Latest thinking

Climate change - excuse my ignorance

Blog

02 Dec 2009

Matthew Taylor

I have been getting so little response to my posts just recently that I thought I would write one that is bound to elicit a loud response (while I will also be pondering whether it is time to hang up my blogging boots).

Disaster: great news

Blog

01 Dec 2009

Matthew Taylor

I few months ago I posted about Dan Pink and his book Drive. Dan is speaking here in January (27 January at 18.00) so Fellows will be able to hear his thesis from the horse’s mouth.

Time to celebrate integration in Northern Ireland?

Blog

30 Nov 2009

Matthew Taylor

I enjoyed my trip to Belfast as a guest of the Northern Ireland Chartered Institute of Housing and RSA Ireland. Belfast city centre felt lively and interesting with its mix of modern shops, historic buildings, atmospheric bars plus an international market and big wheel. As an inner Londoner I envy people who live in cities - like Belfast, Edinburgh or Brighton - close to striking countryside.

My demon diary

Blog

27 Nov 2009

Matthew Taylor

I used to take great pride in posting a blog every day. But now I seem to fail at least once a week. It isn’t a loss of enthusiasm; merely that my diary has become a voracious beast from which I can neither run nor hide. I’ve also been tardy in responding to comments even though I am always rather touched that people take the time to respond to my ramblings.

Climate denialism and Žižek's fear of the future

Blog

25 Nov 2009

Slavoj Žižek by Hendrik Speck

Zizek, Hayek - and Cowell

Blog

25 Nov 2009

Matthew Taylor

‘Zizek is untwitterable’ was a pithy tweet on last night’s RSA lecture by one of the world’s foremost philosophers. The great man’s lecture was dense, edgy and erudite. Like a good wine its after taste is more affecting than the first impression.

Enterprise for a better world

Blog

24 Nov 2009

Matthew Taylor

New Labour politicians used to say their core belief was that economic dynamism and social justice go forward hand in hand. It is simplistic but a good corrective to the Thatcherite view that all social spending was a drag on economic prosperity. But perhaps the future holds a more ambitious version of New Labour’s sound bite; a major driver of future economic dynamism will be meeting social need.

Personal budgets - an update

Blog

23 Nov 2009

Matthew Taylor

I have written before in this blog about personal budgets for social care. This afternoon, at a 2020 Public Services Trust event here at the RSA, we had an interesting presentation on this issue from Richard Humphries, Senior Fellow at the King’s Fund.

Encountering the Cabinet getting out of Westminster

Blog

20 Nov 2009

Matthew Taylor

On my way to Nottingham for a conference on emotional well being, I find myself sharing the train with half the Cabinet.  Given how London-centric most of the national media are, many people won’t know that one of Gordon Brown’s political innovations has been regularly to hold Cabinet meetings outside of London.