Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Hetan Shah

@hetanshah.bsky.social

18K followers 1.5K following 28K posts

Chief Executive, The British Academy Chair, Our World in Data Board, National Audit Office Visiting Professor, Kings College London Fellow, Birkbeck College Views my own

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · Oct 10

'Taking the time to do things right isn’t anti-innovation – it is what is required to get deep-rooted change in social systems.'
My piece on AI and public services in this week's @newstatesman.com
www.newstatesman.com/comment/2024...

Tony Blair is wrong – AI will not magically solve our public services

Too many people might be left out of its revolution.

www.newstatesman.com

32 130 410

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 30m

He was PM before he was President

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 31m

Research by @chrisblattman.bsky.social & colleagues ‘found no statistical difference in economic growth rates between democracies and “institutionalised autocracies” (like China, Singapore and, at times, Mexico). But “personalist autocracies” performed worse.’
economist.com/middle-east-...

The new age of the African Big Man

Ageing autocrats are not a relic of a bygone age. They are a template for the future

economist.com

1 1

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 38m

Aged 92, Paul Biya has been President of Cameroon for 43 years and has spent much of his time ruling from the same floor of the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva. He was PM in 1975 when Harold Wilson led the UK and Mao Zedong led China. Biya is now ‘running’ for an 8th term
on.ft.com/4nUZthq

World’s oldest leader readies for another shot at power

Cameroon’s Paul Biya, aiming to stay in office until nearly 100, has attended only one rally and spent part of the presidential campaign in Switzerland

on.ft.com

1 1 5

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 6h

Graduates are facing a tough entry level market, but they are doing better than others who recently entered the labour market for the first time shows @jburnmurdoch.ft.com
on.ft.com/3IXwY3F

Graphs: Unemployment has risen faster among new labour market entrants without a degree on both sides of the Atlantic Unemployment rate among new entrants to labour market

6 10

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 19h

Get some more culture. Come hear from all the authors shortlisted for our @britishacademy.bsky.social Book Prize on Tuesday 21 Oct. In person or tune in online
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/livin...

British Academy Book Prize 2025 Shortlist Event

Join the shortlisted authors of this year's British Academy Book Prize for a dynamic conversation exploring the issues that define our time. These imaginative writers will share insights from their gr...

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

1 2

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

'Join in. Running a country is not the job of the government. It’s the job of all of us.' Amen
@pollymackenzie.bsky.social is doing a bit of writing again
howtorunacountry.substack.com/p/its-the-de...

It’s the despair that’s going to kill us

Time to cheer up

howtorunacountry.substack.com

1 3 4

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

Sad you didn’t get along tonight to our Living with the Planet Late? Check out the rest of the season which includes several events you can watch online
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/seasons/livi...

Living with the planet season

Delve into some of today's most urgent challenges and explore the latest research around biodiversity loss, nature recovery, the future of food and environmental justice. Living with the Planet will e...

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

1 2 3

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

What have the Ancient Greeks got to do with the environmental crisis? The fantastic @edithmayhall.bsky.social now giving another historical view

1 1 8

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

‘Arm’s-length bodies such as the Office for Students (OfS) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) are particularly “vulnerable to political interference”, a new report has warned.’ www.timeshighereducation.com/news/learn-l... @timeshighered.bsky.social

‘Learn lessons from US’ and stop political interference, UK told

OfS and UKRI seen as particularly vulnerable to meddling from government, with report authors calling for more safeguards to ensure independence

www.timeshighereducation.com

3 4

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

‘The amount of energy required to refute bullshit is much more than that required to create it.’

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

And now a punchy talk from Bobby Banerjee on the topic ‘from greenwashing to gaslighting’ giving a business school perspective on corporate sustainability

2 5

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

What can we learn from history about responding to environmental changes? Our fantastic panel kicks off our Living with the Planet season with @wanderinggaia.bsky.social @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social and Georgina Endfield

Gaia Vince, Georgina Endfield & John Sabapathy

1 2 20

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

And if you are feeling too lazy to leave this platform, here’s a thread giving you the key highlights. The lesson from the US is it’s helpful to think about questions of independent institutions in advance!
bsky.app/profile/chri...

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social · 1d

🧵🚨

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation - over the past 5 months I've been working with @martinmckee.bsky.social to map out their vulnerabilities and it's not good news.

Today our report is published!
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

1/11

UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.

www.ucl.ac.uk

1 1 5

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

Here’s a blog from @chrischirp.bsky.social which explains more christinapagel.substack.com/p/the-uks-in...

The UK’s independent scientific bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

My newly launched report on how we can safeguard the independence of our important scientific and evidence-generating institutions - not least so they can hold government to account

christinapagel.substack.com

1 1 2

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

Important new report from @chrischirp.bsky.social @uclpolicylab.bsky.social on how easy it would be to politicise some of our key science and research bodies, with ideas on how to strengthen their independence
www.ucl.ac.uk/policy-lab/n...

UK’s arm’s length public bodies are highly vulnerable to politicisation

Seven in ten Britons say it is important for top scientific institutions to be independent in exclusive new polling.

www.ucl.ac.uk

1 12 25

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d

This is going to be great. Already over 300 people registered for tonight, but if you fancy joining us you can still book last minute

Gaia Vince @wanderinggaia.bsky.social · 2d

Looking forward to a brilliant discussion today with historians about how people understood disasters and responded in the past. At the @britishacademy.bsky.social 6-7pm. Join us!

Living with the planet LATE

Tackle big questions and explore bold ideas about the future of our planet in this season’s British Academy Late. Immerse yourself in the sounds and music of the rainforests of Papua New Guinea; discu...

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

4 7

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d

It's easy to feel powerless about the environment. So I'm pleased to be chairing this public event on how communities can respond. Featuring @rachelcoxcoon.bsky.social, Nick Pidgeon and Amira Campbell. Thursday 20th Nov online/in person. Tickets are free
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/livin...

Ask the Experts: Can people power drive environmental action?

Environmental breakdown can impact our lives in immediate and personal ways, yet many feel powerless to act and find the solutions out of reach. This is your opportunity to put questions to our expert...

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

1 3 3

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d

‘Insufficient workers, an ageing workforce, constrained ability to adapt to emerging opportunities, service shrinkflation and the steady contraction of customer satisfaction’

Cracking piece from @urbandirt.bsky.social on the tricky situation the new Japanese PM inherits
on.ft.com/4oeQJ5O

Japan has an ‘enshortification’ problem

An ageing workforce is affecting all sorts of professions

on.ft.com

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d

‘correlation risk is becoming worse given the AI firms’ obsession with cross-shareholdings & partnerships. The deal whereby OpenAI will pay Nvidia for chips, & Nvidia will invest $100bn in OpenAI, has been criticised as circular because that’s exactly what it is’ www.theguardian.com/technology/n...

The AI valuation bubble is now getting silly | Nils Pratley

The broad parallels are genuinely close to the madness of the late-1990s dotcom bubble

www.theguardian.com

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d

‘concentration risk in markets is off the charts. The “Magnificent 7” tech companies – Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Tesla, Apple, Microsoft and Nvidia – now represent slightly more than a third of the whole S&P 500 index.’
www.theguardian.com/technology/n...

The AI valuation bubble is now getting silly | Nils Pratley

The broad parallels are genuinely close to the madness of the late-1990s dotcom bubble

www.theguardian.com

1 8 19

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d

The BoE said that on a number of measures “equity market valuations appear stretched, particularly for technology companies focused on artificial intelligence”.
on.ft.com/4o3RheA

IMF and BoE warn AI boom risks ‘abrupt’ stock market correction

Kristalina Georgieva and UK financial stability watchdog say valuations are closing in on dotcom bubble levels

on.ft.com

1 1 4

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d

Ah no I’m on BBC4

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d

Putting Margaret Thatcher on Celebrity Traitors seems inspired

1 4

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d

👇

Helen McCarthy @historianhelen.bsky.social · 2d

Wisdom, moral imagination, an enlarged sympathy for those who live or have lived differently from yourself. This is what you get from studying the Humanities. So quite important, actually.

5 28

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 2d

From our @britishacademy.bsky.social Journal