Anita Charlesworth and @teraallas.bsky.social co-chaired our #NHSProductivityCommission. We spoke to them about how to create sustained productivity growth in the NHS. Read more ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4zggbNH
Anita Charlesworth and @teraallas.bsky.social co-chaired our #NHSProductivityCommission. We spoke to them about how to create sustained productivity growth in the NHS. Read more ⬇️ https://bit.ly/4zggbNH
Today’s reflection on the NHS Productivity Commission: when everything is a priority, nothing is. Too many targets and metrics fragment attention and can distract from improving care. My fuller thoughts on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/posts/teraal... #NHSProductivity
Really pleased to see the ONS publish more of the underlying data that went into their productivity update using the 'component' method. One of the most interesting findings: using the new method, hours worked per filled job per week have declined from 30.2 to 27.6 since 1997. #dataisbeautiful
AI and software jobs: the Jevons paradox at work? UK ICT sector's employment is falling. Yet IT job ads economy-wide rose 15% in the last two years. What's going on? Read my latest Substack: teraallas.substack.com/p/ai-and-sof...
Terrific article by Isabel Berwick. For curious people who embrace change, this is a positive shift. And that’s even true for more junior colleagues: learning dynamics have changed, but AIs are fabulous coaches. What can we learn from the office AI superusers? giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Even if, like me, you never watch videos, you must watch this, by @emollick.bsky.social (and his AI assistants). (Click into the Substack and play it with sound on.) The Bitter Lesson: “What you craft by hand today, next year it [AI] might do.” www.oneusefulthing.org/p/the-dot-an...
Today’s reflection on the NHS Productivity Commission’s findings: what is the NHS’s North Star? People across the NHS make difficult choices every day. When goals compete, they need a shared purpose to guide those choices. Is that purpose clear enough?
One thing that seems to have got slightly lost in the noise around revised UK labour productivity growth figures: our output per hour _level_ still remains significantly lower than other peer countries'. #dataisbeautiful
A week ago, we published the NHS Productivity Commission’s final report: bit.ly/4AFg6EN. Thank you to my co-chair, Anita Charlesworth, the team at @healthfoundation.bsky.social, our Commissioners and our Expert Advisory Panel. It has been an absolute pleasure. More soon! #NHSProductivityCommission
Breaking the cycle
The Commission’s report sets out the conditions needed to break the current cycle and deliver lasting productivity growth in the NHS.
bit.ly
#WeekendWatching 📺 Did you miss our webinar on measuring #productivity yesterday? Watch it back here: A stellar panel with with a stellar chair: James Benford, @teraallas.bsky.social, Richard Hughes, and @chrisgiles.ft.com ⬇️ niesr.ac.uk/event/uks-pr...
Is the UK's Productivity Revival Real, or a Measurement Illusion? - NIESR
On 17 September, the ONS will publish its new component-based approach to measuring hours worked. This webinar discusses the implications of the new methodology and what it means for policymakers.
niesr.ac.uk
UK payrolls showed a bigger-than-expected decline in employment in August 2026. All of the decline came from low- or medium/low-AI-adoption sectors. #dataisbeautiful
Go to a discussion on AI adoption, and you'll hear wildly different numbers about what share of businesses are using AI. Who you ask and what you ask really really matter. This McKinsey research is great for the 'large company' perspective: www.mckinsey.com/capabilities... #dataisbeautiful
Thoughtful and lucid article, well worth a read. I don't agree with everything, but like the emphasis on trust, human values, and demand. If incomes collapse, who will buy any of the AI-enabled output? #dataisbeautiful
We've rounded off Day 1 of The Productivity Institute Academic Conference with a panel discussion exploring the future of productivity research. Thanks to Jun Du, @teraallas.bsky.social, @gilesyb.bsky.social, @bartvanark.bsky.social and Luke Mackle for sharing their insights.
Innovation, investment and risk were at the heart of this afternoon's panel. From @teraallas.bsky.social and Stephen Roper's research on the UK's investment gap to examples of innovation success like Atom Valley, the discussion explored what it takes to turn ambition into productivity growth.
UK ICT productivity is booming. Is it due to AI? Since early 2023, official output per hour in the ICT sector has risen 13.1%. A real-time proxy suggests an even larger rise: 31.8%. AI is driving some—but far from all—of it. Read more: teraallas.substack.com/p/ai-and-pro... #dataisbeautiful
Really interesting map from @resolutionfoundation.org on 'growth in every postcode' (bit.ly/4r3BDCB) - plus a quick analysis of mine (at LAD level) on whether it's a meaningful metric (beyond rhetoric). Data says: probably not. #dataisbeautiful
What a pleasure to contribute to the latest episode of BBC Radio 4 Rethink, presented by the fantastic @benansell.bsky.social. AI sovereignty is a hot topic -- but is it even feasible (let alone affordable) for the UK to be independent of other nations? Listen here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Sounds - Rethink, Rethink... who owns our technology
Is it time for a Tech-xit?
bbc.co.uk
Interesting new TPI working paper showing a positive correlation between digital skills intensity and labour share. At odds with the "tech erodes labour's share" story. #dataisbeautiful www.productivity.ac.uk/wp-content/u...
Home is where the heart - and increasingly, the work - is. The latest data from the ONS shows just how established home working has become in British businesses. It makes economic sense. #dataisbeautiful
Terrific analysis, particularly relevant to the AI boom. However, my observation of 'real life' behaviour of people - consumers and managers - is that their decisions are not nearly as sensitive to forward-looking expectations as some models might suggest. bankunderground.co.uk/2026/08/20/i...
Is higher productivity inflationary or disinflationary?
Ludovica Ambrosino, Jenny Chan and Silvana Tenreyro Recent technological advances raise an important question for policymakers: will higher productivity be disinflationary or inflationary? A coming…
bankunderground.co.uk
Really enjoyed contributing to this important article by Irina Anghel and @tomreesjournalist.bsky.social on how the vast health budget could be spent better. #dataisbeautiful Read it it here: bit.ly/4wF2o1t
The first, and probably the last, time I'm mentioned in the same article with Messi! Great piece by Andy Haldane: when it comes to budget measures, less is more, and uncertainty kills confidence, consumption, and investment. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
Well... "all" UK businesses cannot be doing this, given that 65% of firms don't actively use AI at all. And there's no evidence that frontier model access is a bottleneck in productivity enhancing adoption. It's just not about the models. #dataisbeautiful teraallas.substack.com/p/ai-and-pro...
This sums up the UK's economic conundrum in a single chart: high returns, low domestic investment. Costs are a key issue - but can't explain it all. If you know what else holds UK investment back, I'd love to hear it. Read the full report here: bit.ly/4fXxPPx #dataisbeautiful
Fascinating Bank of England analysis of spill-over effects of a potential AI crash. The UK is not immune, and a USD depreciation could exacerbate the macroeconomic effects, increasing the downside risks to an AI crash globally. bankunderground.co.uk/2026/08/13/i...
If AI disappoints? The transmission of US big-tech earnings news
There is growing concern among policymakers, international organisations, and even big-tech Chief Executive Officers (exhibits I, II and III) that the current artificial intelligence (AI) boom feat…
bankunderground.co.uk
With further devolution on the agenda, this is essential reading. Without a coherent, fact based and shared narrative and strategy, and institutional capital, no amount of devolution will lead to regeneration.
The Productivity Institute@productivity.bsky.social · 2mo ago1/3 Phase one of our Investment in Productive Places Campaign is now complete. Over the past months we've explored what it takes to drive productivity growth across the UK's regions and nations. Read the summary insights paper: bit.ly/4zc08kW
Should we replace politicians with AI? In the UK, 42% of people trust AI chatbots to act in their best interests, compared with just 25% who say the same for elected representatives. Read on to see why, and how AI could complement humans to deliver better policy. bit.ly/4pYDcBt
AI and democracy: should we replace politicians with AI?
AI has many strengths relative to humans that could make it a better policy maker—if we use it wisely
bit.ly
Must-read for anyone in charge of AI deployment. "When we ask how they define success for an agentic system, they stare at us blankly". Don't be one of them! bit.ly/4ch9thf
