Islander

[Islander @PropertySpot]

We live in 'interesting times'.

[Department of State @StateDept]

We are rejecting the outdated model of multilateralism that treats the American taxpayer as the world's underwriter for a sprawling architecture of global governance.

President Trump's withdrawal shows that the era of writing blank checks to international bureaucracies is over.

https://t.co/jWG5FNGbGE

[Sylvain Catherine @sc_cath]

Around the introduction of GDPR: US investors stopped investing in Europe, but increased their investment in the US. European investors stopped funding startups both in Europe and in the US.

[Islander @PropertySpot]

Belated recognition that creating a category called “affordable housing” is counterproductive?

[Sam Coates Sky @SamCoatesSky]

EXC:

Steve Reed and Sadiq Khan tell me why the “crisis” in London housebuilding justifies slashing affordable homes targets

I challenge the Mayor over claims of amount of housebuidling “started”

Produced by @JoeCookJ

[Islander @PropertySpot]

This Select Committee evidence from the “Big Six” energy companies gives the impression that we've been making some huge policy mistakes.
https://t.co/zyHxq4Mqg2

[Samuel Hughes @SCP_Hughes]

In the 1700s and 1800s, English and Irish developers laid out hundreds of garden squares, though there was no planning requirement that they do this, and though they never made any money on them. Why?

[Kallum Pickering @KallumPickering]

We begin our analysis with a simple observation - that the decline in UK electricity availability, which started in 2006, coincided with the start of structural weakness in UK productivity growth (2/16) #productivitypuzzle #ukeconomy

[Islander @PropertySpot]

@samofsamshire A lot depends on the build quality. If it’s just brick cladding then they will look terrible before long.

[Islander @PropertySpot]

This map is very revealing for what it says about how the US sees Europe.

[Henry Zeffman @hzeffman]

One of the most striking themes in Keir Starmer’s speech today — his frustration with Whitehall

For weeks I’ve been asking Labour people what they make of their time in government and one sentiment comes up again and again:

“Dominic Cummings was right”

[Tom Nuttall @tom_nuttall]

Donald Tusk has just called for the suspension of the right to territorial asylum in Poland. Says he will "demand recognition" of this decision with European partners.

[Marcin Piatkowski 🇪🇺 @mmpiatkowski]

New GDP per capita PPP data from @WorldBank suggest that, based on the current growth projections from @IMFNews WEO April 2024, Poland's 🇵🇱 PPP income is likely to exceed that of Japan🇯🇵 by 2026. Unbelievable https://t.co/fFJGmyiQ9v @Noahpinion

[Iain Mansfield @IGMansfield]

Bam!

And that, my friends, is how you deregulate.

No endless consultations, no turgid white papers, no 'stakeholderism', no imperceptibly nuanced changes that in practice means nothing changes.

Just sweep it away.

Build, baby, build!

[Islander @PropertySpot]

@SchwitzerEd @jhallwood Realistically the only solution for a badly-designed building is air conditioning, also known as an air-to-air heat pump.

[Islander @PropertySpot]

@SchwitzerEd @jhallwood There are different factors: insulation, thermal mass and solar gain.

If you only optimise for warmth in winter then you can easily create a property that overheats terribly in summer. Insulation to keep the heat out doesn’t work if the property becomes an oven.

[Jon Stone @joncstone]

nice expensive paving you've got there... would be a shame if successive utility companies were to dig it up and not bother replacing it 😏 (2009, 2017, 2021)

[Adam Bell @Adam_Grant_Bell]

I want to offer a short theory of why this has happened, not because I'm sure I'm right but because I want to test it more broadly. Fundamentally, it's about the structure of the State and how the Conservatives have failed to reform it. /1

[James Upsher @JamesUpsher]

As Labour looks for new town sites, and how to make HS2 work, might I suggest Calvert, where HS2 and EWR cross? 5km radius population is only 7,000. Land rated poor for farming. Huge transport capacity. You could fit a city the sized of Rennes (250k) here. @s8mb, as discussed!

[Islander @PropertySpot]

@s0f0nisba @D_Blanchflower @jeremybear123 There’s a plausible theory that connects it with social media, particularly Instagram.

[Islander @PropertySpot]

@s0f0nisba @D_Blanchflower @jeremybear123 Do you consider Obama right wing?

[Islander @PropertySpot]

Very interesting. Is social eating the key to combatting obesity?

[François Valentin @Valen10Francois]

With a few exceptions, that's the obesity rate chart reversed