Big business increasingly likes to portray itself as socially concerned, adopting the style of civic action through 'campaigns' of varying degrees of cynicism.

Advisers who think that they are very clever while all around them are a bit thick, and that all the problems of the world would be solved if the thick listened to the clever, are liable to be disappointed.

A lot of people in government don't really read books at all.

Lots of creativity is and should be solitary.

Britain is rich in radicalism, and anyone who says that our society has drifted into fatalism and apathy should get out more.

The most dynamic cities have always been immersed in the critical innovations of their time.

The biggest barrier to dealing with climate change is us: our own attachment to habits that are hard to shift, and our great ability to park or ignore uncomfortable choices.