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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: How tech could lift the debt straightjacket

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: How tech could lift the debt straightjacket
Both the Office for Budget Responsibility and Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, have warned of serious consequences for public finances if significant action isn't taken. The assumption is that this must be achieved by lifting growth in productivity. But what if the main impediment to traditional economic growth, as evidenced by GDP, is endemic demonetization brought about by advancing technology and automation? Is it time to look for a radically new approach which will allow everyone to participate in that wealth creation? Background music: 'The New Order' by Aaron Kenny

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Dishonesty on a Pedestal

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Dishonesty on a Pedestal
More than seven million people tuned in for the explosive finale of the third series of hit BBC series 'The Traitors', an entertaining romp through the psychological effects of dishonesty. The BBC has succeeded in making adjustments so that dishonesty doesn't always win, but the finale showed clearly how it evaporates trust. In a wider context, it's becoming increasingly clear that social media is driving people apart by enabling people to express views and aggression 'at arms length' — the removal of fact-checking is another significant step backwards. Does social media drive people apart? We should not delay in seeking more research on the question. Background music: 'Hidden Agenda' by Kevin MacLeod — 'Hidden Agenda' by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Image source: Wikipedia

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Wealth and Autocracy

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Wealth and Autocracy
This week is a real watershed, as we move from Biden to Trump. Joe Biden sounds a clear warning in his farewell address, setting out the risks for democracy and participation from the cohort of oligarchs that are now taking power, combined with the challenge from social media. Meanwhile the United Kingdom is losing its wealth creators at an accelerating rate due to the imposition of socialist ideology and a swathe of new taxes. Neither political stance will deliver the rallying cry of the French revolution, 'Liberté, égalité, fraternité'. Background music: 'Officer Of The Day March' by United States Marine Band

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Insuring Risks Unknown

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Insuring Risks Unknown
The past year has seen a litany of climate change disasters of which the wildfires in Los Angeles are the latest. Yet Americans still supported Trump's call to 'drill, baby, drill' in the presidential election. This is just the latest disaster that financial markets have to contend with. How much pressure can the insurance and investment markets take? The one thing that we know for sure is that, while the American people may have locked in their choice for the next four years, there's no such insurance for the bond market — it can strike at any time. Background music: 'Trap Unboxing' by Jimmy Fontanez_Doug Maxwell

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Democracy threatened by impoverishing the young

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Democracy threatened by impoverishing the young
Turnout at the 2024 general election was 59.7%, the lowest at a General Election since 2001, and 7.6 percentage points lower than in 2019. We are all keenly aware of the disproportionate number of Labour MPs (63.2%), notwithstanding their low overall polling (33.7%), but only now are we starting to see how young people have been disenfranchised by their poverty. This correlation between youth and poverty supports our consistent and strong calls for inter-generational rebalancing, and the need for more long-term focus in western democracies. If we don't take action, we run the risk of oscillating between an over-sized self-interested state driven by socialism and self-interested reactionaries driven by populism. Background music: 'Generations Away' by Unicorn Heads

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Should leadership be based on strategy or circumstance?

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Should leadership be based on strategy or circumstance?
Leadership inspires and is transformative in character: it's hard to see how reacting to circumstances can achieve this outcome. The leadership given by Jesus Christ, whose birthday we celebrate each year on 25th December, has provided both inspiration and transformation throughout the past two thousand years. Oh that the Church and our politicians could learn from that example! Background music: 'Carol of the Bells' by Quincas Moreira

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: Short-termism — Democracy’s Achilles’ Heel

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: Short-termism — Democracy’s Achilles’ Heel
Food banks are very busy at this time of year, and Trussell, which co-ordinates and supplies 1,400 of them in the UK with 36,000 volunteers, is particularly active. Its combination of nationwide scalability and local partnerships shows how voluntary and philanthropic contributions can deliver hope in the face of a welfare state which has failed to break the cycle of deprivation over the past fifty years. Is this the model, combined with a more egalitarian form of capitalism, which can provide a more compassionate society, with participation for all? Background music: 'Soul Food' by Chris Haugen Image Source: Trussell

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: The real merit of individual ownership is responsibility

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: The real merit of individual ownership is responsibility
Dame Julia Hoggett is Chief Executive of the London Stock Exchange, and featured in a half-page interview in The Sunday Times Business last weekend. She is a strong advocate for encouraging personal share ownership, which demonstrates clearly how a sense of responsibility builds from individual ownership: this is also particularly evident in employee share ownership. The correlation between ownership and responsibility at an individual level throughout society needs to be more fully understood and supported by business and politicians. Background music: 'Waiting' by Andrew Langdon

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: A Matter of Life and Death

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: A Matter of Life and Death
Matters of life and death featured strongly in the House of Commons last Friday. thanks to Kim Leadbeater's Private Members' Bill on assisted dying — it's curious how the new UK parliament has developed such a fixation on 'end of life'. The Government's plans for inheritance tax might encourage people towards a serious look at philanthropy — register to join Philanthropy Impact's webinar on Donor Advised Funds, starting at 12 noon this Wednesday 4th December. Background music: 'Wandering Soul' by Asher Fulero Image source: Philanthropy Impact

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Gavin Oldham

Thought for the Week: The Woes of the Church of England

Gavin Oldham
Original Broadcast:

Thought for the Week

Thought for the Week: The Woes of the Church of England
A fortnight ago Justin Welby announced that he would resign as Archbishop of Canterbury following the Makin report's criticism of the Church's handling of allegations of abuse and Welby's failure to investigate the allegations. We suspect that real reason for this failure to act was not so much the desire to protect someone whose behaviour was evil but rather the chronically damaging cult of inaction in the Church, which can smother even the most urgent priorities. 'Nothing changes here' is a hymn extract which neatly encapsulates the way that inaction has been treated as a virtue for centuries, but in today's world it has become quite the opposite. With reducing congregations and chronic administrative duplication and inconsistency, urgent action is needed to focus on core Christian principles and organisational rationalisation. Background music: 'Requiem In Cello' by Hanu Dixit

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