Policy Sketchbook
@policysketch.bsky.social
I'm old enough to remember how important economics was when it meant we had to slash public spending.
November 27, 2025 at 10:57 AM
I'm old enough to remember how important economics was when it meant we had to slash public spending.
This should be a really good news story of the price of tech coming down to the benefit of consumers. And indeed it is, if you just buy the tech you need. Tech companies hate this story, of course, so they are desparately trying to convince you to buy stuff you don't need to keep prices high.
November 18, 2025 at 1:53 PM
This should be a really good news story of the price of tech coming down to the benefit of consumers. And indeed it is, if you just buy the tech you need. Tech companies hate this story, of course, so they are desparately trying to convince you to buy stuff you don't need to keep prices high.
Then again, if I could predict the future of the tech industry, I would already be fabulously wealthy.
November 18, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Then again, if I could predict the future of the tech industry, I would already be fabulously wealthy.
High end phones and AI both seem like examples of the tech industry being in a phase of pushing things onto consumers that they don't need and which offer limited benefits, rather than a phase of genuinely useful innovation.
November 18, 2025 at 9:59 AM
High end phones and AI both seem like examples of the tech industry being in a phase of pushing things onto consumers that they don't need and which offer limited benefits, rather than a phase of genuinely useful innovation.
On top of that, some women (again, anecdotally the ones I know) find it really difficult going back to work when their child is only a couple of months old, and knowing that the father won't be at home either. I suspect that this whole dynamic has something to do with falling fertility.
October 30, 2025 at 12:12 PM
On top of that, some women (again, anecdotally the ones I know) find it really difficult going back to work when their child is only a couple of months old, and knowing that the father won't be at home either. I suspect that this whole dynamic has something to do with falling fertility.
They are rightly proud of their public creche system, but of course it does not have the capacity for all children to attend, so families have to navigate both the official (forms) and unofficial (meetings with the directrice) routes to try to get their children in.
October 30, 2025 at 12:12 PM
They are rightly proud of their public creche system, but of course it does not have the capacity for all children to attend, so families have to navigate both the official (forms) and unofficial (meetings with the directrice) routes to try to get their children in.
The French version of gender equality is the opposite of the Scandinavian version. While Nordic countries have focused on providing extended parental leave for fathers, French women (at least the ones I know) face a lot of social pressure to get back to work while the kids are still very young.
October 30, 2025 at 12:12 PM
The French version of gender equality is the opposite of the Scandinavian version. While Nordic countries have focused on providing extended parental leave for fathers, French women (at least the ones I know) face a lot of social pressure to get back to work while the kids are still very young.
Thanks, hadn't seen that version! But it does seem to support the general idea that this is a thing that is going up in most places but down in France?
October 30, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Thanks, hadn't seen that version! But it does seem to support the general idea that this is a thing that is going up in most places but down in France?
There's something unique and interesting about the French approach to family life.
October 30, 2025 at 12:01 PM
There's something unique and interesting about the French approach to family life.
Is this an opportunity to post my favourite chart about French parenting? Not really, but I am going to do it anyway.
October 30, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Is this an opportunity to post my favourite chart about French parenting? Not really, but I am going to do it anyway.
In the examples I am thinking of, they are having the "tax baby" quite late in life... I think the archetype is something like have two kids around the age of 30 and then another in your late 40s... but this is very anecdotal and I am sure a French person is going to see this and tell me I am wrong.
October 30, 2025 at 11:59 AM
In the examples I am thinking of, they are having the "tax baby" quite late in life... I think the archetype is something like have two kids around the age of 30 and then another in your late 40s... but this is very anecdotal and I am sure a French person is going to see this and tell me I am wrong.
As always, the answer is "delegation is the best way to manage complexity, but it need to be done within a clear set of rules and accountabilities, otherwise it is just anarchy".
October 30, 2025 at 11:57 AM
As always, the answer is "delegation is the best way to manage complexity, but it need to be done within a clear set of rules and accountabilities, otherwise it is just anarchy".
Yeah, it seems like the far right worked out some time ago that the BBC (among others) is not going to fight them and bullying simply works. The consensus of moderation and balance only holds as long as no one makes it difficult.
October 30, 2025 at 11:55 AM
Yeah, it seems like the far right worked out some time ago that the BBC (among others) is not going to fight them and bullying simply works. The consensus of moderation and balance only holds as long as no one makes it difficult.
Without ever having looked into the detail, I am aware of French people I know talking about families having "tax babies" in later life once their first child is too old to count as part of their household? It seems like this is at least an idea that is there in the culture.
October 30, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Without ever having looked into the detail, I am aware of French people I know talking about families having "tax babies" in later life once their first child is too old to count as part of their household? It seems like this is at least an idea that is there in the culture.
Oh yes I absolutely agree, I'm just wondering the degree to which the BBC actively wants to promote the far right vs not caring whether they do or not and taking the path of least resistance and letting themselves be routinely bullied and manipulated.
October 30, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Oh yes I absolutely agree, I'm just wondering the degree to which the BBC actively wants to promote the far right vs not caring whether they do or not and taking the path of least resistance and letting themselves be routinely bullied and manipulated.
In this specific case, is there perhaps a really prosaic explanation that Goodwin is just insisting on being referred to as such, and the BBC wants to book him for the show and doesn't want to have the fight?
October 30, 2025 at 11:34 AM
In this specific case, is there perhaps a really prosaic explanation that Goodwin is just insisting on being referred to as such, and the BBC wants to book him for the show and doesn't want to have the fight?
I wonder if there's a deeper ideological driver (or habitual wishful thinking) at play here, which also sometimes manifests itself in the NHS as "let them eat financial incentives".
October 30, 2025 at 10:38 AM
I wonder if there's a deeper ideological driver (or habitual wishful thinking) at play here, which also sometimes manifests itself in the NHS as "let them eat financial incentives".
I wonder if a useful heuristic here is centralised vs decentralised. The centralised infrastructure of datacentres is less likely to have consumer surplus than the decentralised infrastructure of e.g. fibre optics, mass internet access. So what if anything is decentralised in AI infrastructure?
October 20, 2025 at 7:17 PM
I wonder if a useful heuristic here is centralised vs decentralised. The centralised infrastructure of datacentres is less likely to have consumer surplus than the decentralised infrastructure of e.g. fibre optics, mass internet access. So what if anything is decentralised in AI infrastructure?
Oh so it's The Spectator then.
October 20, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Oh so it's The Spectator then.
As a result, the system is good at managing and averting crises, but much less good at doing other things like improving productivity, improving experience, changing service models, planning ahead etc.
October 19, 2025 at 11:30 AM
As a result, the system is good at managing and averting crises, but much less good at doing other things like improving productivity, improving experience, changing service models, planning ahead etc.
I think this observation gets to the heart of something. The NHS is run as a crisis service, with everyone right up to the chief executive of the hospital overwhelmingly focused on managing and averting crisis over the next week or two.
October 19, 2025 at 11:30 AM
I think this observation gets to the heart of something. The NHS is run as a crisis service, with everyone right up to the chief executive of the hospital overwhelmingly focused on managing and averting crisis over the next week or two.