Andy Dearden on nostr

Recent Notes

Adding John Healey (2026) - Social & Political Science, Cambridge

@nprofile1q...
George Osborne (2010 - 2016) Modern History, Oxford
Philip Hammond (2016 - 2019) PPE, Oxford
Sajid Javid (2019 - 2020) Economics and Politics, Exeter
Rishi Sunak, (2020 - 2022) PPE,Oxford
Nadhim Zahawi (2022 - 2024) Chemical Engineering, UCL

@[email protected] has moved · 18w

Markets are premised on the idea of perfect information (in economic theories).... but are actually patterned by information asymmetries. Sometimes these help customers who know more about their need...

Andy Dearden @Andy Dearden 1779781150

@nprofile1q... 'surveillance pricing' seems too technical a term to really drive resistance. What about some alternatives? AI Gouging?

HarriettMB · 19w

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqg0tuf634rz4suczwj7kgnecr6cyt0eu9xmp3sp0fku68mqehq4mstcx9tq #GreenParty candidate - Nurse Chris Kennedy https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy2r2...

Andy Dearden @Andy Dearden 1779368935

@nprofile1q... @nprofile1q... It's worth noting that probably the largest single class of resources that the Greens put into Gorton and Denton was individual members buying rail tickets, bus tickets, tram tickets or sharing cars to get to Manchester. Given the debate about the desirability of contesting Makerfield, there might be fewer volunteers choosing to pitch in. The Green Party doesn't _control_ the primary resources needed in these by-elections.

@[email protected] has moved · 20w

As predicted, Keir Starmer's position has weakened sufficiently & the resulting intra-party political calculations have shifted so that Labour's NEC having only three months ago blocked Andy Burnham f...

Andy Dearden @Andy Dearden 1778917182

@nprofile1q... Fair competition is not theft?

@[email protected] has moved · 20w

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqey8hzhfj3dnzh09zdzzgjqcswrjh3qv7cq22cp0k8grdj0l87g6sz0d8x0 We essentially have two choices: cut our cloth accordingly - accept our global posi...

Andy Dearden @Andy Dearden 1778917124

@nprofile1q... @nprofile1q... Ha Joon Chang has some advice in his 23 Things book. There is a chapter on governments can pick winners.

Karsten Schmidt · 20w

Andy Dearden @Andy Dearden 1778678739

@nprofile1q... sadly, crises seem to be the only things that generate the conditions for any kind of positive re-alignments. 😥

Karsten Schmidt · 20w

Andy Dearden @Andy Dearden 1778675254

@nprofile1q... first, we need the political will to challenge the growth myth - all those 'growth engines' are handcarts taking our world to a rather unpleasant destination.

Karsten Schmidt · 20w

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqgsn48jghnv7wcp2tgpfmpnl2al2wl5022uftnejvry2ruqksyansdwkfcf Fully agree! Can only see this challenge happening via some form of self-inflicted "correction" trigger, e.g. circular financing schemes running out of steam, increased risk or unwilling...

Karsten Schmidt · 20w

Andy Dearden @Andy Dearden 1778673165

@nprofile1q... another argument for clear labelling of any AI/LLM content as a basic regulatory requirement?

Karsten Schmidt · 20w

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqgsn48jghnv7wcp2tgpfmpnl2al2wl5022uftnejvry2ruqksyansdwkfcf That's be great, but as long as AI is the only perceived growth engine left running, I'm not sure there's political will for this (anywhere) to throw any spanners into its more widesprea...

Karsten Schmidt · 20w

Simulated opinion polls to drive public policy — what could possibly go wrong! In the name of saving costs and producing more polls (i.e. the double benefit of increased efficiency AND productivit...

Andy Dearden @Andy Dearden 1778660435

@nprofile1q... TBF reading the stuff from Gallup, it doesn't suggest using simulations to drive policy. It is worth remembering that these agencies do political polling mainly to advertise ytheir capabilities. They make their money out of polling for corporate planning / marketing. I think LLMs are the work of Satan(TM)/s, but I am not too worried by this particular idea.

Karsten Schmidt · 20w

nostr:nprofile1qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyd968gmewwp6kyqpqgsn48jghnv7wcp2tgpfmpnl2al2wl5022uftnejvry2ruqksyansdwkfcf Ok, I grant that direct political polls using this method are probably some ways out, but indirectly using simulated polls to easier support a company's position/strategy to then use as ...

@[email protected] has moved · 21w

Now the majority of results are in the shape of the Green Party of England & Wales' 'surge' is clearer - their best result (ever?) in local elections, leaving them in control of four councils (and a m...

Andy Dearden @Andy Dearden 1778316499

@nprofile1q... For overall number of councillors, this site provides interesting historical data:
https://opencouncildata.co.uk/history.php

In terms of the impact of 374 gains for GPEW, here's the GPEW press release from 2025 local elections https://greenparty.org.uk/2025/05/03/record-high-for-green-party-after-county-council-elections/

@[email protected] has moved · 25w

Carers (like me) many of whom receive carers' allowance (but also many do not due to the tight eligibility criteria, most around the commitment of hours to caring) contribute around £184bn to the UK ...

Andy Dearden @Andy Dearden 1775904941

@nprofile1q... it is worth mentioning that you (like me) represent a minority of carers who happen to be male. See history of feminist arguments around wages for housework. (& childcare)?

@[email protected] has moved · 27w

A key defence of higher education is its contribution to social mobility, so we should be attentive to *which* universities actually achieve the greater impact on transforming the lives of their stude...

Andy Dearden @Andy Dearden 1774538834

@nprofile1q... it would be interesting correlate this with public transport distances from areas of deprivation. Is it the boost provided from the middle to the top, or the leg up from exclusion to inclusion?