Swiss Referendum on a Population Cap

No Vacancy
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/06/15/could-switzerland-become-the-first-country-to-limit-its-population
Amid Europe’s economic stagnation and demographic decline, Switzerland is booming. But the Swiss aren’t happy. They’ll soon vote on a proposal to cap the country’s population. 

Interview - Mariana Mazzucato

Mariana Mazzucato, rockstar economist
https://www.newstatesman.com/ns-interview/2026/06/mariana-mazzucato-rockstar-economist
Politics, tears and focaccia with Labour’s favorite public intellectual. 

China and the World Economy

Why It’s Nearly Impossible to Build a Robot Without China
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/11/business/china-robots-humanoid.html
Building on the country’s electric vehicle industry, Chinese companies are making robot parts at a scale and price point others can’t match. 
 
China Is Propping Up the World Economy by Importing a Lot Less Oil
https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/china-is-propping-up-the-world-economy-by-importing-a-lot-less-oil-f12d7813
Clues are emerging in the mystery of the missing three million barrels—oil that China would normally be importing but isn’t now.

AI and Back Office Jobs

Forget Coders. The Real A.I. Threat Is in the Back Office.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/10/business/economy/back-office-workers-ai.html
As artificial intelligence spreads, millions of middle-class jobs in human resources, billing and payroll could be at risk. Most are held by women.  

Effective Governance

The case for the administrative state
https://spectator.com/article/the-case-for-the-administrative-state/ 

UK’s Broken Asylum System

How Britain lost control
https://www.newstatesman.com/cover-story/2026/06/how-britain-lost-control
The UK’s asylum accommodation model has led to rioting and protests for two consecutive summers across Britain. Protesters direct their rage at the government, the council, police and asylum seekers. 

Challenges Facing UK and US Higher Education Systems

Let AI eat the universities
https://spectator.com/article/let-ai-eat-the-universities/

Eight Predictions for the Future of Higher Education
https://www.newyorker.com/news/fault-lines/eight-predictions-for-the-future-of-higher-education
The concurrent crises in the reading, writing, and math competencies of incoming college freshmen—which, I have begrudgingly accepted, are real, and not merely the familiar griping you hear in faculty lounges—will get worse, and within a few years a course that used to be appropriate for tenth graders will become the standard 200-level course in many universities across the country.
 
The false promise that sparked the student loans crisis
https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/education/2026/06/the-false-promise-that-sparked-the-student-loans-crisis
Turning students into “consumers” was always going to fuel perverse incentives.
 
Tarnished Towers
https://policyexchange.org.uk/publication/tarnished-towers/
Fixing England’s Broken Higher Education System.