Akshat Rathi

Economist Amartya Sen won a Nobel in part for asking: Why did India avoid the mass famines that killed tens of millions in China? His answer: a free press. Journalists could expose suffering and shame governments into action. Silence and avoidance, by contrast, can be deadly.

Long Covid Hits UK Economy Harder Than Most Other Countries Britain’s economy is still suffering from long Covid. The unmatched spike in public debt, the 1.2 million extra people on sickness benefits, the record postwar tax burden, the bulging size of the stat...

We don't talk enough about covid. The pandemic might be over, but it continues to shape our lives in ways we aren't studying. That's to our own detriment.

"There is still no formal assessment of the economic response or any comprehensive cross-country comparison."

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

No Passports, No Study Abroad: China Limits Public Employees’ Travel

Sorry to post this dark read on Sunday morning, which ends with one of the darkest quotes.

“If everyone dies, it’s OK, you know?” she said. “As long as I’m not the only one.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/03/w...

The increasing intermittency of….nuclear power stations:

Source: Financial Times | “Heatwaves test Europe’s electricity system as air conditioning use soars” on.ft.com/4fsSclS

Post from "The Rundown" July 18 at 5:30 PM · DuckDuckGo has introduced a new feature allowing users to filter out AI-generated images from search results, addressing growing concerns over synthetic content overwhelming authentic visuals online. The filter can be activated through a dropdown in the Images tab, search settings, or by using a dedicated AI-free domain: noai.duckduckgo.com. The system relies on curated blocklists, including uBlockOrigin’s Huge AI Blocklist, to detect and suppress AI-generated imagery. While not perfect, it significantly reduces synthetic content visibility. This move sets DuckDuckGo apart from competitors like Google and Bing by giving users direct control over their exposure to AI-generated material. Source: TechCrunch

DuckDuckGo has added a feature to filter out AI images from search results.

Nordic countries hit by ‘truly unprecedented’ heatwave | Climate crisis | The Guardian Scientists record longest streak of temperatures higher than 30C in region in records going back to 1961

"A weather station in the Norwegian part of the Arctic Circle recorded temperatures above 30C (86F) on 13 days in July." www.theguardian.com/environment/...

YouTube video by BBC Timestamp The Biggest Myth About The American Revolution | BBC Timestamp

For no good reason, it's worth remembering that the American Revolution would not have been won without the support of the French. www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJdX...

A commissioner at the bureau of labor statistics is fired after unfavorable data is released. Pressure is placed on "independent" Fed officials. Pro-regime media are given access. Climate deniers with fossil fuel funding put out government reports full of AI hallucinations. It's happening.

Molly Roberts excellent book _Censored: Distraction and Diversion Inside China's Great Firewall_ provides helpful analytics for this moment of Trumpian rule.

Traditionally, censorship operates through fear -- journalists are scared to report and citizens scared to share for fear of the state.

chart: capital expenditures, quarterly shows hockey-stick like growth in the capex expenditures of Amazon, Microsoft, Google and meta, almost entirely on data centers in the most recent quarter it was nearly $100 billion, collectively

The AI infrastructure build-out is so gigantic that in the past 6 months, it contributed more to the growth of the U.S. economy than /all of consumer spending/

The 'magnificent 7' spent more than $100 billion on data centers and the like in the past three months *alone*

www.wsj.com/tech/ai/sili...

1 in 3 doctors were born overseas.

1 in 2 builders were born overseas.

1 in 6 nurses were born overseas.

1 in 4 transport workers were born overseas.

1 in 7 UK business founders were born overseas.

1 in 5 university academics were born overseas.

The UK would be screwed without them.

This is one kind of pressure tactic. Does it work?

And if it does, It might succeed in stopping the govt from doing something in the short term, but at what cost in the long term?

What's the middle ground here? Who can bridge the gap? The Heathrow airport expansion is just one of a thousand such debates we are going to have around the world. Are we ready to have those debates or just stick to the side you support and make no progress?

Climate folks are looking at this from a carbon lens and freaking out that, surely, a climate-forward govt cannot be making such an obvious mistake.

Govt is looking at an opportunity to boost the economy in the short term without any injection of cash and without adding carbon emissions right now.

And here's the biggest yawning gap, who are these private players ready to take on a £49 billion project that will take a decade to build and will almost certainly face opposition, delay and cost over-run before a single penny of return? Plus add huge carbon-emitting asset to their portfolio?

In that crisis comes the offer from private players who are willing to foot the entire £49 billion plan to build Heathrow's third runaway. The cost? Perhaps blowing past the carbon budget in the future, years after this term of the Labour govt. Why would you not accept it?

OECD Says Reeves ‘Thin Fiscal Buffer’ Poses Risks to UK Economy UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves will expose the economy to “significant downside risk” if she does not give the government more room to maneuver within her fiscal rules, the Organisation ...

But the govt can't do that. It's running in the red in so many parts of the economy and has little fiscal room to borrow to invest. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Britain’s net zero economy is booming, CBI says Green sector growing at triple the rate of the UK economy, providing high-wage jobs and increasing energy security

One way out for the govt would be to invest into things that would kickstart the economy. With so many clean-energy projects waiting in line and the industry showing that it can outperforming all other sectors... it's a no-brainer, right? www.theguardian.com/environment/...

So that's the climate-side of the equation. Now let's look at the govt and private players. Labour govt is in power and it espouses to be climate forward. However, it's also holding up a British economy that's in the dumps. www.ft.com/content/8a49...

What will expanding Heathrow do to UK’s net zero plans? Government is counting on tech to provide a panacea, but there may be simpler ways to keep climate goals on track

Or, worse, some might hope that carbon removals become cheap enough (and credible enough) that they can just offset these added emissions from the 276,000 additional flights. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

UK Bets on Unproven Tech to Limit Heathrow’s Climate Impact Sustainable aviation fuel and carbon capture form the core of the UK’s plans to achieve “Jet Zero,” despite airport expansions.

If sustainable aviation fuel can be scaled up quickly and made cheap plus electric airplanes become a reality, UK might be able to keep within budget and meet its net-zero goal. That's betting on unproven tech, as my colleague @oliviarudgard.bsky.social explored www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The UK is bound a climate law that requires the country to reach net-zero emissions by 2050, with reducing carbon budgets every five years. The Climate Change Committee is clear that expanding airports will come at a heavy cost to UK's carbon budget.

London Heathrow Proposes £49 Billion for Runway Expansion Plans London Heathrow Airport has submitted a proposal to the UK government for a £49 billion ($65 billion) expansion that includes construction of the controversial third runway, as the biggest European hu...

Basics first: Heathrow has been pushing for a third runway for decades. Its cost has ballooned from £14 billion in 2018 plan to £49 billion in 2025 plan. If allowed, it will take nearly a decade to become operational. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

The Heathrow airport expansion reveals a gulf between climate folks (activists and govt watchdog) and those in power (govt and private companies). Without bridging that gap, the prospects for progress are limited.

Let's do a thread 🧵

remembering the time Musk got in a twitter spat with the UN and said he'd sell $6B of tesla stock to solve world hunger but only if the UN released a spending plan

and then the UN released a spending plan

and then Musk sold $6B of tesla stock but just gave it to his own foundation instead

UK’s Two Biggest Energy Suppliers Escalate Spat in CEO Turf War A dispute between Britain’s two biggest energy suppliers escalated after Octopus Energy said it would report its rival Centrica Plc to the country’s advertising watchdog.

The normal boring energy policy stuff made interesting. 😜

🎁 link
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Way to make someone feel nicer about unsubscribing. Befitting given this from BackMarket, which sells refurbished tech "that's better for the planet."

The new leaders of the energy transition What happens in the US dominates the global conversation, for better or worse. It is the world's largest economy, the US dollar is the world's reserve currency and the world's largest importer of good...

“The new leaders of the energy transition: those opining about the death of the energy transition have too narrow a view. A correction in the narrative is no bad thing, but swinging hard to the other side is not helpful.” @akshatrathi.bsky.social

www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-le...

Bit meaty this essay with links to analysis and reporting from @bberwyn.bsky.social @roycerk2.bsky.social @akshatrathi.bsky.social @tomraftery.com and others

AI Is Fast-Tracking Climate Research, From Weather Forecasts to Sardines Scientists see using the technology as a “gigantic step forward” in a variety of fields.

Regardless of where you fall on the tech's use, AI can do genuine good for science. There's a strong case for why we must take it seriously.

🎁 link www.bloomberg.com/news/article... by @lauramillan.bsky.social