geoffmulgan.bsky.social

A new post on disagreeing & the virtues of friction. It suggests seven vital elements of a really good argument. At a time when a big majority think it's become harder to have healthy arguments, I suggest potential remedies. Disagreements welcome! geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/friction-i...

The case for cognitive rearmament - and why it's become so essential in the era of Putin, Musk and AI: geoffmulgan.substack.com/the-case-f

A piece for Compass & carried by Arguably on what it should mean to be progressive in the late 2020s (the fears, potential pathways & patterns from history), at root about how to win the future without losing the present. www.compassonline.org.uk/publications...

A piece on lifelong learning: why it matters more than ever and what can be done to support it. This is a version of a talk given as part of Denmark's EU Presidency last week at Copenhagen University. geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/learning-f...

I've done a piece on Eric Morecambe and the challenges of UK government now - possibly the right people but not necessarily in the right roles geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/eric-morec...

V impressed (and lucky) to see Pope Leo in action (with Arnold S & a melting block of ice) talking about Laudate Si ten years on. The world sometimes looks a moral desert - so refreshing to hear of the moral imperative of caring for our common home & looking after the most fragile and vulnerable.

Do we need a new generation of public institutions for ST&I? Join us tomorrow at 4pm for the first in a new UCL-STEaPP seminar series with @geoffmulgan.bsky.social, followed by a discussion with @anjahuja.bsky.social & @williamcb.bsky.social. Details here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/do-we-need...

This is my piece on "Strength Without Weight" - a vision for what a high-capacity state should look like - neither chainsaw destruction nor status quo conservatism - using ideas from literature, architecture & materials science. geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/strength-w...

Governments are seeking 'strength without weight' - options for making government work better that fall between mindless chainsaw destruction on the one hand, and unimaginative defense of the status quo on the other. Here are ideas on how to do it. geoffmulgan.substack.com/publish/post...

An excellent and important new piece by Leo Quattrucci on how to rethink public procurement - which amounts to 12% of GDP in the OECD countries but is often run badly and in anachronistic ways. tial.org/publications...

My piece on why institutional innovation is set to be one of the great issues of the late 2020s, & why we need to find a path between destruction (chainsaws & woodcutters) and conservative defense of the status quo. www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/n...

A new paper from Ales Cap and me sets out how to design new 'Electoral Integrity Institutions' to protect against the threat of disruption by deepfakes and misinformation - filling a crucial cap in the defense of democracy. tial.org/publications...

A new paper out today from Ales Cap and me setting out how to design new 'Electoral Integrity Institutions' to protect against deepfakes and misinformation. In place of hand-wringing this is a practical response: far better to act before disaster strikes rather than after. tial.org/publications...

Final call! Submit your Expression of Interest for UNDP’s Istanbul Innovation Days 2025 (March 25 -26) by February 7th, which will be all about designing the next generation of public institutions. Apply now at istanbulinnovationdays.org/participate/

Winner takes all, might is right, billionaires rule! My essay explores the primordial roots & present fuel of the winner cult (which had fun this month), and looks at its future instability. geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/winner-wor...

I've written a piece on winner worship, the revival of the 'kow-tow' (v visible with Trump, Musk etc) and the implications for politics, international affairs and many other things, including AI. geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/winner-wor...

The UNDP's Istanbul Innovation Days will be held 25-26 March focused on designing the next generation of public purpose institutions across the world - a hugely important topic, relevant to cities, national governments, to global challenges & to all of us as citizens. istanbulinnovationdays.org

In this blog I argue that Trump and his acolytes assume the world is very resilient - able to bounce back from any shock or disruption. Others - like President Xi and most scientists - assume the opposite: that the world is fragile. We'll soon find out who's right. geoffmulgan.com/post/how-res...

With colleagues at TIAL (Jessica Seddon and Arvind Kumar) I've written a paper on future international governance - we'll be following up with much more in 2025 but all comments/thoughts are welcome now tial.org/publications...

As new cities are built around the world, from Neom to Nusantara - what explains why some new cities succeed and others fail (from Magnitogorsk and Ordos to Fordlandia). My latest blog can be found here: geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/the-secret...