@bswud Avatar @bswud Ben Southwood

Ben Southwood posts on X about in the, london, france, money 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 countries finance travel destinations technology brands social networks stocks celebrities automotive brands nfl formula 1

Social topic influence in the, london, france, money, investment, to the, build, countries, homes, if you

Top Social Posts

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

"Planned refurbishment of an industrial building in Copenhagen. What an improvement https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7097912.55188463a75y277.9h96.21t/data=3m61e13m41sWEvqASeIgN02VR07u0_KwA2e07i163848i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7097912.55188463a75y277.9h96.21t/data=3m61e13m41sWEvqASeIgN02VR07u0_KwA2e07i163848i8192"
X Link 2021-05-14T08:11Z 19.2K followers, [--] engagements

"@DianeCoyle1859 I suspect that Bath case actually was built after the window tax was instituted and therefore likely built with blind windows purely for exterior aesthetic function. I imagine it's listed & we can find out from the listing if you have the exact location/address"
X Link 2022-01-21T19:33Z 19.6K followers, [--] engagements

"There a huge range of different conceptions of Greater London. The one that most closely fits my intuitions is the Greater London Built-Up Area"
X Link 2022-02-14T11:43Z 19.6K followers, [--] engagements

"We emit about [--] gigatonnes of CO2 every year. How much would it cost to grind up a whole bunch of olivine and absorb all of our emissions plus a bit extra so we can go back to a preindustrial environment Not that much. https://worksinprogress.co/issue/olivine-weathering https://worksinprogress.co/issue/olivine-weathering"
X Link 2023-05-24T07:28Z 19.6K followers, 29.2K engagements

"1976 study in the DC region: houses get more valuable for the first 1125ft they are away from a highway but get less valuable after that point. i.e. access to major roads is very valuable but the noise overwhelms that when you're close by https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1976/583/583-004.pdf https://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/trr/1976/583/583-004.pdf"
X Link 2023-09-19T10:40Z 19.4K followers, [---] engagements

"Study of road noise in Sweden: each decibel is worth a 0.6% discount in property prices. A thirty percent () reduction in property prices for being on a loud road versus being on a quiet street. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/documentrepid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=950736e19175b0482feec04fd4355e8a791351c7 https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/documentrepid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=950736e19175b0482feec04fd4355e8a791351c7"
X Link 2023-09-19T10:46Z 19.2K followers, 110.4K engagements

"Another study following up released murderers this time in Sweden. Five out of [---] committed another murder. Average follow-up was [--] years. So the rate was at least 155x the normal rate"
X Link 2023-10-25T11:53Z 19.2K followers, 16.5K engagements

"The third region is Scandinavia. Data there before official stats is not quite as rich. But astonishingly Sweden started preparing high quality national data in 1754 (). Shockingly Sweden already had ultra-low murder in the 1750s [--] per 100k"
X Link 2023-11-21T21:18Z 19.2K followers, 11.8K engagements

"In fact Sweden now typically has higher murder rates than it did in the 1750s despite the enormous improvements in medical technology since that time"
X Link 2023-11-21T21:19Z 19.2K followers, 31.9K engagements

"In just five years the UK's Central Electricity Board built the National Grid with [----] miles of cables and [-----] pylons. In [----] a group of impatient rebellions engineers switched the connections on without permission. The price of electricity collapsed"
X Link 2024-09-22T09:05Z 19.8K followers, 159.2K engagements

"The UK could have the Western worlds first civilian small modular reactors up and running in two years at zero cost to the tax- or bill-payer with just the stroke of a pen If I told you there was a small modular reactor company that - Wants to build 20+ microreactors in Britain - Needs no taxpayer money - Has new sites lined up for deploying them - Can deliver them in two years BUT - Is in limbo because the Office for Nuclear Regulation hasnt https://t.co/Q04e6m9Rrf If I told you there was a small modular reactor company that - Wants to build 20+ microreactors in Britain - Needs no taxpayer"
X Link 2025-02-17T13:54Z 19.8K followers, 50K engagements

"Of these ring roading needs the most land in total because people take the longest routes but it needs by far the least land inside the city centre"
X Link 2025-03-26T10:10Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"Let's put some real numbers in. Imagine we need 100sqft of ground space in the central area per worker. We can see how cars work perfectly for small towns but scaling them to large metropolises requires giving over very large proportions of space to parking and roads"
X Link 2025-03-26T10:10Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"@MeredithAngwin Turnkey contracts were also how the UK's nationalised Central Electricity Generating Board contracted for nuclear power plants during the 1950s and 1960s buildout here"
X Link 2025-07-24T08:40Z 19.1K followers, [---] engagements

"How farmer co-ops electrified rural America. https://asteriskmag.com/issues/11/how-co-ops-electrified-america https://asteriskmag.com/issues/11/how-co-ops-electrified-america"
X Link 2025-09-29T16:17Z 19.1K followers, [----] engagements

"This comparison massively undersells Leeds which is actually more like Frankfurt at 20km size and Munich at 30km size than it is like tiny Strasbourg. Great paper here though and the point is still well made. Strasbourg in France has a comprehensive tram network of [--] lines and [--] miles of track which serves its population of [------]. Leeds has a population of [------] and it goes without. What's the difference between the two Mayors that have the power to build 🧵 https://t.co/6Yb89T8pvH Strasbourg in France has a comprehensive tram network of [--] lines and [--] miles of track which serves its"
X Link 2025-10-09T08:55Z 19K followers, 13.1K engagements

"It's worth remembering that administrative statistics are usually very confusing for city size. Done objectively people within commuting distance of the centre Leeds is a much larger city than Marseille. [---] million people within 30km versus [---] million. Whats the difference between the Leeds metro and the Marseille metro The Marseille metro exists. Leeds is the largest city in Europe without a metro. UK towns lag Germany & France holding back growth. In a new report with @labourtogether we set out a plan to change this 🧵 https://t.co/xG1hgmUQje Whats the difference between the Leeds metro"
X Link 2025-10-10T08:29Z 19K followers, [----] engagements

"I read this book in manuscript as part of the editing process and it is absolutely outstanding. I've lost count of the number of facts I tell people from it at dinner parties and I have delayed articles in my own magazine so that they can cite it to prove their points. Out now: https://t.co/KEyYy67F90 [---] years on from the Industrial Revolution we still struggle to understand what makes a production process more efficient. The Origins of Efficiency fills in that gap. Examining industries from steel to semiconductors to auto manufacturing https://t.co/vdVSJARiGA Out now:"
X Link 2025-10-14T15:13Z 19.1K followers, [----] engagements

"UK threw away its commanding post-WW2 advantage which was itself just the continuation of [---] years of dominance with the worst economic policy of any major country in free Europe. Many are saying it"
X Link 2025-10-23T05:42Z 19.8K followers, 59.5K engagements

"@VeritySeb Yes I think thats right"
X Link 2025-10-23T14:28Z 19.1K followers, [----] engagements

"@Philip__Hills I actually dont think tax was a big part of it myself but I also dont think Marshall Aid mattered. The numbers are not that large and foreign aid is not that effective around the world. Thats just a history books thing not a big factor IMHO"
X Link 2025-10-24T07:07Z 19.1K followers, [---] engagements

"It feels to me that London has completely stagnated since the early 2010s where many other UK cities have forged ahead impressively (especially Manchester). We need a change of government. Had a great time at @lfg_uk last night. I was totally serious about saying we should draft @pursuitofprog to run for Mayor. London is broken - crime has been legalised and building has been criminalised. Seems to me like the field is open to outsiders esp if Sadiq runs again. Had a great time at @lfg_uk last night. I was totally serious about saying we should draft @pursuitofprog to run for Mayor. London is"
X Link 2025-10-24T07:22Z 19.1K followers, 20.3K engagements

"The government's Renters' Rights Bill looks like it will be a catastrophe inadvertently introducing rent controls and reducing the supply of housing even more. It is the clearest evidence that the whole British state that has brought it about is completely broken: Written The government's Renters' Rights Bill looks like it will be a catastrophe inadvertently introducing rent controls and reducing the supply of housing even more. It is the clearest evidence that the whole British state that has brought it about is completely broken: Written"
X Link 2025-10-24T11:27Z 19.1K followers, 17.4K engagements

"@mr_james_c I suspect that personal experience is not the determining factor here. People always generalise from their personal experience. We don't always get bad policy"
X Link 2025-10-24T11:35Z 19.1K followers, [---] engagements

"@mr_james_c My feeling is that rent controls just become popular in any era where there is rapid rental inflation. By failing to prevent that the rent control coalition got going. It happened in the 1540s it happened in [----] it's happened in lots of places globally"
X Link 2025-10-24T11:53Z 19.1K followers, [--] engagements

"I predict that there will be at least one snide critical account of LFGs first really big event but I have to say that it featured almost American levels of optimism and sincerity and I found that incredibly pleasing. I was at @lfg_uk last night 🚀 Huge energy in the room both the most pessimistic (UK on the brink) and optimistic (but this is all fixable) Its really cool to see politics changing in real time and witness what could be a major new force in the UK emerging over pints of https://t.co/rxaVQI3cze I was at @lfg_uk last night 🚀 Huge energy in the room both the most pessimistic (UK"
X Link 2025-10-24T12:27Z 19.2K followers, 21.1K engagements

"My train (1804 to Dartford at London Bridge) rolled in covered in graffiti yesterday. I gather that well-designed studies find only small broken windows effects but I certainly feel an ominous sense of breakdown any time in see graffiti in such contexts. LFG cleaned graffiti off the tube. TfL smeared us as criminals. They claimed they had evidence. But we discovered the secret emails that prove they never had evidence. Lying is bad. Say sorry Andy. https://t.co/kr0lU1CZ6s LFG cleaned graffiti off the tube. TfL smeared us as criminals. They claimed they had evidence. But we discovered the"
X Link 2025-10-24T12:29Z 19.1K followers, [----] engagements

"@Charlie_Stevens I was also pleased that all of the political speakers thought that disempowering unelected technocrats and empowering democracy (and tighter feedback loops) was the way forward"
X Link 2025-10-24T14:46Z 19.1K followers, [---] engagements

"This piece is absolutely outstanding and so much of it applies to the UK as well (or even moreso) John Collison of Stripe: Ireland is going backwards. Heres how to get it moving https://t.co/aPTfmQzoo6 John Collison of Stripe: Ireland is going backwards. Heres how to get it moving https://t.co/aPTfmQzoo6"
X Link 2025-10-26T12:51Z 19.1K followers, 17.3K engagements

"@RazzTheKing @mspringut This building is clearly not the best but I'm surprised that it is on lists of the ugliest buildings in the city. It looks like your average Vancouver building but with basically quite pleasing massing"
X Link 2025-10-27T16:10Z 19.1K followers, [--] engagements

"@HuwSayer @createstreets Good stuff. I wonder when the stucco was last redone"
X Link 2025-10-29T13:41Z 19.1K followers, [--] engagements

"Theres a serious point here which is that these rules are already quite complicated and tricky to stay abreast of. But with the RRB it will become untenably risky to put a family home on the rental market at all when moving away temporarily. 🚨 NEW: Chancellor Rachel Reeves has admitted to breaking housing regulations after unlawfully renting out her family home for [----] a month without a licence after moving in to No [--] She has tonight referred herself to the Independent Ethics Adviser @HarriLine https://t.co/ixfUSlLhuL 🚨 NEW: Chancellor Rachel Reeves has admitted to breaking housing"
X Link 2025-10-30T08:10Z 19.2K followers, 25.5K engagements

"Airbus was the rare industrial policy that put zero weight on trying to prop up jobs or sectors in particular places and focused instead on creating a successful company in a strategically important sector. And it worked Europe keeps trying and failing to do industrial policy. But it has one success story: Airbus. Everything that Airbus did right Europe's other attempts are doing wrong. https://t.co/gGf0KuI5Dk Europe keeps trying and failing to do industrial policy. But it has one success story: Airbus. Everything that Airbus did right Europe's other attempts are doing wrong."
X Link 2025-10-30T10:18Z 19.8K followers, 31.8K engagements

"A 1970s version of this would be like 'in [----] UK top 10% incomes were no [--] in the world but they've since gradually fallen and are now behind the rest of the Anglosphere and northwestern Europe just above Spain and Italy' We have fixed that before we can fix it again. In [----] UK top 10% incomes were no [--] in the world but theyve since gradually fallen and are now behind the rest of the Anglosphere and northwestern Europe; just above Spain and Italy. https://t.co/l8uBLJMfck In [----] UK top 10% incomes were no [--] in the world but theyve since gradually fallen and are now behind the rest of the"
X Link 2025-10-31T10:25Z 19.3K followers, 37.9K engagements

"Today in Britain people feel comfortable buying a house somewhere even if they know they might not live there forever because if they have to move away for a few years they can easily rent it out. That is about to become risky. I suspect many people will leave homes empty instead. Since they will be nervy about renting a home they buy out they might want to rent privately instead. But who will want to rent to them Last time we imposed this kind of intervention into renting the private rental market collapsed from the majority of the market (including for the wealthy) to a tiny minority."
X Link 2025-10-31T10:53Z 19.2K followers, 45.5K engagements

"@Object_Zero_ That wasn't a huge factor in our 1980-2000 recovery in my view"
X Link 2025-10-31T10:55Z 19.4K followers, [---] engagements

"It's useful to go and look and the replies here. Some people are 'YIMBYs' not because they want more homes to get built but because they see homeowners and normal people as their cultural enemies that they want to punish. I think the neighbours should have been able to insist that the new house here (on the left) was built in a more similar style to the other buildings around it. What do you think Let me know below 👇 https://t.co/iUVWPtGoia I think the neighbours should have been able to insist that the new house here (on the left) was built in a more similar style to the other buildings"
X Link 2025-10-31T11:35Z 19.2K followers, 18.7K engagements

"I think that - people renting their own home out while they live away will fall significantly - small-time landlording as an investment/job will fall significantly - existing and new build to rent will continue as now (they can average out the risks) but renting will get more expensive I'm unsure how much of the current small-time market will shift to corporate landlords but I think it will be significantly less than all of it"
X Link 2025-10-31T13:04Z 19.2K followers, [---] engagements

"@JasonPalmer1971 I don't believe that all markets are self correcting: I think governments and institutions have to work well for markets to work well and deliver high social welfare"
X Link 2025-10-31T13:54Z 19.2K followers, [---] engagements

"I hate when people use admits as a weasel word like this. Facts about the world are not the sort of thing you can admit to. Go for claims or says. BREAKING: Bill Gates admits climate change will not lead to humanitys demise. BREAKING: Bill Gates admits climate change will not lead to humanitys demise"
X Link 2025-11-01T14:42Z 19.2K followers, [----] engagements

"@ajdlinux IMHO large developments that are not forced to have bad design generally have at least decent design in the UK now. Like the regen at Woolwich E&C Kidbrooke etc"
X Link 2025-11-04T07:28Z 19.2K followers, [---] engagements

"@ajdlinux So I would encourage larger developments (with eg land readjustment or graduated density zoning from Shoup) and require infill to follow neighbourhood design (if the nhood has a style like Sams pic)"
X Link 2025-11-04T07:29Z 19.2K followers, [---] engagements

"Steaks in UK supermarkets are now often tagged because criminals (presumably drug addicts) steal them and resell them in pubs to unbelievably normal people. They sometimes take ages to remove costing staff and legitimate customers annoying time. The long-suffering security guards know exactly which frequent fliers are getting them again and again but the thieves only have to be lucky once. Time for some pub stings fines and community service (perhaps wearing an I buy stolen steak bib) for people buying the illicit goods"
X Link 2025-11-04T08:50Z 19.3K followers, 193.8K engagements

"Britain today has so many echoes of the 1970s that its boring to list them all but notice how more and more of the key prices in the economy (here wages) are being set centrally. Some UK entry-level professional service jobs are converging with the minimum wage. "A growing number of HR firms are now having to closely monitor salary sacrifice schemes . from pushing staff below the legal threshold for wages per hour." https://t.co/mJuaDEc4BB Some UK entry-level professional service jobs are converging with the minimum wage. "A growing number of HR firms are now having to closely monitor salary"
X Link 2025-11-04T09:11Z 19.8K followers, 51.4K engagements

"@johnloeber People buy the steaks because they dont feel shame about doing it and it saves them money which everyone likes. We can make them feel shame about it like drunk driving. https://worksinprogress.co/issue/how-the-war-on-drunk-driving-was-won/ https://worksinprogress.co/issue/how-the-war-on-drunk-driving-was-won/"
X Link 2025-11-04T09:18Z 19.2K followers, [---] engagements

"@georgebernhard I am amazed at people's low disgust threshold in this case"
X Link 2025-11-04T09:57Z 19.2K followers, [---] engagements

"Lots of cities (eg Leeds) have railways that turn up at the edge of the town centre or in the middle but then dead end reducing the capacity and utility of the lines. We can solve this by running the trains onto tracks in the street as trams https://worksinprogress.co/issue/turning-trains-into-trams/ https://worksinprogress.co/issue/turning-trains-into-trams/"
X Link 2025-11-04T11:16Z 19.3K followers, 20.9K engagements

"Green has verges and medians we could take orange has bus lanes we could 'upgrade'. If it were up to me I might put a 1.5km tunnel to the upper left brown through Headingley via the University and in a maximalist world a second perhaps 3km tunnel spurring into both greens"
X Link 2025-11-04T11:52Z 19.2K followers, [----] engagements

"I reckon that people around the world would fly over to see this if we made it in the UK. So simple I had a go at improving it. https://t.co/TvYoTzloqQ I had a go at improving it. https://t.co/TvYoTzloqQ"
X Link 2025-11-04T12:23Z 19.8K followers, 72.5K engagements

"A map of where you can now subscribe to Works in Progress. Wow Works in Progress print edition is now available in Canada Australia The entire European Union Subscribe today for six beautiful issues a year. The first edition ships in two weeks. https://t.co/PoUJhC9HEn Works in Progress print edition is now available in Canada Australia The entire European Union Subscribe today for six beautiful issues a year. The first edition ships in two weeks. https://t.co/PoUJhC9HEn"
X Link 2025-11-04T12:38Z 19.2K followers, 10.5K engagements

"@Navarthian @JYuter I think there is likely a cleverer way of doing things but I could be wrong"
X Link 2025-11-04T12:51Z 19.2K followers, [--] engagements

"@billwells_1 I don't think we have built anything like Broadcasting House or [--] Broadway in almost a century"
X Link 2025-11-04T12:58Z 19.2K followers, [---] engagements

"The most exciting non-fiction book of the year The Land Trap is now OUT in the US Just two days to wait until the UK release. Pre-orders should be landing imminently. https://t.co/aaKeCeW4xI The Land Trap is now OUT in the US Just two days to wait until the UK release. Pre-orders should be landing imminently. https://t.co/aaKeCeW4xI"
X Link 2025-11-04T14:37Z 19.2K followers, [----] engagements

"Fraud negligence hype and bias together make up more than half of academic science. Big Pharma regularly produces reproducible breakthroughs in part because their motives are better and in part because the FDA imposes the insights of the open science movement on them. Look at the distribution of z-values from medical research https://t.co/OID776X9u0 Look at the distribution of z-values from medical research https://t.co/OID776X9u0"
X Link 2025-11-05T09:14Z 19.3K followers, 85.6K engagements

"Voters in Charlotte NC just passed a one percent sales tax increase to fund a $20 billion investment into roads and rail. If UK cities had powers like this we would have much more and better infrastructure. https://www.wfae.org/politics/2025-11-04/transit-and-transportation-sales-tax-leads-in-early-voting-mecklenburg-results-show https://www.wfae.org/politics/2025-11-04/transit-and-transportation-sales-tax-leads-in-early-voting-mecklenburg-results-show"
X Link 2025-11-05T10:58Z 19.2K followers, [----] engagements

"Mining rare earth metals for ingredients to make solar panels exposes you to [--] times more radiation than working in a nuclear power plant"
X Link 2025-11-05T17:49Z 19.2K followers, [----] engagements

"@KrischanWolf @sib313 Big multi-arm postreg trials would be a good way to spend NIH money imho bundling together hundreds of grants into really valuable comparable stuff"
X Link 2025-11-06T10:14Z 19.2K followers, [--] engagements

"@salonium Is there an alternative graph to compare to"
X Link 2025-11-06T10:46Z 19.3K followers, [---] engagements

"We have gone too far with hidden taxes. Effective marginal tax rates are now 60-70% along parts of the schedule and sometimes higher but this is done thru a complicated array of withdrawals. Its a false economy. The disincentives appear anyway but they ALSO destroy trust. Another underrated aspect of Britain's insanely punishing tax system: If you went to university in [----] - [----] (plan 2) and are on 50k an extra 3% points gets added onto the interest rate on your debt. So you'll be stuck with the extra 9% tax for a few more years Another underrated aspect of Britain's insanely punishing tax"
X Link 2025-11-12T11:33Z 19.4K followers, 38.7K engagements

"@Guy21Nerdy It does have one really important characteristic which is that you can pay it off early and avoid the tax. But this feature is different to the normal taxlikeness and is literally a tax (the higher interest rate)"
X Link 2025-11-12T12:16Z 19.3K followers, [---] engagements

"For developing countries' cities to power their growth they need to set aside wide public rights of way for circulation like Manhattan or Madrid rather than allowing every shred of ground to be developed into buildings like Cairo or Kolkata. In the nineteenth century European cities were radically replanned devoting far more space to streets and public spaces. Developing world cities today should be even bolder. https://t.co/TTJbiNoSzO In the nineteenth century European cities were radically replanned devoting far more space to streets and public spaces. Developing world cities today should"
X Link 2025-11-13T11:44Z 19.3K followers, [----] engagements

"Here is an argument following a line that housing advocates in other Anglosphere countries often make that instead of trying to come up with clever policies British YIMBYs should instead convince the population of libertarian principles around land. https://anglology.substack.com/p/britains-yimbys-are-doomed https://anglology.substack.com/p/britains-yimbys-are-doomed"
X Link 2025-11-15T08:30Z 19.4K followers, [----] engagements

"The main emotions I feel here are sadness and horror. But if you have an ounce of compassion you should support carefully keeping an eye on this boy. Children who murder and rape have extraordinarily high lifetime crime rates https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15296067/boy-raping-attacking-girl-ohio-ankle-monitor.html https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15296067/boy-raping-attacking-girl-ohio-ankle-monitor.html"
X Link 2025-11-17T12:12Z 19.3K followers, 14.3K engagements

"Morning trains full of commuters are totally dead silent if you take your headphones out. Everyone just calmly obeying norms and acting prosocially. Lots of people reading serious books and articles. Gotta love it"
X Link 2025-11-18T08:59Z 19.4K followers, 19K engagements

"@abworkoutguy @edwest I loathe them. They vomit and shit piles of yew berries outside my front door almost every day. Im constantly boiling water to wash it away"
X Link 2025-11-18T09:32Z 19.4K followers, [---] engagements

"There are 24h gyms in London with no nighttime staff. Often theyre cheap 30/month but even in squalid areas - graffiti rampant theft people suffering severe MH crises screaming - gyms are clean & everyone is polite unthreatening and pleasant. The tiniest filter works"
X Link 2025-11-18T10:07Z 19.4K followers, 136.6K engagements

"There has been a tent city on Euston Road right by a bunch of tech HQs for months now. Were heading towards having our very own Skid Row Not nice"
X Link 2025-11-18T10:11Z 19.4K followers, 42.4K engagements

"@surplustakes https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0739456X221141317 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0739456X221141317"
X Link 2025-11-18T10:49Z 19.4K followers, [----] engagements

"It would be nice if we actually knew who was coming in and out of the country. Perhaps the ONS should be moved from Newport into a major agglomeration like Birmingham Manchester or Leeds Remarkable. Immigration in the [--] years to December [----] has been revised upwards by over 300k but emigration has been revised up by 650k An increase in Britons leaving equivalent to 1% of the population https://t.co/gH6CRk5UVs Remarkable. Immigration in the [--] years to December [----] has been revised upwards by over 300k but emigration has been revised up by 650k An increase in Britons leaving equivalent to 1%"
X Link 2025-11-18T11:00Z 19.4K followers, [----] engagements

"Every generator is a policy failure https://worksinprogress.co/issue/every-generator-is-a-policy-failure/ This Economist piece on the world being on the verge of a geothermal energy breakthrough has simply intensified my hatred of the "solar revolution" going on in poor countries. Rant 🧵 https://t.co/lL64M1GDky https://worksinprogress.co/issue/every-generator-is-a-policy-failure/ This Economist piece on the world being on the verge of a geothermal energy breakthrough has simply intensified my hatred of the "solar revolution" going on in poor countries. Rant 🧵 https://t.co/lL64M1GDky"
X Link 2025-11-20T08:50Z 19.5K followers, 20.8K engagements

"@The_Clermontian I think you are drawing a false dichotomy. The boldest moves involve the most prep and the most careful coalition building. Eg the Meiji Restoration paid the vast bulk of the samurai to hand over their swords; 1/3 of the funds from dissolution went to monks' pensions"
X Link 2025-11-20T15:37Z 19.4K followers, [--] engagements

"This comes down to the UK's egalitarian 'Anglo Saxon' ethos based around safety solidarity and consensus. Over the channel we see the alternative: the swashbuckling 'Gallic' way of life with inequality high speed limits nuclear power toll roads and housebuilding. The UK has the most progressive tax system in the developed world argues @jburnmurdoch. As @duncanrobinson wrote for @TheEconomist the Tories created an unbelievably progressive system. https://t.co/xwciYwPQzD https://t.co/WHlsKzx5oj https://t.co/bem18HfbyD The UK has the most progressive tax system in the developed world argues"
X Link 2025-11-21T10:24Z 19.5K followers, 30K engagements

"The replies here are a great example of people's expressed views mostly being reflections of what they understand to be the correct opinion for someone like them. No doubt nearly all of them had the exact opposite opinion within weeks confidently rehearsing Caprice's points. Let us make no mistake about this we are not going to solve this. Dr Sarah Jarvis disputes Caprice's claim that the best thing to do to contain coronavirus would be a two-week lockdown saying: "It has categorically not worked." @DrSarahJarvis @TheJeremyVine #JeremyVine https://t.co/maixn6xbwQ Let us make no mistake about"
X Link 2025-11-21T11:53Z 19.4K followers, [----] engagements

"Its the day you have all been waiting for. Works in Progress is finally out in print. If you are a subscriber it will be with you soon. If you arent a subscriber subscribe now The first print issue of Works In Progress is landing on people's doorsteps today Over the next week or so our thousands of subscribers everywhere from Alaska to Australia should be receiving their first copy. We are trying to make the most beautiful physical magazine on the https://t.co/n4jxfcP21c The first print issue of Works In Progress is landing on people's doorsteps today Over the next week or so our thousands of"
X Link 2025-11-21T14:01Z 19.4K followers, [----] engagements

"Microgravity crushes human bodies. If we want to conquer space we need to invent giant rotating space stations with artificial gravity. To get them up into the sky they will need to be inflatable. https://worksinprogress.co/issue/inflatable-space-stations/ https://worksinprogress.co/issue/inflatable-space-stations/"
X Link 2025-11-21T14:18Z 19.5K followers, 24.3K engagements

"@djjmilner There is a lot to be said for the British way of life more focused around enjoying food and wine less concerned with hard nosed financial and economic questions but I dare say we could learn a little from our French cousins"
X Link 2025-11-21T14:52Z 19.4K followers, [--] engagements

"British Rail was well run but the state underinvested in it for decades keeping fares low. BR did the best it could but ridership halved [----] to privatisation (1994). Since then ridership is up 2.5x in 30y. It has been renationalised. Decades of underinvestment to come 🚨 BREAKING: Rachel Reeves will freeze rail fares for the first time in [--] years in the Budget It will apply to all regulated fares including seasons peak returns and off-peak returns 🚨 BREAKING: Rachel Reeves will freeze rail fares for the first time in [--] years in the Budget It will apply to all regulated fares including"
X Link 2025-11-23T09:23Z 19.4K followers, 68.1K engagements

"The last long period of nationalisation saw the modal share of railways steadily fall. After privatisation we have consistently let fares rise and funded capital investment - growth Another nice chart here: modal share (% of total passenger miles done via rail). Chart starts just after nationalisation. https://t.co/575HMfJzcG Another nice chart here: modal share (% of total passenger miles done via rail). Chart starts just after nationalisation. https://t.co/575HMfJzcG"
X Link 2025-11-23T09:29Z 19.4K followers, [----] engagements

"@JohnGerard5 They look quite nice"
X Link 2025-11-23T10:34Z 19.4K followers, [----] engagements

"@RuudGit When DfT took over Southeastern they halved off peak services on my line to save on costs"
X Link 2025-11-23T11:00Z 19.4K followers, [---] engagements

"@ChrisHowellCam My claim is that they were efficient at turning inputs into outputs but political decisions on the high level stuff made them overall ineffective"
X Link 2025-11-23T12:23Z 19.4K followers, [---] engagements

"@joe35353643 Rail fares are subsidised by the taxpayer. About 1/3 of the cost is covered by the general taxpayer last I looked"
X Link 2025-11-23T16:08Z 19.4K followers, [---] engagements

"Britain has run down a nuclear industry that was once the worlds greatest and which even in [----] provided 25% of our electricity. The transition to clean energy is one of the greatest challenges in our history. Nuclear can make it easier but only if we regulate it better. Britain needs nuclear power. Our nuclear projects are the most expensive in the world and among the slowest. Regulators and industry are paralysed by risk aversion. This can change. For Britain to prosper it must. Earlier this year the Prime Minister appointed me to lead a https://t.co/x6GhnhyVk2 Britain needs nuclear power."
X Link 2025-11-24T08:56Z 19.4K followers, [----] engagements

"@OKairra19658 @JohnFingleton1 I gather that Culham actually has a v strong reputation internationally"
X Link 2025-11-24T10:33Z 19.4K followers, [--] engagements

"Any time that something like the bat tunnel gets raised as a problem with the UK's infrastructure planning process you will be told that it is an outlier. But it isn't. I see examples like this every day. HPC's fish return system cost us SIX bat tunnels The problem of state capacity - why governments struggle to build to serve - neatly summed up by this review on Hinkley Point C power station. 50m for a system that will "save [-----] salmon per year along with [-----] sea trout [--] river lamprey.: https://t.co/dFwd4maLWQ https://t.co/IQlhZ2cvAK The problem of state capacity - why governments"
X Link 2025-11-24T10:43Z 19.4K followers, 97.1K engagements

"@LestaLegend @JohnFingleton1 The UK has one of the world's three leading fusion labs. The Chinese recently said publicly that we were the leaders"
X Link 2025-11-24T10:43Z 19.4K followers, [--] engagements

"@RichardRs400 @JohnFingleton1 The greenest grids in Europe are all countries with very high fission shares"
X Link 2025-11-24T11:10Z 19.4K followers, [--] engagements

"@BernoulliDefect So it should be possible to do some accounting where we break down HPC and SZC into their underlying cost contributions"
X Link 2025-11-24T11:35Z 19.4K followers, [----] engagements

"We're experimenting with a NEW more naturally conversational podcast style. Tell us what you think. Here we discuss whether local preferences over design should be indulged or if they are just pretextual (to use @mattyglesias's excellent coinage). Should we BAN ugly buildings A recent tweet by yours truly suggested that we should. I said that people ought to be able to require certain design standards in their neighbourhoods. While many supported me some of my more libertarian followers especially those "Down Under" https://t.co/GE6Rh3O5PU Should we BAN ugly buildings A recent tweet by yours"
X Link 2025-11-24T15:39Z 19.5K followers, [----] engagements

"@Birdyword I am praying that the govt will stick this one through for the good of us all Well maybe not for you personally since you live in the US and are short UK"
X Link 2025-11-24T21:29Z 19.4K followers, [---] engagements

"In [----] MPs voted on a national policy statement to inform the NSIP/DCO process on the third runway. In [----] we are just getting started on planning it. If they had passed a BILL in this [----] vote we would be well on the way to actually having the runway. MPs have voted 415-119 in favour of building a 14bn third runway at Heathrow Airport MPs have voted 415-119 in favour of building a 14bn third runway at Heathrow Airport"
X Link 2025-11-25T10:28Z 19.5K followers, [----] engagements

"I don't think it can possibly be true that the Taskforce report's Habitats proposals violate European law since in the report they heavily base them on existing legal examples in Spain Germany and France Bizarre situation. John Fingletons review for the government of how to reduce unnecessary barriers and costs for nuclear power development is a tour de force a compelling road map for how to accelerate important infrastructure investment in the UK - which is the sine qua non of improving growth John Fingletons review for the government of how to reduce unnecessary barriers and costs for"
X Link 2025-11-25T12:27Z 19.4K followers, [----] engagements

"The price is now 49bn But its actually: - Two brand new terminals with dozens of stands - New taxiways Lots of local roads - Biggest car park in Europe (10 storeys) - Reproviding a waste management centre and immigration detention centre - Redirecting rivers etc - Tunnelling over the M25 - Three new junctions on the M25 - Purchasing [---] homes at market value + 25% and moving costs - New office and operational spaces - Cargo facilities - All the environmental mitigations"
X Link 2025-11-26T07:51Z 19.5K followers, [--] engagements

"This is the most efficient route to see the Seven Wonders of the English Waterways built between the early 1700s and early 1800s https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/things-to-do/canal-history/history-features-and-articles/the-seven-wonders-of-the-waterways https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/things-to-do/canal-history/history-features-and-articles/the-seven-wonders-of-the-waterways"
X Link 2025-11-26T15:22Z 19.5K followers, [----] engagements

"Greater Manchester was the Shenzhen of the 1700s. Worsley Navigable Levels was an extensive coal mine network with a whole bunch of underground canals with special boats called starvationers that miners pushed around off the ceiling with their feet"
X Link 2025-11-26T15:37Z 19.5K followers, [----] engagements

"England & Wales's canals and turnpike roads in the late 1700s. Notice the concentration around the economic powerhouses of the Midlands and North"
X Link 2025-11-26T15:59Z 19.5K followers, [----] engagements

"@Sam_Dumitriu We need to restore the constitution There is still strong support for it across the country"
X Link 2025-11-27T05:59Z 19.4K followers, [---] engagements

"@thomasforth OK. My feeling is that the vast majority of the tax raised at this budget did NOT go into investment. It went almost entirely into transfers and opex. Can you explain why you are still excited that it will increase growth (Or am I overlooking some big investment v possible.)"
X Link 2025-11-27T14:44Z 19.5K followers, [---] engagements

"@thomasforth (Sorry deleting my messages that went early so as not to destroy the thread's coherence.)"
X Link 2025-11-27T14:51Z 19.4K followers, [---] engagements

"@thomasforth Interesting. So they were more or less guaranteed to spend an extra [--] billion on welfare say but if they raise [--] billion in taxes as opposed to [--] billion the last [--] billion they raise may go on good investments"
X Link 2025-11-27T14:52Z 19.4K followers, [---] engagements

"@stripe This is so cool"
X Link 2025-11-28T19:36Z 19.5K followers, [----] engagements

"What's that I spy Enhance. Enhance. https://x.com/stripe/status/1994446590912688536 For Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend we created a miniature city with real-time data to celebrate businesses building on Stripe. https://t.co/H3oAqicmub https://x.com/stripe/status/1994446590912688536 For Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend we created a miniature city with real-time data to celebrate businesses building on Stripe. https://t.co/H3oAqicmub"
X Link 2025-11-28T19:51Z 19.5K followers, 10K engagements

"Two good things in the budget (there may be others): - Giving local areas the power to raise a tourist tax. It could spread the benefits of tourism by giving a pool of money to invest in infrastructure. As a rule tourists dont fully contribute towards the local public goods they draw on. Obviously it can be set too high and kill the golden goose but thats the job of local democracy to control. - Per-mile road pricing for EVs. We need to scrap the remaining EV subsidies and taxes but introducing this now is essential before electric and self-driving cars are totally dominant. Current EV"
X Link 2025-11-29T12:58Z 19.5K followers, [----] engagements

"The UK has one of the worlds most progressive tax systems but what is less well understood is that a wide range of goods and services are provided in a tax-like progressive way linked to income or wealth. Electricity & gas education pensions childcare medicines and more. ah yes the famous interest rates that depend on your income welcome to the UK https://t.co/aY80JLgHw9 ah yes the famous interest rates that depend on your income welcome to the UK https://t.co/aY80JLgHw9"
X Link 2025-11-30T09:41Z 19.5K followers, 57.5K engagements

"I increasingly think we should establish a norm that govt provided goods and services are universal in most cases and the taxes are actual taxes not hidden effective/implicit taxes. There is too much off-balance-sheet taxing and spending"
X Link 2025-11-30T09:46Z 19.5K followers, [----] engagements

"Universal maybe the wrong word. That they arent income or tax linked since that is just a hidden tax. Linking pay to usage is often better than universal where appropriate. Two good things in the budget (there may be others): - Giving local areas the power to raise a tourist tax. It could spread the benefits of tourism by giving a pool of money to invest in infrastructure. As a rule tourists dont fully contribute towards the local public goods Two good things in the budget (there may be others): - Giving local areas the power to raise a tourist tax. It could spread the benefits of tourism by"
X Link 2025-11-30T09:52Z 19.5K followers, [----] engagements

"One additional point to this great post: Leeds has 2x as much road space per capita as London and road speeds almost 2x faster on average. Similar but not quite as true for Birmingham Liverpool and Manchester. So UKs second cities are especially well set up for this. Self-driving cars and why I think they might fix England's unusually weak second city economies. https://t.co/l3rv9ej4lx Self-driving cars and why I think they might fix England's unusually weak second city economies. https://t.co/l3rv9ej4lx"
X Link 2025-11-30T11:30Z 19.5K followers, [----] engagements

"Technologically quartz watches are dramatically incomparably superior to mechanical kind. They lose only seconds of accuracy per month compared to seconds per day in the very best mechanical watches. Japanese quartz watches from the likes of Seiko & Casio were an extinction-level event for traditional Swiss watchmakers. But the Swiss struck back building the simplest and most popular watches the world had ever seen. New at Works in Progress. https://t.co/yxfKqFq0ZZ Japanese quartz watches from the likes of Seiko & Casio were an extinction-level event for traditional Swiss watchmakers. But the"
X Link 2025-12-02T15:00Z 19.5K followers, 31.2K engagements

"@joperec What do you think of the points in the article around that point ;-P"
X Link 2025-12-02T15:17Z 19.6K followers, [---] engagements

"Reasons to worry about the UK's recent nationalisation of its railways https://catchingmice.substack.com/p/were-getting-worried-about-great https://catchingmice.substack.com/p/were-getting-worried-about-great"
X Link 2025-12-04T10:46Z 19.5K followers, [---] engagements

"- Newborn baby died on ICU having been left in cold and wet sheets for hours without food - feeding tube temporarily removed to allow parents a cuddle nurses forgot to replace it for FOUR HOURS - nurses then realised but found they didnt have basic feeding equipment in stock on the ward - took [---] hours for a feeding tube to arrive from another ward - feeding tube then fitted incorrectly by nurses - nurses did not inform doctors about the delay in feeding so no checks done on the baby notes not updated - no checks were done on the baby in the hour before the alarm was raised either -"
X Link 2025-12-04T12:04Z 19.6K followers, 948.3K engagements

"@BDSixsmith I feel angry about these cases. Yet no one ever seems to be made accountable. Like the police/councils and the rape gangs"
X Link 2025-12-05T07:48Z 19.5K followers, 36.7K engagements

"If anything they should apply their new rights to bill to everyone except high earners. We need flexibility for high earners. Anyone on 100k say or more should be able to opt out of new protections https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/12/04/rayner-wins-workers-rights-showdown-with-starmer/ https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/12/04/rayner-wins-workers-rights-showdown-with-starmer/"
X Link 2025-12-05T10:20Z 19.5K followers, [----] engagements

"@aarmlovi If you do this journey from a random place in SF rather than near the station to say Stanford University then the car version is about 2x faster. And 80% of Caltrains operating costs are covered by taxpayers (I agree with your point though.)"
X Link 2025-12-09T12:51Z 19.6K followers, [---] engagements

"This is so good. Saloni has just given out about two thirds of her dataviz skills for free Big new blogpost My guide to data visualization which includes a very long table of contents tons of charts and more. -- Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective clear transparent and sometimes beautiful. https://t.co/hDQhDL5rR1 https://t.co/2U3Tv1hmlm Big new blogpost My guide to data visualization which includes a very long table of contents tons of charts and more. -- Why data visualization matters and how to make charts more effective clear transparent and sometimes"
X Link 2025-12-10T05:58Z 19.6K followers, 99.9K engagements

"@s8mb This is a really good piece. Totally comprehensive on the Korean fertility bust"
X Link 2025-12-10T15:29Z 19.6K followers, 24.5K engagements

"South Korea is thought of as a unique special country when it comes to fertility. But it is not. Actually it just has all of the developed worlds standard fertility pathologies but each to an extreme degree. Every [---] South Koreans today will have only [--] great-grandchildren between them. Men and women are coupling up at the lowest rates ever. Korea's baby subsidies $22k per kid are usually seen as having failed. But actually there is some evidence that they are working and https://t.co/jpsPCl11gF Every [---] South Koreans today will have only [--] great-grandchildren between them. Men and women"
X Link 2025-12-10T17:52Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"The crazy thing about this is that we can actually converge the to the pink pre-financial crisis trend (or the even higher pre-2000 trend) if we fix the biggest problems holding back growth. It's all there on offer for us This chart is a warning: the UK has suffered a 16-year collapse in its ability to raise living standards. GDP per capita is still below [----] tens of points behind where it should be. No major economy has fallen further behind its own trajectory. If we dont fix this we dont https://t.co/kP11bgs0Eh This chart is a warning: the UK has suffered a 16-year collapse in its ability"
X Link 2025-12-12T09:31Z 19.6K followers, 35.7K engagements

"@tomhfh My personal view is that CR2 is over designed and will never be built in that form. 40bn is just way too expensive. The Springbett plan might get built if we come up with a clever funding mechanism. More detailed plans coming"
X Link 2025-12-12T17:31Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"This is an unbelievably ambitious scheme from the government. This could release permission for millions of homes across both suburbs and the countryside immediately. If I was them I would be a little worried about pushback but you cannot fault the ambition. NEW: Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has just announced the BIGGEST EVER reforms to national policy to deliver more homes Here are the five biggest: 🧵 https://t.co/YPh0IeedfL NEW: Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has just announced the BIGGEST EVER reforms to national policy to deliver more homes Here are the five biggest: 🧵"
X Link 2025-12-16T15:08Z 19.6K followers, 40.9K engagements

"Everyone in the entire country will be in [--] weeks given the power to build a pretty meaty block of flats in their garden if this holds. Quite remarkable. [--]. Permission for additional buildings on existing plots so long as they take no more than twice the footprint of the original house. This will allow densification with mid-rise blocks of flats in back gardens. Heres an example before and after from the Croydon design guide: https://t.co/gbyL0vXerX [--]. Permission for additional buildings on existing plots so long as they take no more than twice the footprint of the original house. This will"
X Link 2025-12-16T15:34Z 19.6K followers, 60.3K engagements

"I guesstimate this would release capacity for [--] million homes in the London & SE green belt near stations plus capacity for [--] million or more homes in gardens in that region. If it went through then the UK would no longer have a shortage of planning permissions. NEW: Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has just announced the BIGGEST EVER reforms to national policy to deliver more homes Here are the five biggest: 🧵 https://t.co/YPh0IeedfL NEW: Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has just announced the BIGGEST EVER reforms to national policy to deliver more homes Here are the five biggest: 🧵"
X Link 2025-12-16T16:25Z 19.6K followers, 39.2K engagements

"@kitchentowel @SCP_Hughes I will defer to @Hrushworth & @carto_graph"
X Link 2025-12-19T21:16Z 19.6K followers, [--] engagements

"@thomasforth @rcolvile @SCP_Hughes I agree FWIW that we need both options. I think land value capture would be more useful in tackling the effects of the NPPF (though I dont hold that view extremely strongly). But as you say it doesnt work in every context"
X Link 2025-12-20T19:31Z 19.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@RobinRivaton @thomasforth Also: should I run a piece on the Gaston Defferre reforms as a major case of recent decentralisation And if so whom should I ask to write it"
X Link 2025-12-20T20:33Z 19.6K followers, [---] engagements

"I think there is a much bigger reason to regulate junk fees than even market efficiency. The public HATES them and even if we don't want to make the public happy the public will turn against markets if we don't control scams and ripoffs. "Why Regulate Junk Fees" by Neale Mahoney Journal of Economic Perspectives Fall [----] https://t.co/8I7Pe2ua1S https://t.co/MH46kcWivF "Why Regulate Junk Fees" by Neale Mahoney Journal of Economic Perspectives Fall [----] https://t.co/8I7Pe2ua1S https://t.co/MH46kcWivF"
X Link 2025-12-23T09:36Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"The killer had a good moment here to think about what he planned to do. If he had known that a severe punishment would face him then this man might still be alive. We need to punish cold calculating attacks like this extremely severely. My husband turned to me and said 'this is the best day of my life'. [--] minutes later he died in my arms - and his killer only got five years in prison: Widow of father killed by Sainsbury's queue-jumper tells of her fury at Britain's soft justice https://t.co/zn8SYOmNXo My husband turned to me and said 'this is the best day of my life'. [--] minutes later he"
X Link 2025-12-23T09:47Z 19.6K followers, 64.7K engagements

"@MWHoyle19 Surely a normal person thinks that someone going away putting a balaclava on and coming back punching them in the head and then killing them is a kind of murder in principle deterrable with the right penalties"
X Link 2025-12-23T11:21Z 19.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@djjmilner The worst bit is 440m. Ancestor cry at that"
X Link 2025-12-23T21:42Z 19.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@UrbanCourtyard Presumably you cite Victorian ones because you see them as prettier than the ubiquitous modern courtyard blocks in the Nordic countries Spain Greece etc"
X Link 2025-12-28T14:44Z 19.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@UrbanCourtyard Your header and pinned tweet are both surely 1830-1905"
X Link 2025-12-28T15:02Z 19.6K followers, [--] engagements

"By God its cold. But you cant beat a clear winter day for beauty. Gigantic moon in the sky this morning as well"
X Link 2026-01-05T08:42Z 19.6K followers, 111.9K engagements

"@Statebird2 Thats the view from London Bridge. London is the least polluted it has been since measurement and since it was legendarily polluted after the 1500s all the way to the 1950s I suspect it is the least polluted today it has been since the medieval era"
X Link 2026-01-06T08:16Z 19.6K followers, [--] engagements

"It's absolutely crazy how much information is displayed in this visualization. I would say that this picture might be worth I don't know maybe even A THOUSAND words. Weve come a long way since then. One example is that the resolution of microscopes has improved more than [-----] fold over the last [---] years. It's become far easier to identify pathogen causes of disease and study the intricate details of their molecular components. https://t.co/47afy4qV0Y Weve come a long way since then. One example is that the resolution of microscopes has improved more than [-----] fold over the last [---] years."
X Link 2026-01-07T16:11Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"We need to bypass/ring road hundreds more British towns and villages to restore community life across the country. An inspiring vision Many of Britains [----] villages and small communities have an A-Road running through them. Fast roads like these are slicing British villages in two creating Highway Halves. So how do we fix it https://t.co/bzTFEsp6lS Many of Britains [----] villages and small communities have an A-Road running through them. Fast roads like these are slicing British villages in two creating Highway Halves. So how do we fix it https://t.co/bzTFEsp6lS"
X Link 2026-01-14T10:59Z 19.6K followers, 10.9K engagements

"Offshore wind power is not profitable without subsidy even if we cover the costs of transmitting it to consumers so in order to get more on the grid we have to buy it at a fixed price paying out to suppliers even if prices fall below the agreed rate. (Suppliers refund us if prices go above the agreed rate.) Wind prices have been increasing steadily over recent auctions. Because this looks bad the Government have increased the terms of the fixed prices from [--] to [--] years but the amount they have to pay to add subsidised wind to the grid before accounting for any costs of backup gas when it's"
X Link 2026-01-14T11:06Z 19.6K followers, 10.3K engagements

"It is illegal in the US to build walkable mixed-use density like that seen in Seoul South Korea"
X Link 2026-01-14T13:05Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"@YIMBYPoland Do you know whether this is just looking at the commune of Paris within the peripherique It makes a lot of these sorts of comparisons misleading"
X Link 2026-01-14T13:41Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"Many cities around the world have a deliberate strategy of running their buses to be slow but stop a lot maximising coverage but making the service so bad that anyone with options will avoid the bus. Buses don't need to be like this. One easy fix is cutting out unnecessary stops. America has too many bus stops. Removing excess bus stops speeds up bus services makes them more reliable and reduces transit costs all of which boosts ridership. For example: San Francisco has an average of eight stops per mile whereas European cities tend to have only four https://t.co/wK0cuN66nz America has too"
X Link 2026-01-14T16:17Z 19.6K followers, 71.3K engagements

"@cornoisseur @s8mb @richsday @nithin_vejendla Epic"
X Link 2026-01-14T21:53Z 19.6K followers, [--] engagements

"@emilysnowau Two routes one that does each of every other stop would be an elegant way to achieve that. I think we can just cut stops on many routes though"
X Link 2026-01-15T06:52Z 19.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@BMagic20101 In this case NYC could learn from Las Vegas"
X Link 2026-01-15T06:52Z 19.6K followers, [--] engagements

"In the nineteenth century we were capable of demolishing swathes of our city centres to create new infrastructure. Enhanced circulation through Regent Street (& Shaftesbury Ave & the Embankment) will have meant faster transport and a larger effective size of the city. What we lost to create these new roads will have been replaced by many more new lovely neighbourhoods on what was then the edge of town: Camden Barnsbury De Beauvoir Pimlico Kennington Stockwell an more. Today the public has reason to fear that any good bit of city they lose will be replaced only by something much worse. John"
X Link 2026-01-15T08:25Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"@let_part This is totally unrealistic. Cars are dominant in smaller towns and villages even in the most rail forward countries like Switzerland or Japan. Planning for that will effectively mean planning for more of the same by sticking our heads in the sand"
X Link 2026-01-15T19:33Z 19.6K followers, [--] engagements

"@BrokenPolitix In the [----] clearing in Birmingham Or in post WW2 slum clearance"
X Link 2026-01-16T06:12Z 19.6K followers, [---] engagements

"@RosieKayK2CO There are still lots of outstanding bits surviving. I always think Birmingham is rather good when I visit. But its sad to think that it might be spoken of like Vienna or Prague had it survived"
X Link 2026-01-16T06:18Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"@dedyer111 @Borners1 @alon_levy @dsquareddigest @BritainRemade Look at the project: all of them"
X Link 2026-01-16T16:48Z 19.6K followers, [--] engagements

"Wow this is incredibly exciting. Could Eric be about to reboot technical progress BBNs built the ARPAnet and autonomous vehicles but the R&D model went out of style. Could it still work today I spent [----] focused on this experiment. First results are in: its working Thats why @janellehmtam and I are raising a fund to double down🧵https://t.co/v6wlr9rnX4 BBNs built the ARPAnet and autonomous vehicles but the R&D model went out of style. Could it still work today I spent [----] focused on this experiment. First results are in: its working Thats why @janellehmtam and I are raising a fund to double"
X Link 2026-01-16T18:42Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"Guy on a Lime with headphones in speeding through a red on Bishopsgate by Liverpool Street station despite dozens of pedestrians crossing. He almost clips a pedestrian who taps him softly. Outraged the cyclist turns around and shouts fuck off. Criminal penalties please"
X Link 2026-01-20T08:32Z 19.6K followers, 163.5K engagements

"@Bexwray I dont understand when it shifted from its OK to cycle through a red if you dont endanger or inconvenience anyone to cyclist Mad Max"
X Link 2026-01-20T09:39Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"@PierreMondriet I dont think Ive ever seen a driver go through a red in London let alone a red where there are many people crossing Of course cars weigh more than a tonne and go at tens of miles per hour so they are certainly more dangerous"
X Link 2026-01-20T09:40Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"There were [---] million births in China last year the lowest of any year since [----]. In my newsletter: Chinese fertility is now [----] much lower than during the one-child policy. I think it's due to cultural changes that are affecting the whole world and especially East Asia. Also Waymos solar a 90% fall in US burglaries and more https://t.co/lmjHov2ltS https://t.co/cQP6M8KuKW In my newsletter: Chinese fertility is now [----] much lower than during the one-child policy. I think it's due to cultural changes that are affecting the whole world and especially East Asia. Also Waymos solar a 90% fall"
X Link 2026-01-20T14:10Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"@barnaclebrown @JackPittBrooke I agree in total. But in central London my experience of cars is very good. Theyre careful and they follow traffic laws. Cyclists do not"
X Link 2026-01-20T18:57Z 19.6K followers, [----] engagements

"@hantsarchitect @PierreMondriet I dont think thats as common as you suggest. I think if I went to my local lights and filmed for [--] mins Id see dozens of cars go through but none break the red"
X Link 2026-01-20T19:42Z 19.6K followers, [--] engagements

"@OpenChiswickW4 It comes across that you have an ax to grind and I worry that itll turn a lot of people off your message. There is a serious risk of turning people off cycling altogether if so many keep bombing through red lights at busy pedestrian crossings. Denying it is not helpful"
X Link 2026-01-21T09:03Z 19.6K followers, [---] engagements

"Personally I have started using 'datums' to refer to countable discrete datapoints and I continue like Britons in general to use 'data' as a singular to refer to uncountable pools of continuous data. A good linguistic innovation I think"
X Link 2026-01-26T12:01Z 19.6K followers, [----] 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, 26.8K engagements

"@The_Suburbanist The reasons discussed earlier on. Turns out that charging people for marginal use is not the optimal market equilibrium in all cases. I argue that the freer the market the more property value is part of the funding calculus for transit"
X Link 2025-07-16T18:48Z 19.7K followers, [--] engagements

"The life expectancy of someone hit with [----] millisieverts of radiation in Hiroshima or Nagasaki was longer than the average Briton or American born in the same year. Today in Britain we spend billions controlling radiation levels more than [------] times smaller than this"
X Link 2025-08-14T14:48Z 19.7K followers, 20.5K engagements

"In the 1800s local governments in the UK were trusted with increasingly significant powers. Joseph Chamberlain took out a big loan from the Treasury compulsorily purchased the land mainly slum dwellings housing about [-----] people from their landlords at market value for about [---] million. Chamberlain and his architects set a strict design code red brick terracotta Gothic arches and tall ornate gables and then sold 75-year leases to developers. Developers submitted their plans to Chamberlain and if approved could go ahead. In the 1960s the council used these reversions to demolish many of the"
X Link 2026-01-15T15:51Z 19.7K followers, 66.8K engagements

"Learn from Works in Progress Sprind Progress Ireland and the Centre for Future Generations all in one evening We at Works in Progress are hosting a series of lightning talks on science R&D funding in Europe Come along for the ideas and conversations (and to meet us 😇) 2nd March in Brussels. Register here - https://t.co/wMrFVO43sf We at Works in Progress are hosting a series of lightning talks on science R&D funding in Europe Come along for the ideas and conversations (and to meet us 😇) 2nd March in Brussels. Register here - https://t.co/wMrFVO43sf"
X Link 2026-01-28T11:13Z 19.7K followers, [----] engagements

"Journeys are good: they are how agglomeration happens. The benefit of being in a large city is that there are many offices warehouses factories shops schools hospitals and more within a short journey's distance. Closed bridge = fewer journeys. [--] years ago Hammersmith Bridge was SHUT for repairs. Today it STILL hasn't reopened to motorists. Instead the Government set up a "taskforce" that didn't meet for THREE years. No more delays. The Government must RESTORE the bridge👇🧵 https://t.co/YH2Db3ybMr [--] years ago Hammersmith Bridge was SHUT for repairs. Today it STILL hasn't reopened to"
X Link 2026-01-28T11:58Z 19.7K followers, [----] engagements

"Heuristics and rules of thumb are a way of getting pretty good results by economising on cognition. Many cultural norms are scripts and heuristics for tackling really big complex problems that are too tricky for everyone to reason through. https://www.economicforces.xyz/p/is-dave-ramsey-right https://www.economicforces.xyz/p/is-dave-ramsey-right"
X Link 2026-01-30T08:10Z 19.7K followers, [----] engagements

"One nice thing about working for Stripe is that the company genuinely cares about economic growth pretty much in the same way I do. For example here is the homepage right now: https://x.com/paulg/status/2016897355514060835 Stripe's new frontpage shows the scope of their ambition. A ticker for percent of global GDP This is not a gimmick. Patrick and John have always thought in these terms. https://t.co/DD0qZPI3vS https://x.com/paulg/status/2016897355514060835 Stripe's new frontpage shows the scope of their ambition. A ticker for percent of global GDP This is not a gimmick. Patrick and John"
X Link 2026-01-30T08:19Z 19.7K followers, [----] engagements

"@surplustakes good post from the same blog on this https://www.economicforces.xyz/p/inflation-is-bad-actually https://www.economicforces.xyz/p/inflation-is-bad-actually"
X Link 2026-01-30T09:29Z 19.7K followers, [---] engagements

"@surplustakes @BernoulliDefect @s8mb Doesn't matter so much in Bernoulli's Houston pictures. Americans have an enormous taste for slight gaps even artificial going back a long way. E.g"
X Link 2026-01-30T10:56Z 19.7K followers, [--] engagements

"The problem with the UK planning system is largely that it doesn't give out enough planning permissions rather than that it imposes too much uncertainty. 90% of planning permissions or thereabouts are accepted. But the cases like this where a really good app is rejected are really annoying. Millions of pounds will have been put in. Thousands of hours of valuable peoples' time. All completely wasted. A totally negative-sum system. All of that money could have either been saved or it could have been spent on increasing the already large community benefits in the scheme. What a shame"
X Link 2026-01-30T12:50Z 19.7K followers, 22.1K engagements

"@MWHoyle19 I think minor and major applications have similar acceptance rates but I speak under correction"
X Link 2026-01-30T13:30Z 19.7K followers, [---] engagements

"I think you should care about nuclear power even if you are optimistic about solar and batteries. [--]. Many places in the world will never be good for solar in winter. Transporting power long distances is very expensive. Storing it across the seasons still cannot be done at scale. [--]. Nuclear power can be fast cheap scalable effective popular and safe all at the same time. Nuclear power is back. After decades of stagnation people are starting to wonder how we can build nuclear reactors as quickly and cheaply as we did in the 20th Century I sat down with @chalmermagne and @bswud to talk about why"
X Link 2026-01-30T17:09Z 19.7K followers, [----] engagements

"@Aria_Babu @mattyglesias Hiking means like mountain climbing with Sherpas in British English"
X Link 2026-01-30T17:43Z 19.7K followers, [---] engagements

"@breadandposes"
X Link 2026-01-30T18:58Z 19.7K followers, [---] engagements

"@breadandposes I think that nuclear is pretty unpromising at its current UK costs. If you take current nuclear costs as a given then nuclear is not very exciting though there are some contexts where it is still useful I think I agree with you"
X Link 2026-01-30T20:23Z 19.7K followers, [--] engagements

"@breadandposes If we got nuclear costs to South Korean levels it would easily be our cheapest form of energy and if we got them to 1960s US levels they would be another four or five times cheaper. I think this is a desirable goal"
X Link 2026-01-30T20:31Z 19.7K followers, [--] engagements

"@breadandposes If nuclear was half the price it currently is in the UK it would beat the other suppliers in AR7 but its transmission costs would be tens of billions lower and it would have higher capture rates (That factors in time costs as well bc its a CfD that only pays after connection)"
X Link 2026-01-30T21:38Z 19.7K followers, [--] engagements

"@surplustakes @thomasforth 😂. Not sure about these mouldings (Id prefer rude red brick dressings to showy mouldings like this) but this is the ideal facade facing"
X Link 2026-02-01T14:41Z 19.7K followers, [--] engagements

"It would be easy to reject this because we dont like Sadiq but I think that is the counsel of decline. We need to set up governance that works and also elect better mayors. (As it happens I think some things shouldve handled by SMALLER units like high streets.) London has [--] boroughs. Paris has [--] Berlin has [--] New York has just five. This matters because in London the boroughs hold all the power & they are too fragmented to act city-wide. It's time to change that. Our report 'Capital at risk' calls for centralising power in London. https://t.co/D5JSbbIDAl London has [--] boroughs. Paris has 20"
X Link 2026-02-02T09:56Z 19.7K followers, 15.8K engagements

"One of the UKs problems right now is that it has too many unofficial tax rates on energy bills the interest rates on student loans between [----] and [----] free hours at nursery and more. The system has become (a) far too progressive but worse (b) far too hidden. I think we should scrap all these effective marginal tax rates and probably ban public corporations NGOs and govt-funded bodies from charging them. The only tax rates people face should be approved in the budget and up front. This would mean accepting that we currently charge [--] or 70% marginal rates on lots of high earners potentially"
X Link 2026-02-02T10:13Z 19.7K followers, 38.7K engagements

"Has there been analysis on the marginal firming and transmission costs for bids in CfD auctions in the UK I would love a 'ready reckoner' number I could use in my head. My gut feel is that a nuclear CfD at 80/MWh is about equal to wind at 40/MWh. But that's just a guess"
X Link 2026-02-02T11:23Z 19.7K followers, [----] engagements

"@BritainRemade I am proud to be on this list"
X Link 2026-02-02T11:31Z 19.7K followers, [---] engagements

"A broad swathe of senior figures from public life tell the government 'do not U turn on the Fingleton Review: implement in full' NEW: [--] leading figures from academia business and politics tell Ed Miliband "Don't U-turn" on the commitment to implement every recommendation of the Fingleton Nuclear Regulatory Review. FULL LETTER: Dear Secretary of State We are writing to you in support of the full and https://t.co/jLtP6Yl0ie NEW: [--] leading figures from academia business and politics tell Ed Miliband "Don't U-turn" on the commitment to implement every recommendation of the Fingleton Nuclear"
X Link 2026-02-02T11:32Z 19.7K followers, [----] engagements

"@billwells_1 I don't see why that should be the case. I personally think that a complicated income tax schedule is fine so long as it's transparent and monotonic/linear"
X Link 2026-02-02T15:50Z 19.7K followers, [---] engagements

"@MWHoyle19 Well someone could make that argument but I think that it would be wrong. Allowing early repayment makes it more like a debt reducing the damage to incentives. The problem (economically) is that its not a debt for everyone"
X Link 2026-02-02T22:08Z 19.7K followers, [--] 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

"Interesting thought experiment I just came up with: would you rather live an exciting but short life eg Chopins or that of a 500+-year-old clam Most animals die after a few decades at most. But a handful of species live flukishly longer. Some clams sharks and tortoises live for many centuries. The secret to extending human longevity might be hiding at the bottom of the ocean. - The 'immortal jellyfish' can age https://t.co/m7Op9A2E8U Most animals die after a few decades at most. But a handful of species live flukishly longer. Some clams sharks and tortoises live for many centuries. The secret"
X Link 2026-02-04T16:56Z 19.7K followers, [----] engagements

"@Ben_A_Hopkinson Damn. Is that the best circle in the country"
X Link 2026-02-04T18:51Z 19.7K followers, [----] engagements

"@benbawan IIRC you can do pretty competitive circles for Moscow and Istanbul but theyre both different flavours of Europe so I agree with your point"
X Link 2026-02-04T20:57Z 19.7K followers, [----] engagements

"@gw_emily I see I see. My judgement call is that AMS CDG and LHR have approximately similar transport quality. London's is probably marginally the best for urban passengers but Paris and Schiphol have overall better roads and intercity trains. Overall though it's roughly a wash"
X Link 2026-02-04T21:59Z 19.7K followers, [--] engagements

"@gw_emily Picking the largest towns that are approximately 100km away (i.e. at the edge of the circle radius) and you get this. The fastest route is driving for all of them (though by different margins) and the speed is about the same but Dutch roads are the best"
X Link 2026-02-04T22:02Z 19.7K followers, [--] engagements

"@sherifhany I dont believe that this will narrow the gap much at all. I will vibe code some of these isochrones today if I get a chance as I dont think that they exist"
X Link 2026-02-05T07:00Z 19.7K followers, [---] engagements

"@drmcopeman That is incorrect. But I agree we should allow Gatwick to build a second runway. It is a poor location for a main hub though and hubs benefit gigantically from concentration"
X Link 2026-02-05T07:04Z 19.7K followers, [---] engagements

"@BrokenBritain_7 The travel isochrones are about the same as the Netherlands for anywhere in central London or near the M25 or a motorway in. Worse for places that dont have a convenient interchange with the M25 or Elizabeth Line"
X Link 2026-02-05T07:08Z 19.7K followers, [--] engagements

"@grok @Deep080906 Correct"
X Link 2026-02-05T07:08Z 19.7K followers, [--] engagements

"Here are some results from Travel Time's and Open Route Service's travel time APIs. Paris's (& France's) better roads mean that even though its overall regional population is much smaller than London's more can access CDG in an hour by road than can access LHR. LHR has slightly better transit accessibility than CDG. AMS beats both of them but not enough to tip the balance. If we extended this to [--] minutes or so though and for airports that is often reasonable London's advantage will grow considerably"
X Link 2026-02-05T12:15Z 19.7K followers, [----] engagements

"Does anyone have Spotify developer creds I can borrow Very small vibe coding job. New apps (and thus API keys) are currently frozen"
X Link 2026-02-05T12:47Z 19.7K followers, [---] engagements

"@HCH_Hill @GjMcGowan It does go to some of your followers in FYP. Then if they like it a lot the retweet can go to more of your followers in chunks I believe. But it de facto operates like a like bookmark reply or dwell time i.e. a slight algo push with some weight"
X Link 2026-02-05T14:19Z 19.7K followers, [--] engagements

"@HenryAv63694996 Perhaps. But look at Mark Carneys polling. Admittedly he is a clear patriot so perhaps confounded"
X Link 2026-02-05T16:27Z 19.7K followers, [--] 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

"@RobertBoswall Why did they make the right decision when we made the wrong one"
X Link 2026-02-06T14:46Z 19.7K 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

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