Simon Dixon Davies

One of the most divisive unintended consequences of UK government policy protecting the country’s green and pleasant lands from development for the last 50 years is that there aren’t enough places being built for an increasing population to live in. For readers outside the UK sometimes confused as to why British property prices appear to have risen inexorably in the last few decades, the real reason is not the influence of international buyers or particularly well built homes. No, it’s simply...

Talk to anyone of a similar generation to the sadly departed UK’s Duke of Edinburgh (husband & consort of HRH Queen Elizabeth) and they bemoan the lack of quality in the political ruling class we seem to have these days. I’ve been fascinated by this generational comparison of politicians for quite a while & I conclude our elders have a point, a very strong point.
So what the heck has the Overton window got to do with all this? A quick recap – the overton window defines the concept of politici...

Our ‘silver fox’ readers will remember the battle in the 1970’s and 1980’s to be the dominant video format. Despite being a better product with better visual quality, Betamax lost the battle to VHS and the rest is history.
I believe this story is analogous to finding the likely winners and losers in the race to develop vehicles, technology and fuels that can reduce the reliance upon fossil fuel and the resulting CO2 emissions. My feeling is that the unintended consequence of the messianic cry...

Regular readers will be in no doubt that I vehemently disagree, with bile rising, with the concept of lock-downs & circuit breakers, indeed any reduction in civil or economic liberty, as a means to manage epidemics or pandemics. I defer to Swedish Head Epidemiologist, Anders Tegnell who said recently ‘most countries have sacrificed science for emotion and are using a hammer to kill a fly’ History will judge the decisions made in 2020 as a watershed for society as we know it – only the most fo...

I voted to remain so I lost the vote and argument. But losing doesn’t stop me from exploring the madness with you. Losing has been rather cathartic because it encourages, nee, forces analysis of what we could do to make the best of the UK’s new status.
So now the truth bit…
1. Despite the posturing from both sides at the time of writing, the UK and EU will agree on a trade deal before Christmas.
2. The deal they agree on will both be a generational social and economic disaster for the UK and ...

This time folks, I want to take a look at the COVID-19 pandemic purely through the lens of data. The news reports ebb and flow and government advice around the world appears to change by the day.
I wondered if trying to take all the emotion and hyperbole out of the situation would help develop a deeper understanding of what we’re actually facing & how that could inform us how to live our lives going forwards, and hopefully give some insight on achieving elimination of COVID-19.
No, I’m not su...

My mind meanders around this topic a lot. Essentially, consumerism appears to have evolved to wanting really cheap stuff whatever the consequences. Perhaps the recent example of Boohoo group’s near-collapse from being prodigal UK retailer solidified your point of view, it certainly has mine.
I must admit to some trepidation writing this blog, I don’t try to be contrary for the sake of it but I find myself at the polar opposite extremes of the median public view on this one. So, dear readers, ...

Civil unrest will escalate to levels not seen since for 50 years in many G20 countries. A sobering but non-controversial prognosis I know. But hidden away in all the causes and effects of state reactions to COVID is a root cause of this unrest – an unintended consequence – that democracy may struggle to recover from.
Many commentators would have us believe that the real cause of recent unrest and street violence was the uncomfortable uncovering of lightly buried racism following the death of ...

Perhaps you’ve also been astounded by the volume of ineptitude emanating from No 10 Downing Street, the home of the British Government, in recent months. Democracy suggests that we get the politicians we deserve and if that’s true then British society really must be in a bad place. I am in no doubt that the COVID curve balls aimed at all global leaders in recent months are as fast and challenging as it ever gets. Mistakes have and will continue to be made and hindsight will be the only reliab...

Far from being the anti-social beach bums sporting Aviators and MacBooks often portrayed in the media, Digital Nomads are increasingly populating the engine room of commerce. I think they may very well be the key that unlocks global recovery from economic COVIDitis. These boys and girls can indeed ply their trade sitting on a beach, or lounging on a sofa in Starbucks. They’re blogging, vlogging, investigating, running shopify e-commerce stores, building apps, live chatting for brands all over...

Around the developed world a debate is raging – when, how and why should schools re-start before the summer break. Many local authorities are defying central governments and now, the spectre of the past, unions are getting stuck in. Different professions are even stepping in to support educators claiming that it is premature to be opening schools and suggesting a further wait until after the summer break.
Governments needed to spread a message of fear to ensure people did lock-down and social...

Far from being a slightly derogatory description compared to the die-hard, all weather fan who travels the globe in support of their passion, we are all now going to be watching our sporting heroes via streaming and TV channels. It’s hard to see how filling a stadium, roadside or venue with fans will happen anytime soon (even if in truth it makes no real difference to the health condition of a world that already has the virus…) Instead we will be organising sports parties at our homes to reco...

Aviation faced a tough gig anyway after 346 lives were lost on Boeing 737 max jets between October 2018 and March 2019. But an unintended consequence of COVID lockdowns is the destruction, temporarily, of 1 of the fastest growth segments of the global economy; namely air travel for passengers and cargo. This is even more serious than it might appear because 30% of the world’s shipments by value travel on jets. Fewer jets, fewer slots, fewer airports = less trade and less cargo = another bulle...

Born in the USA in 1958, the Advanced Research Projects Agency exists to channel funding to big innovations. In the last 60 years, ground-breaking funding has kick-started the internet, personal computers, GPS, autonomous vehicles & space travel to name just 5 biggies. Of course, a lot of money, billions in fact was also spent on technologies and innovations that didn’t work. The magic here is that the unintended consequence of all that dead money was the saving of time for the private sector...

The hypocrisy of politicians shouldn’t really surprise me anymore, but I carry the vestiges of hope that we could return to an era where a public statement is rooted in at least some fact. The photo accompanying this blog is more apposite now, when the spotlight is firmly on health services across the world, than ever before. It was a disingenuous disgrace that the current UK PM led a charge in 2016 to suggest that a good reason for Brexit was to channel our EU membership fees into the UK hea...