Designing future institutions
I've written an overview paper on the design of new institutions - prompted by growing interest in the need for a new generation of...
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Geoff Mulgan
- Aug 5
- 12 min
Embracing the science rather than just following it: science, government & politics in the pandemic
What have we learned from an extraordinary two years when science, politics and government have been inextricably linked? Here I suggest...
Geoff Mulgan
- May 6
- 16 min
Nudges, behaviour change and complex systems
20 years ago I co-wrote a survey of behavioural policy options, that was then published by the UK Cabinet Office. It's now disappeared...
Geoff Mulgan
- Apr 29
- 1 min
The Boomerang Law of War
The invasion of Ukraine may be another example of what could be called the ‘Boomerang Law of War’ which states that most aggressive wars...
Geoff Mulgan
- Apr 22
- 1 min
Missing intelligence
Here is a link to a blog I've just done for global brief: https://globalbrief.ca/2022/04/missing-intelligence/ Sometimes we understand...
Geoff Mulgan
- Apr 22
- 1 min
Imagination
Here, trailing my new book out in June, is a blog for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation on the role of imagination in social change:...
Geoff Mulgan
- Mar 25
- 8 min
R&D BLINDSPOTS
This piece looks at the blindspots that have marked recent UK reviews of R&D and innovation The UK government is, once again, reviewing...
Geoff Mulgan
- Mar 24
- 4 min
COVID: five things the UK must prioritise in its pandemic recovery plan
On the second anniversary of Britain first going into lockdown, and with the country now opening up, this is a good opportunity to make...
Geoff Mulgan
- Mar 24
- 5 min
The case for humble activism: how wicked social problems are solved and outgrown
Can social problems be solved? Are they like problems in maths or engineering that just need to be analysed in the right way in order to...
Geoff Mulgan
- Mar 9
- 6 min
The Contribution Reward Fund: an answer to pay inequality and the neglect of essential work
The gap between the social value of people’s work and their monetary reward is wide and widening. In the US, for example, nearly half of...
Geoff Mulgan
- Feb 17
- 7 min
The Decline of Transparency. Is the World Becoming More Opaque?
Have we passed peak transparency? Are we moving into an era when more of the things that shape our lives will be opaque? And if so, how...
Geoff Mulgan
- Feb 4
- 2 min
ALGOV - a matrix for algorithmic governance
I had a go in late 2020 at creating a matrix for thinking about algorithmic governance (to feed into discusions at UCL led by my...
Geoff Mulgan
- Feb 3
- 9 min
Does 'levelling up' match up - or why we should think of this as Version 1
It’s easy to be dismissive of the government’s long-awaited plans for levelling up, published this week. Earlier statements were feeble....
Geoff Mulgan
- Dec 1, 2021
- 25 min
The Synthesis Gap: reducing the imbalance between advice and absorption in handling big challenges
Good synthesis results in higher-value options and actions. This paper focuses on how governments should synthesise inputs from many...
Geoff Mulgan
- Nov 16, 2021
- 4 min
Blair, Brown and the judgements of history – some thoughts on the recent TV series
I’ve just finished watching the fascinating TV series on Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, screened on BBC. I’m one of the handful of people...
Geoff Mulgan
- Nov 10, 2021
- 1 min
Social capital and civil society through the pandemic
I've done a blog with Rachel France looking at the role of social capital and civil society through the pandemic - to kick off a...
Geoff Mulgan
- Nov 5, 2021
- 3 min
FIGHTING BUREAUCRATIC INFLATION AND THE CURSE OF WEEDS
I’ve spent a fair bit of my life as a bureaucrat. This may be why I have a deepening antipathy to unnecessary bureaucracy. I keep seeing...
Geoff Mulgan
- Oct 20, 2021
- 1 min
AI and climate change
I did a piece for Project Syndicate on how AI could contribute to action on climate change ahead of the COP gathering in Glasgow. I'm...
Geoff Mulgan
- Oct 20, 2021
- 1 min
Exploratory social science
The New Institute has just published my paper on exploratory social science - how social science could play a more central role in...
Geoff Mulgan
- Sep 16, 2021
- 14 min
COVID-19 inquiries: how should they be run?
Boris Johnson has announced a UK inquiry into COVID-19 to start in 2022, a parallel one is being planned in Scotland, and many more will...