New YIMBY Pod! 🥴 @mjrobbins.com asks: Does AI make you stupid? 📗 Does the new Green Book make trains value for money now? 🤖 And we speak to @iosad.fyi and @eleniarzoglou.bsky.social on how to rebuild government for the AI era. Listen/subscribe! www.abundancepod.com/p/does-ai-ma...

Does AI make you stupid?

Plus why northern trains might be considered value for money now

abundancepod.com

As far as I can tell, the only announcement on student visas from the HO so far has been on tightening controls on overstayers. Which could be sensible! (eg we don’t even know how many there are) – if done well; or could just end up an extra admin burden on HEIs not equipped to deal with it.

And to accompany the publication of our NDL paper, something of a bucket list item for me with a guest post for @jamesomalley.co.uk. You also have the opportunity to ask burning questions/hurl questionable fruit at me tonight at our long-planned in-conversation about AI in govt – info in the post.

James O'Malley@jamesomalley.co.uk · last yr.

Here's a pitch for what the National Data Library should actually be - a guest post by @iosad.fyi ! (FREE TO READ!) takes.jamesomalley.co.uk/p/tbi-ndl

Joining forces today with @anastasiabekt.bsky.social at The Entrepreneurs Network and TBI colleagues to map out the road to the National Data Library. Instead of pointing to a gap in policy and saying “do this”, we share our take on how to help an exciting govt initiative succeed: bit.ly/3XgHjLQ 1/

Governing in the Age of AI: Building Britain’s National Data Library

Governing in the Age of AI: Building Britain’s National Data Library

bit.ly

Gave it a shot. Think we might need to have that conversation with @jamesomalley.co.uk after all. And you’re all invited to join in!

James O'Malley@jamesomalley.co.uk · 2y ago

New event announcement! On Feb 25th I’ll be talking to @iosad.fyi about how AI can (maybe) fix public services. More details/book now: lu.ma/hvi3h2ma

An excellent piece if you’ve not read it yet. It’s a British dysfunction, but I’m sure arguments from optics alone are increasingly common elsewhere, too; & it’s not a left-right issue either. It’s also bad politics; voters care about substance more than looks, except when there’s no substance.

Duncan Robinson@duncanrobinson.bsky.social · 2y ago

Wrote about “not a good look”, the worst phrase in British politics www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Wrote about “not a good look”, the worst phrase in British politics www.economist.com/britain/2025...

The four worst words in British politics

Saying “not a good look” is not a good look

economist.com

One time in Moscow, heading home at 9am on Jan 1 after celebrating NY at a friend’s, I spent 20 minutes inside a locked trolleybus – the badly hungover driver nipped out to the corner shop for a hair of the dog & didn’t realise I was still on board. (But no transport on Christmas Day is still odd).

Central NJ Yimby 🏗️🚲🚇🇺🇸@princetonyimby.bsky.social · 2y ago

I sent a message to my family in London asking if people were not mad that there was no Tube or bus service on Christmas Day? Got a one-word answer back: “Nah”.

Not going to call out names of people on this app, but I see what @deanwb.bsky.social is seeing a lot in policy circles.

Eminently sensible @financialtimes.com leader today: “A British e-ID could supercharge public service reform.” Yes, it could! Is this, too, banging on about ID cards?..

Eg on both mainline trains and on London Underground there are more and more signs that say you must have a charged phone for your ticket to be valid. Something has gone a bit wrong here in the digital delivery of tickets and payments: a digital transaction should have a mark on a ledger somewhere

Syrian events just amaze. FT journalists in Damascus say it took just 15 mins to be accredited by the new govt. one of the HTS leaders in Damascus from Idlib points out they introduced an ID card system there that takes just 5 mins for a digital Id. Coming soon to Damascus. on.ft.com/3OPwSKI

The department of flags: Syrian rebels lay bare Assad’s corrupt state

Transitional authorities grapple with bureaucracy filled with phantom jobs, pervasive graft and culture of obedience

on.ft.com

Read the McFadden speech: www.gov.uk/government/s... Underrated by (excellent) commentary so far: Cab Office is *exactly* the right place for this agenda, because fundamentally it’s about how government works, not just what it does. And it needs to work differently because the world is different 1/

Reform of the state has to deliver for people

Speech on reforming the public sector delivered by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Pat McFadden at University College London, Stratford.

gov.uk

Every tool of this kind is a failure of good government.

Frances Ryan@francesryan.bsky.social · 2y ago

If you’re applying for PIP, the charity Turn2Us has launched The PIP Tool: a free guide to navigate the benefits process. Their goal “is to make sure you know your rights and can afford what you need to enjoy life fully.” Share widely! pip.turn2us.org.uk

This is directionally absolutely right, and really quite exciting: bbc.co.uk/news/articles/… To get out of the current doom loop, we need a different operating model of government. Luckily, the tools to make it work are here. How government organises itself to use them matters!

An absolute masterclass in how to write (and think) about Musk’s DoGE from @pahlkadot.bsky.social: open.substack.com/pub/eatingpo...

The DOGE strategy is a cop-out

Elon and Vivek's workforce plans would backfire terribly. There's a welcome alternative.

open.substack.com

Two reports out on AI & public services today (this + @smfthinktank.bsky.social, read both) More thoughts to come, but what I genuinely love is the expanded scope for different models of public service reform that AI makes feasible. No magic dust – just a very different set of constraints.

Sophia Knight@sophiaaknight.bsky.social · 2y ago

"AI will not save our public services, but it can be used to support the kind of radical change our public services desperately need." It's finally up! Please go read it 😊

It’s not that Malthus was wrong, it’s just that his analysis couldn’t foresee the long-run impact of the Industrial Revolution on food production – which outpaced population growth as a result. It’s not that Baumol was wrong about the cost of services, it’s just that his analysis…

Max Roser@maxroser.bsky.social · 2y ago

The world population grew fast over the last 60 years, but farmers grew fruits and vegetables even faster This is my @ourworldindata.org Data Insight today: ourworldindata.org/data-insight...

Absolutely *brutal* shade thrown by the legend to this chart in Ben Evans’ 2025 presentation.

This is a very striking juxtaposition in Eric Berger’s latest newsletter. America is building something and Europe is… doing a study.

One chart (from @policyinpractice.bsky.social) to summarise a big problem with our current public service delivery model.

As a bafflingly devoted if not always attentive New Zealand cricket fan, sad to find out Tim Southee is about to retire after a career spanning 17 years. Somewhat more complex feelings about the fact I actually remember his debut Test all those years ago…

The qt thread from @jwestjourno.bsky.social covers an important problem with Ofsted; my other response to @stephenkb.bsky.social (who also mentions TBI proposals in the column) is that in the abstract, parents think Ofsted reports are useful – but they don’t actually use them all that much!

Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 2y ago

A lot of really useful responses to today’s newsletter on here and by email. Very kind and helpful corrective thread by John here.