Christopher McCabe
cjmccabe.bsky.social
Christopher McCabe
@cjmccabe.bsky.social

🇨🇦 🇮🇪 🇬🇧Professor of Health Economics. Queens University Belfast. Health Policy, Health Technology Assessment and Innovation.

Opinions my own - nobody else would want them.

Shares are not endorsements.

#ElbowsUp

Economics 54%
Public Health 18%

We do love a four quadrant diagram....
What podcast would you like to listen to but (afayk) doesn’t exist?
Mine would be ‘Chart Chat’ involving 3 economists discussing charts such as:

Reposted by Christopher McCabe

"Most recently, the Nordic cities of Helsinki and Oslo have gone an entire year without any cyclist or pedestrian deaths
...from slower speed limits and wider sidewalks to higher car fees and stiffer enforcement
Neither city has a single robotaxi plying its streets"
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
We Still Don’t Know if Robotaxis Are Safer Than Human Drivers
And even if self-driving technology proves to be less dangerous, there are many better ways to improve traffic safety and prevent fatal crashes.
www.bloomberg.com

There is one other recourse - ex-communication.

Reposted by Christopher McCabe

What podcast would you like to listen to but (afayk) doesn’t exist?
Mine would be ‘Chart Chat’ involving 3 economists discussing charts such as:
Banning X would have loads of upsides and really not many downsides for the government. The argument for shutting it down (distribution of CSAM) is incontrovertible, the people who are its most avid users hate the government anyway, and it would address threats to social cohesion and public order.
Only Reform voters can save Labour

By Luke Akehurst
Only Reform voters can save Labour
A progressive coalition simply doesn't have the vote share
www.newstatesman.com
Yesterday I posted my last ever Tweet and called on the Government to do the same.

Read more below on why I think it’s time to leave the cesspit formerly known as Twitter.

www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...
It is time to leave the cesspit formerly known as Twitter
Grok is just one of many reasons why Westminster should finally get off the website.
www.politicshome.com

Reposted by Christopher McCabe

Shutting down X is no longer a matter of free speech. It is a matter of child protection.

Reposted by Christopher McCabe

[world's longest, weariest sigh] in this week's newsletter! a piece on this whole Grok business, and the importance of differentiating between things that are real and things that are not: youngvulgarian.substack.com/p/ideally-i-...

Reposted by Christopher McCabe

Keep Grok and X in the app stores, sure, but god forbid ICE-tracking apps be allowed.

I feel like I'm in upsidedown land.
Why Are Grok and X Still Available in App Stores?
Elon Musk’s chatbot has been used to generate thousands of sexualized images of adults and apparent minors. Apple and Google have removed other “nudify” apps—but continue to host X and Grok.
www.wired.com

With everything going on right now, writing about clinical trials as a driver of UK economic growth may seem a bit niche. However, I think it's a good example of the UK needing to rethink its economic relationship with the US.

christophermccabe.substack.com/p/is-the-uk-...
Getting serious about clinical trials as industrial policy
Prioritising trials based on their value to the UK
christophermccabe.substack.com
I'm afraid there *is* an obvious answer: it can't.

stoptrump.org.uk/sign-venezue...

This seems like an important moment for the UK to stand up for international law.
Open letter: UK must not abstain on UN Venezuela vote
Stop Trump Coalition
stoptrump.org.uk
Keir Starmer: "I constantly remind myself that 24/7 our defence, our security & our intelligent relationship with the US matters probably more than any other relationship we've got in the world and it would not be in our national interest to weaken that in any way"

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Freedom of expression. It’s another one of those irregular verbs isn’t?

(1) I’m exercising free speech
(2) You’re offending me
(3) He’s having his citizenship revoked
(4) We can’t say we’re English anymore
(5) You’re engaging in dangerous rhetoric
(6) They’ve been proscribed under the Terrorism Act

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When people say they want to go back to a time "when men were men", I point them to Issue 2528 of the "Men in Belted Sweaters" catalogue.

Fair point..

It's the general principle of public service equating to discounted remuneration I object to.

The specific case of ambassadors 100% - they know what they are doing and they don't need the money unless they have been incredibly financially reckless.

I agree with the first part of your statement, but I don't think a belief in public service should be used to impoverish people.

This very rich for a paper that started life as the Manchester Guardian.

Some thoughts on the implications of NICE Cost Effectiveness Threshold as an instrument of industrial policy.

christophermccabe.substack.com/p/time-to-ge...
Time to get serious about the societal value of new drugs.​
The NICE way to invest in the United Kingdom's life and health sciences sector
christophermccabe.substack.com
"Those who ought to stand against this sort of thing engage in frankly specious reasoning about what the “root causes” are...anything other than standing up and saying that it is wrong to attack entire groups for the real or perceived crimes of specific individuals."

www.ft.com/content/4209...
Bondi attacks show old hatreds are flourishing again
A permissive environment has been created in which Israel is conflated with all Jews, everywhere
www.ft.com

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Have had more close calls with a high speed e-bike on the sidewalk than I would like this year. Would probably be good if something were done about this...

I would agree - he is driven by fear. But that is not leadership; and now is a time when we need leadership.

This warms my heart. 35 some years after studying this during my masters degree at Newcastle University. And people complain about it taking 17 years for innovations to get to market.
Exciting road pricing news out of Denmark!

Today a new expert group for designing the future car taxation was announced, with a focus on the externalities from cars.

See the terms of reference below. I will soon follow up with a piece on why I think it actually can lead to GPS-based road pricing.

And most importantly, they would not keep the savings they extracted as profit. No. Definitely not. Never. Can't imagine a corporation doing that under any circumstances.

Starmer appears to be a Trump camp follower.

TBH I'm more concerned with the death of adulthood right now

Reposted by Christopher McCabe

Global inequality has hit a new extreme. So how much wealth is too much?🤔

The extreme poverty line is used to define unacceptable levels of poverty. What if we also created an extreme wealth line? @patmillsuk.bsky.social 1/2