Ben Page

The train has left the station: Agentic AI and the future of social science research | Brookings A new era of agentic AI agents has begun. What does it mean for social scientists? Solomon Messing and Joshua Tucker discuss.

The train has left the station: Agentic AI and the future of social science research www.brookings.edu/articles/the...

Trump supporters still behind him on Iran but only 27% of Americans per @ipsosgroup.bsky.social

We have an “unregulated sexual economy” what does that mean - more regulations needed?

THE 2028 GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE CRISIS A Thought Exercise in Financial History, from the Future

Will AI ultimately cause a slump/ Depression? open.substack.com/pub/citrini/...

Federal Data Is Disappearing The Trump administration has disrupted data collection on everything from homeland security, maternal mortality, hunger, drug use, education, disaster preparation and the economy.

US govt stops collecting data that it might not want to hear …. www.notus.org/trump-white-...

The shift by social media owners from a chronological approach to one driven by engagement (and thus outrage) from c2012 onwards will be seen by future historians as a key event - discuss….

Read this and weep. c1,500 homes out of 88000 annual target built in London in ‘25. “botched implementation and a failure to anticipate how policies would interact have created a perverse situation where it is no longer economical to build homes in London” H/t @jburnmurdoch

I have just discovered the The Holy Roman Empire is still kept alive by an association of aristocratic descendants based in Belgravia and my day is complete #historyneverdies holyromanempireassociation.org

Joe - sure Res Foundation and the report can give you that

At the #unsungbritain @resfoundation event in Westminster - the change in WHO inflation is affecting is dramatic -

After a certain point the sanity of Palantir's leadership does matter to the national security of the UK and other European states buying its software

The pessimist who became a prophet Philosopher Michael Sandel was ignored by a generation of political optimists. Now he is searching for a way out of the mess he saw coming

Great essay by Martin Sandbu on how triumph of neoliberal globalism/Third Way neglected communitarian belonging - with inevitable consequences #populism giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... The pessimist who became a prophet

Well here’s Jeremy Clarkson on what happens after Reform win…

Apple TV Rachel - simple if an Apple user (ps good to see you this week)

Trump going “under water” on every element including immigration

Your regular reminder that headline leads in opinion polls may matter less than details inside them #Reform #Labour

And in internet etc …I was on this disused railway track from the mid 19th century railway boom at weekend - which bankrupted thousands - am writing this using tech developed in tech bubble which also saw massive crash… looks like history repeating itself. Progress is uneven and lumpy….

OpenAI's Ad Offering Is a Last Resort, and It Still Won’t Save the Company If revenue were the only measure, Sam Altman would be the most successful CEO since the invention of electricity. But profit is the metric that ultimately counts.

Great piece on the insane amount of cash being burnt on at AI at @openai vs @google - something has to give! www.adweek.com/brand-market...

Say what you will about Hitler, at least he knew which countries he was invading.

Davos 2026: Special address by Mark Carney, PM of Canada Canadian PM Mark Carney stressed the end of the rules-based international order and urged middle powers to act together to counter the great power rivalry.

Full text of @MarkJCarney speech here. Great use of metaphor to describe old “rules based Western international order” being an illusion breaking down…. www.weforum.org/stories/2026...

So far the "Board of Peace" is Trump, Orban, Lukaschenko and Netanyahu.

Which if you wrote in a satire would be considered too outlandish and sent back.

Seems appropriate today - Goya - the “sleep of reason produces monsters”

“Before we have learned to deal with things in a given position, they have already changed several times. Thus, we always perceive events too late, and politics always needs to foresee the present.” Turgot 1844 H/t @adamtooze future scenarios are now the only way to think about politics!

Off to Davos? You lucky lucky person. Here’s a handy guide on how to interpret what people say to you…. H/t @henrymance.ft.com

Happy Birthday @Number10cat Larry - you have been a more permanent fixture than most of my politician clients during my career!

Wow #Hamnet forgot exactitude but what a great film

PURPOSE IS POINTLESS Johnson & Johnson book poses questions about institutions that Purpose cannot answer.

Great piece on why “purpose” is pointless open.substack.com/pub/hefferna...

What japes Pip, what japes!!!

Has there ever been any poll showing the public this united? yougov.co.uk/technology/a...

2 in 3 Brits say they don’t like Donald Trump, with opinions souring slightly from when he visited the UK last September Base: 1,058 Online British adults 18-75, 7-8January 2025. c.1,000 British adults each month Source: Ipsos Omnibus Qu: Which of the following best represents your opinion of US President Donald Trump?

Brits aren’t fans of Trump.

👎66% say they don’t like him (up from 61% in Sept) and 67% say Britain doesn’t need a leader like him.

👍27% say they do like him - and a similar percentage (26%) believe that Britain does need a leader like him.

Full findings 👉 bit.ly/3Nj60VW