NESTA February 2, 2009
Posted by townsend51 in creative economy, design, economy, gaming, innovation, nesta.add a comment
NESTA is a ‘non departmental public body’ which seeks to promote innovation in the UK. Whilst it is funded by the UK Government, it operates at arms length, and hence it can be quite critical of current policy, and it tends to paint a stark and informative picture of the UK economy. It publishes papers on a regular basis, covering a broad spectrum of industry sectors. I’ve blogged about their publications before, and here are another two that I find particularly fascinating:
UK Video Game Development
Changing Nature of Early VC Funding in the UK
Fact of the day: Brazil January 10, 2009
Posted by townsend51 in Brazil, biofuel, bric, economy, ethanol, minerals.add a comment
Brazil hasn’t attracted as much attention as the others BRIC countries, especially India and China, but it’s just as remarkable. It’s already the 10th largest economy in the world, and at projected growth rates, it will soon be a world super power. It has the third largest civil aviation company in the world, after Boeing and Airbus. Its land mass is even greater than that of the States which gives it an extensive economic base from which to work on, with its large and diversified mineral reserves. And biodiesel and similar plant derived fuels already make up 40% of transportation fuel usage!
The Credit Crunch September 13, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in credit crunch, economy, oil.add a comment
Without a shadow of a doubt the economy is in a fine mess. The cost of oil, food and borrowing have all increased substantially. It’s taken many people to the brink, but matters will not get worse.
There have been many encouraging signs in recent weeks on the front against this wide spread economic depression. Firstly, the head of OPEC reiterated his belief that the optimum price for a barrel of oil should be $100. If the price rises much beyond this then oil becomes less competitive in relation to other sources of energy, and people will start to look elsewhere. The renewed impetus for nuclear power development is a direct consequence of the inflated price of oil. Some pundits have predicted oil prices of $250 a barrel, but these people are headline grabbing fools. The US currently spends $2-3 trillion on oil imports each year. If oil was to reach $250 a barrel, then the US could make the decision to invest much of the $6 trillion on alternative energy sources, which would mean hundreds of nuclear reactors which would leave foreign oil economies bereft of any chance of economic survival, seeming as their economies are so drastically skewed to exploit oil; their only valuable resource.
Secondly, the increasing price of food has led most countries with a strong agricultural base to increase food production for the coming year. The result of this will be lower prices for consumers. It might also deter the ludicrous notion of using biofuels, which have undoubtedly contributed to high food prices.
And while credit will be difficult to obtain for some time, the huge deflationary pressures on house prices will mean that there won’t be such a voracious appetite for credit to afford overly expensive houses. This will help to loosen credit markets, and we will likely see a return to responsible lending, after the excesses of recent years.
A lot of western economies, most notably Spain and the UK, have been overly reliant on increasing house prices, and a booming construction sector, to fuel economic growth. The result of this is the rather ridiculous situation that the UK has found itself in, whereby 40% of national wealth is tied up in property. Not in ideas, or companies, but in bricks and mortar. And on the international stage, having your value base largely derived from property does nothing to improve a nation’s competitive edge. Furthermore, expensive commercial property deters direct foreign investment. It won’t be comfortable for those who rely on property for their income, but for the country as a whole, it would be much more progressive and ultimately beneficial, if people could no longer while away the hours milking out every penny from their property, but they relied on new ideas instead. Because the creation of ideas is self-fulfilling: they lead to new ideas. And in an information age, ideas are the source of wealth.
The credit crunch has undoubtedly caused a lot of distress for a lot of people, but it could be over much earlier than you anticipated, and it certainly isn’t likely to get worse. But things will never return to how they were before. The world is a changed place, whether we like it or not.
Post-Industrial Myth May 5, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in 20th Century, UK, canary wharf, city, dyson, economy, industrial revolution, industry, manufacturing, post industrial, products, regeneration.add a comment
Here is my most recent article. Its been formatted like a book, which explains the rather strange lay out – it makes more sense when the pages are displayed side by side.
Everyone has an opinion on the economy nowadays – and this is mine. It lacks the impartial tone and raft of references that you’d usually find in articles like this, but that’s something I make no apologies for. Hopefully it will be of interest to general readers, amongst which I count myself, and will help stimulate debate about the direction of the economy, and an appreciation of how it can affect our everyday lives.
UK video game industry May 3, 2008
Posted by townsend51 in Liverpool, UK, animation, creative economy, economy, gaming, programming, video game.add a comment
I’ve been looking into the game development scene in the UK, and found some welcome results. I’d always believed that game developers were largely based in London, with the exception of Rockstar and a few others. In reality, there is a much more even spread. Sure, the companies tend to nucleate around hubs, but as far as the distribution of these goes, its all very positive. For instance, I’ve always had aspirations of working in Liverpool when I graduate, because I’ve always liked the place, and its very close to home. I’m sure other people will have found themselves in a similar position, and even though I’ve lived in London for the last couple of years, I have little intention of staying here indefinitely.
This isn’t just confined to the games sector either; there are also opportunities for other digital creatives. These companies didn’t spring up overnight, so why do they keep such a low profile? I would have been interested to know about the employment prospects when I was a young whipper snapper, who through the tyrannies of the world, came to believe that computer games were bad.
During my brief foray into this area, I’ve encountered some useful on line resources (see the bottom of the post).
- Advice for budding animators (Independent Newspaper)
- Info for animators (Prospects)
- Bizarre Creations Fantastic Liverpool based developer (Project Gotham Racing, Geometry Wars)
- List of game developers (only large ones – doesn’t include subsidiaries):
- Skillset (perhaps the greatest asset for a budding game programmer or artist)
