Paul Nightingale
@paulnightingale.bsky.social
Professor of Strategy at SPRU.
Associate Dean of Research, University of Sussex Business School. #1 in UK for research income.
Editor Research Policy.
Acting Director HSP.
Views mine, not my employer. Politics unfashionable since 1654
Associate Dean of Research, University of Sussex Business School. #1 in UK for research income.
Editor Research Policy.
Acting Director HSP.
Views mine, not my employer. Politics unfashionable since 1654
Pinned
Cost of brexit is 8% of GDP.
The accumulating negative impact over time is worrying.
Which is very close to what the economists predicted.
The accumulating negative impact over time is worrying.
Which is very close to what the economists predicted.
New @nberpubs: "The Economic Impact of Brexit" www.nber.org/papers/w34459
"by 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%, with the impact accumulating gradually over time." 😲
"by 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%, with the impact accumulating gradually over time." 😲
November 10, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Cost of brexit is 8% of GDP.
The accumulating negative impact over time is worrying.
Which is very close to what the economists predicted.
The accumulating negative impact over time is worrying.
Which is very close to what the economists predicted.
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
The BBC: quite a big deal.
November 10, 2025 at 10:36 AM
The BBC: quite a big deal.
I need to write something about why the BBC matters, why it is hated by some people. It's about media monopolies, AI, the attention economy & a big shift in ideology from the view that the public should be excluded as much as possible, to the view that an angry group are the political shock troops.
November 10, 2025 at 11:23 AM
I need to write something about why the BBC matters, why it is hated by some people. It's about media monopolies, AI, the attention economy & a big shift in ideology from the view that the public should be excluded as much as possible, to the view that an angry group are the political shock troops.
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
Some interesting ideas in here, counterbalancing the pervading sense of inevitability that in the end only helps the very people it is directed against.
Peak Everything? My latest on whether we have passed peak Trump, peak stocks, peak populism and peak Farage, plus how to fight back against ethno-nationalists
Peak Everything
Thoughts on whether we have passed peak Trump, peak stocks, peak populism and peak Farage plus how to fight back against the ethno-nationalists
open.substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Some interesting ideas in here, counterbalancing the pervading sense of inevitability that in the end only helps the very people it is directed against.
Trying again.
So Jim Watson had died. A little thread on his influence on science policy.
So Jim Watson had died. A little thread on his influence on science policy.
He was a key figure in setting up the Human Genome Project, which had a terrible organizational structure and failed to deliver on the hype.
I interviewed one of the main funders who said they felt it was a waste of money (but did generate useful research tools).
2
I interviewed one of the main funders who said they felt it was a waste of money (but did generate useful research tools).
2
November 10, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Trying again.
So Jim Watson had died. A little thread on his influence on science policy.
So Jim Watson had died. A little thread on his influence on science policy.
So the REF culture clown-show continues.
There is a huge amount of research on managing research, but the evidence clashes with ideology ("epistemic injustice" 🤣🤣) creating a simple choice that should be obvious.
We are going to end up in an embarrassing place soon.
There is a huge amount of research on managing research, but the evidence clashes with ideology ("epistemic injustice" 🤣🤣) creating a simple choice that should be obvious.
We are going to end up in an embarrassing place soon.
November 10, 2025 at 8:47 AM
So the REF culture clown-show continues.
There is a huge amount of research on managing research, but the evidence clashes with ideology ("epistemic injustice" 🤣🤣) creating a simple choice that should be obvious.
We are going to end up in an embarrassing place soon.
There is a huge amount of research on managing research, but the evidence clashes with ideology ("epistemic injustice" 🤣🤣) creating a simple choice that should be obvious.
We are going to end up in an embarrassing place soon.
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
My talk from posit::conf earlier this fall on getting unstuck with #Python is now available to watch!
- Ten years ago, I attempted to learn Python and it went EXTRMELY badly 😩
- I am really happy that so much tooling in this area has improved SO much since then 😌
youtu.be/pMVYl9fx1EE
- Ten years ago, I attempted to learn Python and it went EXTRMELY badly 😩
- I am really happy that so much tooling in this area has improved SO much since then 😌
youtu.be/pMVYl9fx1EE
How I got unstuck with Python (Julia Silge, Posit) | posit::conf(2025)
YouTube video by Posit PBC
youtu.be
November 8, 2025 at 11:59 PM
My talk from posit::conf earlier this fall on getting unstuck with #Python is now available to watch!
- Ten years ago, I attempted to learn Python and it went EXTRMELY badly 😩
- I am really happy that so much tooling in this area has improved SO much since then 😌
youtu.be/pMVYl9fx1EE
- Ten years ago, I attempted to learn Python and it went EXTRMELY badly 😩
- I am really happy that so much tooling in this area has improved SO much since then 😌
youtu.be/pMVYl9fx1EE
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
Just to reiterate my view, having studied the history of the BBC for over a quarter of a century - as well as having worked there for several years as a journalist:
Robbie Gibb should have absolutely no role whatsoever in the governance of the Corporation.
Robbie Gibb should have absolutely no role whatsoever in the governance of the Corporation.
Boris Johnson trying to undermine BBC leadership, insiders fear after leak
Director general under pressure after release of memo criticising reporting on Trump, trans rights and Gaza
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Just to reiterate my view, having studied the history of the BBC for over a quarter of a century - as well as having worked there for several years as a journalist:
Robbie Gibb should have absolutely no role whatsoever in the governance of the Corporation.
Robbie Gibb should have absolutely no role whatsoever in the governance of the Corporation.
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
The world needs more people like this.
November 9, 2025 at 6:30 PM
The world needs more people like this.
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
If you are feeling down about the state of Britain this has some cheery material about our strengths as seen from overseas including arts & culture, music, sport, universities and skills/talent
economist.com/britain/2025...
economist.com/britain/2025...
Brand Britain has bounced back
Despite all the gloom at home, the country’s reputation is surprisingly bright
economist.com
November 8, 2025 at 11:18 PM
If you are feeling down about the state of Britain this has some cheery material about our strengths as seen from overseas including arts & culture, music, sport, universities and skills/talent
economist.com/britain/2025...
economist.com/britain/2025...
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
I’d always wondered why no one had ever published a full, detailed map of the 1960s plan to turn London into a giant web of US-style urban motorways…. It turns even the politicians and designers didn’t make one at the time. It just didn’t exist. Until now.
Earlier this week I spoke to London Centric about the Ringways Map and all things unbuilt London - they’ve dedicated the whole of their latest edition to the story! substack.com/home/post/p-...
Would your home have been under a motorway?
"The most astonishing and destructive thing never to happen to London," says the man who has spent twenty years researching the first true map of the unbuilt Ringways.
substack.com
November 9, 2025 at 8:40 AM
I’d always wondered why no one had ever published a full, detailed map of the 1960s plan to turn London into a giant web of US-style urban motorways…. It turns even the politicians and designers didn’t make one at the time. It just didn’t exist. Until now.
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
#ChemicalWeapons #History #Canada #Obituary
Farewell to the finest Canadian military historian of his generation
www.tvo.org/article/fare...
[...]
For Tim, who died on October 25 of cancer at 53 years old, death was not an abstraction. He could not leave it at the office at the end of the ...
Farewell to the finest Canadian military historian of his generation
www.tvo.org/article/fare...
[...]
For Tim, who died on October 25 of cancer at 53 years old, death was not an abstraction. He could not leave it at the office at the end of the ...
November 9, 2025 at 8:59 AM
#ChemicalWeapons #History #Canada #Obituary
Farewell to the finest Canadian military historian of his generation
www.tvo.org/article/fare...
[...]
For Tim, who died on October 25 of cancer at 53 years old, death was not an abstraction. He could not leave it at the office at the end of the ...
Farewell to the finest Canadian military historian of his generation
www.tvo.org/article/fare...
[...]
For Tim, who died on October 25 of cancer at 53 years old, death was not an abstraction. He could not leave it at the office at the end of the ...
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
In which I write about the beauty of Saint Malo in Autumn👇 www.ft.com/content/9235...
Swap Paris and Rome for one of these alternative autumn city breaks
From Regensburg to Modica, these autumn getaways offer culture, cuisine — and none of the crowds
www.ft.com
November 9, 2025 at 9:14 AM
In which I write about the beauty of Saint Malo in Autumn👇 www.ft.com/content/9235...
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
Join us for the 2025 Public Policy Lecture with Prof Ricardo Hausmann @harvardkennedy.bsky.social on how today’s policymakers can drive growth & prosperity in an age of disruption.
Thu 20 Nov 2025 | 17:30–19:00 | Jesus College, Cambridge
Book your place www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/events/annua...
Thu 20 Nov 2025 | 17:30–19:00 | Jesus College, Cambridge
Book your place www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/events/annua...
November 5, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Join us for the 2025 Public Policy Lecture with Prof Ricardo Hausmann @harvardkennedy.bsky.social on how today’s policymakers can drive growth & prosperity in an age of disruption.
Thu 20 Nov 2025 | 17:30–19:00 | Jesus College, Cambridge
Book your place www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/events/annua...
Thu 20 Nov 2025 | 17:30–19:00 | Jesus College, Cambridge
Book your place www.bennettschool.cam.ac.uk/events/annua...
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
"dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap"
hadley.github.io/genzplyr/
hadley.github.io/genzplyr/
dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap
`genzplyr` is an alternative syntax for `dplyr` that replaces boring old function names with GenZ slang. Your data wrangling is about to hit different.
hadley.github.io
November 8, 2025 at 10:24 AM
"dplyr but make it bussin fr fr no cap"
hadley.github.io/genzplyr/
hadley.github.io/genzplyr/
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
100% @bhaggart.bsky.social & I have been arguing this point for years too (see our open-access book The New Knowledge with Bloomsbury)! Regulating platforms without addressing their business models is doomed to fail. Maybe now we can finally talk about how to restructure their business models?
I feel like academics and activists have been shouting about the need to address the platforms' business model for years. But this recent article about Meta making a fortune from fraudulent ads makes it crystal clear. But more than that it -> www.reuters.com/investigatio...
Meta is earning a fortune on a deluge of fraudulent ads, documents show
Meta projected 10% of its 2024 revenue would come from ads for scams and banned goods, and it internally estimates that its platforms show users 15 billion scam ads a day, company documents show.
www.reuters.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:20 PM
100% @bhaggart.bsky.social & I have been arguing this point for years too (see our open-access book The New Knowledge with Bloomsbury)! Regulating platforms without addressing their business models is doomed to fail. Maybe now we can finally talk about how to restructure their business models?
This is great news. Caroline was a wonderful MP.
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Caroline Lucas, former leader of the Green Party and MP for Brighton Pavilion, as the University's first Professor of Practice in Environmental Sustainability at the Sussex School for Progressive Futures (SSPF).
Caroline Lucas appointed as new Professor of Practice at the University of Sussex
Caroline Lucas has been appointed by the University of Sussex as its first Professor of Practice in Environmental Sustainability.
www.sussex.ac.uk
November 7, 2025 at 11:18 AM
This is great news. Caroline was a wonderful MP.
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Caroline Lucas, former leader of the Green Party and MP for Brighton Pavilion, as the University's first Professor of Practice in Environmental Sustainability at the Sussex School for Progressive Futures (SSPF).
Caroline Lucas appointed as new Professor of Practice at the University of Sussex
Caroline Lucas has been appointed by the University of Sussex as its first Professor of Practice in Environmental Sustainability.
www.sussex.ac.uk
November 7, 2025 at 10:00 AM
We are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Caroline Lucas, former leader of the Green Party and MP for Brighton Pavilion, as the University's first Professor of Practice in Environmental Sustainability at the Sussex School for Progressive Futures (SSPF).
This is what Hamiltonian States can do if they take project delivery seriously.
More than 300 big nuclear power stations IN A YEAR!!!
More than 300 big nuclear power stations IN A YEAR!!!
"China can produce almost a terawatt of renewable-energy capacity in a year. That is enough to supply as much energy as more than 300 big nuclear-power plants."
www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
I love The Economist's bullishness here
www.economist.com/leaders/2025...
I love The Economist's bullishness here
China’s clean-energy revolution will reshape markets and politics
The world’s biggest manufacturer now has an interest in the world decarbonising
www.economist.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:12 AM
This is what Hamiltonian States can do if they take project delivery seriously.
More than 300 big nuclear power stations IN A YEAR!!!
More than 300 big nuclear power stations IN A YEAR!!!
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
Excellent podcast from the FT in which Martin Wolf patiently explains that populism causes fundamental damage to economies even if they continue to grow (aka the counterfactual) and that such damage is difficult and painful to reverse when it finally becomes apparent open.spotify.com/episode/679f...
Martin Wolf on the economics of populism
open.spotify.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Excellent podcast from the FT in which Martin Wolf patiently explains that populism causes fundamental damage to economies even if they continue to grow (aka the counterfactual) and that such damage is difficult and painful to reverse when it finally becomes apparent open.spotify.com/episode/679f...
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
Olve Krange at NINA led a study that sheds some light on this.
“Results show that lack of trust in environmental institutions is strongly associated with ACC denial…and is partly a function of anti-elitist attitudes, opposition to migration and views of nature.”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“Results show that lack of trust in environmental institutions is strongly associated with ACC denial…and is partly a function of anti-elitist attitudes, opposition to migration and views of nature.”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“Don’t confuse me with facts”—how right wing populism affects trust in agencies advocating anthropogenic climate change as a reality - Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications - “Don’t confuse me with facts”—how right wing populism affects trust in agencies advocating anthropogenic climate change as a...
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Olve Krange at NINA led a study that sheds some light on this.
“Results show that lack of trust in environmental institutions is strongly associated with ACC denial…and is partly a function of anti-elitist attitudes, opposition to migration and views of nature.”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
“Results show that lack of trust in environmental institutions is strongly associated with ACC denial…and is partly a function of anti-elitist attitudes, opposition to migration and views of nature.”
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
Important, timely, analysis by @lgilbert.co debunking the commonly used line that "migrants are a burden". Shows that migrants are overwhelmingly bet fiscal contributors. Basically, you target migration, you crash the country.
"Home Office data suggests that recent immigrants are more likely to be working than British nationals and make higher wages than them."
✍️ Lauren Gilbert argues that migrants to the UK are net fiscal contributors, adding much more to the economy than they take out,
ukandeu.ac.uk/lower-migrat...
✍️ Lauren Gilbert argues that migrants to the UK are net fiscal contributors, adding much more to the economy than they take out,
ukandeu.ac.uk/lower-migrat...
Lower migration is bad news for the UK economy - UK in a changing Europe
Lauren Gilbert argues that migrants to the UK are net fiscal contributors, adding much more to the economy than they take out, and that the recent collapse in immigration will harm the UK's economic p...
ukandeu.ac.uk
November 7, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Important, timely, analysis by @lgilbert.co debunking the commonly used line that "migrants are a burden". Shows that migrants are overwhelmingly bet fiscal contributors. Basically, you target migration, you crash the country.
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
Good morning from Brussels, where an EU struggling internally and with its global position is trying to respond as it knows best, by punching down on smaller partners. For opening paragraphs suggest it is trying to renege on the common understanding with the UK. www.ft.com/content/8963...
EU demands UK pay into budget as part of relationship ‘reset’
Growing tension between London and Brussels just six months after summit set out to build stronger ties
www.ft.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:17 AM
Good morning from Brussels, where an EU struggling internally and with its global position is trying to respond as it knows best, by punching down on smaller partners. For opening paragraphs suggest it is trying to renege on the common understanding with the UK. www.ft.com/content/8963...
Anyone around Sussex on the 18th @luketryl.bsky.social in conversation.
www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/re...
www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/re...
Finding common ground: In Conversation with Luke Tryl on 18 November
Staff, students and community invited to join Luke Tryl and Sussex academics to discuss 'Finding common ground in public opinion'
www.sussex.ac.uk
November 6, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Anyone around Sussex on the 18th @luketryl.bsky.social in conversation.
www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/re...
www.sussex.ac.uk/broadcast/re...
Reposted by Paul Nightingale
A vital and informative blog post on what the US’s withdrawal from UNESCO means for open science
🌎 What does the withdrawal of the US from UNESCO mean for Open Science and Open Science infrastructure? While much is still unclear, @loubezuidenhout.bsky.social and Jon Verriet from @unesconl.bsky.social argue that the implications could be profound.
www.leidenmadtrics.nl/articles/the...
www.leidenmadtrics.nl/articles/the...
The withdrawal of the US from UNESCO: What does this mean for Open Science?
The withdrawal of the US from UNESCO and US legislation being increasingly at odds with Open Science values raises concerns regarding Open Science infrastructure in the US. While much is still unclear...
www.leidenmadtrics.nl
November 6, 2025 at 10:30 PM
A vital and informative blog post on what the US’s withdrawal from UNESCO means for open science