/1976266580419018778 There used to be a West Yorkshire County Council"
X Link 2025-10-10T08:33Z 19K followers, [---] engagements

"There are kinds of investment that we effectively do not allow by not permitting the kinds of institutions that could do them to exist and by making approval and construction expensive. https://x.com/Ben_A_Hopkinson/status/1902364708759384313 Before the [----] Madrid elections the Partido Popular promised to build [--] miles of metro by the end of their [--] year term. The re-elected West Yorkshire Mayor pledged that construction would begin not finish on a tramline in Leeds by the end of her term Why the difference🧵 https://t.co/K0SvDtGP1J https://x.com/Ben_A_Hopkinson/status/1902364708759384313"
X Link 2025-10-10T08:34Z 19K followers, [---] engagements

"The UK does infrastructure housebuilding and energy worse than France. But we have some advantages like our flexible labour markets. Our GDP per capita doesnt fall like manna from heaven. Chip away at our labour market regulation & we can fall further behind The UK is an international outlier when it comes to protection from unfair dismissal. Our two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection is completely out of step with other rich countries where qualifying periods between three and six months are the norm. Read https://t.co/D5kPwgZyPQ The UK is an international outlier when it"
X Link 2025-10-14T12:23Z 19K followers, 17K engagements

"@julesw1lko @JCoshingham Generous unemployment insurance (like Denmark) is a better solution"
X Link 2025-10-15T08:01Z 19K followers, [--] engagements

"@ScorpionWind @JCoshingham Correct here. Single factor comparisons of huge blocs are not in themselves conclusive. Pieter Garicanos posts for Silicon Continent on outliers & labour market regulation are v convincing though @bswud @JCoshingham Possibly for other reasons then. 😉 @bswud @JCoshingham Possibly for other reasons then. 😉"
X Link 2025-10-15T08:42Z 19K followers, [--] engagements

"Among its myriad other benefits Donald Trump's business tax reform (DBCFT) would also be highly progressive http://taxfoundation.org/blog/what-distributional-impact-destination-based-cash-flow-tax http://taxfoundation.org/blog/what-distributional-impact-destination-based-cash-flow-tax"
X Link 2017-01-23T16:16Z 17.4K followers, [--] engagements

"@RD_Economist were the bilateral deficits in this picture bad http://www.deirdremccloskey.com/docs/graham/britain.pdf http://www.deirdremccloskey.com/docs/graham/britain.pdf"
X Link 2017-01-27T14:35Z 18.1K followers, [--] engagements

"@RD_Economist even a giant CA surplus involves (nay requires) lots of individual bilateral deficits"
X Link 2017-01-27T15:02Z 18.1K followers, [--] engagements

"@RD_Economist UK bought raw cotton from US and elsewhere processed and sold to South America etc. Overall surplus contained deficits"
X Link 2017-01-27T15:15Z 18.1K followers, [--] engagements

"@RD_Economist (it's a separate point but CA deficit is the flipside of investor confidence in -denominated assets. Not always bad)"
X Link 2017-01-27T15:16Z 18.1K followers, [--] engagements

"One reason infrastructure is more expensive now: more & more externalities have been brought onto the balance sheet http://takimag.com/article/undocumented_irrigation_steve_sailer/print#axzz4ZAy0zws3 http://takimag.com/article/undocumented_irrigation_steve_sailer/print#axzz4ZAy0zws3"
X Link 2017-02-22T11:28Z 17.3K followers, [--] engagements

"Insecticide-treated-bed-net-based antimalarial campaigns cut mortality & raise fertility in sub-Saharan Africa https://business.und.edu/undergraduate/economics-and-finance/_files/docs/_spring_2017_papers/mort_fert_malaria_aejap.pdf https://business.und.edu/undergraduate/economics-and-finance/_files/docs/_spring_2017_papers/mort_fert_malaria_aejap.pdf"
X Link 2017-03-28T16:26Z 17.4K followers, [--] engagements

"Yet another finding that breastfeeding raises cognitive ability even after adjusting for maternal IQ https://capmh.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13034-017-0169-0 https://capmh.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13034-017-0169-0"
X Link 2017-07-28T11:30Z 18.1K followers, [--] engagements

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