I originally signed up as a free subscriber and have now upgraded to the monthly membership.
I thought this digest was fantastic and it convinced me to become a paid member - I had completely missed the Runciman piece and hadn't heard of Scott Alexander before. Really like the round-up format and the review of what you'd both been reading.
I look forward to going back and reading all the paywalled pieces I am now entitled to!
"Which incidentally raises one of the biggest long-term questions in British politics: when are we going to acknowledge the NHS doesn’t actually work very well?"
Personally, I have always thought that if the NHS were the envy of the world, the world would have copied it by now. But the book review you linked to says: "Emanuel thinks the UK is probably close to the cost-quality Pareto frontier and not making any stupid mistakes, but has made the political decision to not fund its health system very much."
That would suggest the NHS works very well, and the only way to get better results is to spend a lot more money. And that would not add more than a year or so to life expectancy.
Thanks Sam, I decided to subscribe today after reading this post and reflecting on one which your father wrote about Ukraine and the propsect of war a little while ago. In short, I subscribed because both of these posts told me something I didn't know about topics I was interested in in a style that I found accessible enough to read with my morning coffee. Best of luck!
Sam, I have followed you on twitter since the dawn of ResearchEd and to be honest every time I sit down to read stuff on my phone you are the go to starting point! ‘What does Sam think?’!
A wonderful mix of thoughtful reflection and a little bit of daftness too! I have no clue how to advise you on substack plans as I’m completely new to this, having recently also followed Ian Leslie on your recommendation.
I have enjoyed everything you have both written so far. You and Lawrence make a great partnership for this. I am looking forward to your thoughts on the NHS and more than happy for you to do the heavy lifting with research before you tell us your views.
I like this monthly set of links too. Gives me the chance to read further and feel that I am getting just a little bit wiser.
Good set of links! Incidentally, regarding the book about Kissinger, I read his own book, 'World Order', a couple of years ago which was fascinating, and not just because it was written by a nonagenarian who'd seen a lot.
On your paid/free posts question: ironically, I've thought your free posts have been the better ones this month (though that may be because the 'who to trust on COVID' largely duplicated advice you Tweeted back in April: I found it exceptionally valuable then, but it wasn't new to me now). In general a split balance seems good - as a subscriber I feel I'm getting some value, but there's enough that's free for people to share (e.g. I shared the social media one - I wouldn't generally share a locked post).
Hi Sam &Lawrence,
I originally signed up as a free subscriber and have now upgraded to the monthly membership.
I thought this digest was fantastic and it convinced me to become a paid member - I had completely missed the Runciman piece and hadn't heard of Scott Alexander before. Really like the round-up format and the review of what you'd both been reading.
I look forward to going back and reading all the paywalled pieces I am now entitled to!
With Best Wishes,
Alex
"Which incidentally raises one of the biggest long-term questions in British politics: when are we going to acknowledge the NHS doesn’t actually work very well?"
Personally, I have always thought that if the NHS were the envy of the world, the world would have copied it by now. But the book review you linked to says: "Emanuel thinks the UK is probably close to the cost-quality Pareto frontier and not making any stupid mistakes, but has made the political decision to not fund its health system very much."
That would suggest the NHS works very well, and the only way to get better results is to spend a lot more money. And that would not add more than a year or so to life expectancy.
The excellent YouTube channel Healthcare Triage had a series of videos describing many different countries' healthcare systems that may be of interest depending on how deep you want to go: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkfBg8ML-gIngk82SUbTp6Og_KkYfJ6oF
Thanks Sam, I decided to subscribe today after reading this post and reflecting on one which your father wrote about Ukraine and the propsect of war a little while ago. In short, I subscribed because both of these posts told me something I didn't know about topics I was interested in in a style that I found accessible enough to read with my morning coffee. Best of luck!
Sam, I have followed you on twitter since the dawn of ResearchEd and to be honest every time I sit down to read stuff on my phone you are the go to starting point! ‘What does Sam think?’!
A wonderful mix of thoughtful reflection and a little bit of daftness too! I have no clue how to advise you on substack plans as I’m completely new to this, having recently also followed Ian Leslie on your recommendation.
I have enjoyed everything you have both written so far. You and Lawrence make a great partnership for this. I am looking forward to your thoughts on the NHS and more than happy for you to do the heavy lifting with research before you tell us your views.
I like this monthly set of links too. Gives me the chance to read further and feel that I am getting just a little bit wiser.
Keep up the great work.
Good set of links! Incidentally, regarding the book about Kissinger, I read his own book, 'World Order', a couple of years ago which was fascinating, and not just because it was written by a nonagenarian who'd seen a lot.
On your paid/free posts question: ironically, I've thought your free posts have been the better ones this month (though that may be because the 'who to trust on COVID' largely duplicated advice you Tweeted back in April: I found it exceptionally valuable then, but it wasn't new to me now). In general a split balance seems good - as a subscriber I feel I'm getting some value, but there's enough that's free for people to share (e.g. I shared the social media one - I wouldn't generally share a locked post).