伦敦政治经济学院（LSE）

The perception of AI as “virtual” obscures its enormous industrial footprint and energy consumption. The next frontier of AI competitiveness will depend not only on scaling compute but on reducing energy per computation. In an extract from a new book Angel Melguizo and Victor Muñoz explains whyenergy efficiencies will decide the digital race and makes the case for believing in a greener future for AI.Artificial intelligence (AI) is not just a tec

Renewables do not cut carbon emissions equally across countries or technologies. Analysing six energy sources in 27 OECD countries, Gaetano Perone finds that geothermal/biomass and hydropower deliver the strongest long-run reductions, followed by solar, while wind and biofuels have smaller effects. The findings highlight why policymakers should prioritise renewable sources that match national resources and actual emissions performance.As governme

Blockchain-based currencies can now buy almost anything, from digital art to a house. But those currencies are themselves volatile, and that volatility passes through to whatever trades on top of them. Ziwen Chen draws on the digital art market to show how this settlement-asset risk spreads — and why it now matters far beyond crypto.The digital art market is a useful place to watch what happens when money itself is unstable. On curated platforms

Rolling out digital banking without addressing algorithmic bias risks excluding the very populations it promises to uplift. Meghna Chotaliya uncovers a financial system that is technologically advanced and socially regressive at the same time and explains why the stakes are particularly large for emerging economies that are stressing rapid digital transformation while still dealing with weak institutions, large informal sectors and poor connectiv

As climate, demographic and geopolitical disruptions intensify, financial systems are confronting pressures that traditional models increasingly struggle to capture. Ephraim Daka shows how Finland’s co‑operative banks offer a compelling lens for understanding how institutions adapt when shocks converge, revealing forms of resilience that are relational, community‑embedded and strategically long‑term.My interest in resilience began long before it

Understanding exactly what constitutes a “climate solution” is challenging because definitions differ across frameworks and jurisdictions. Algirdas Brochard, Shafaq Ashraf, Ella Davies, Ákos Hajagos-Tóth, Valentin Jahn and Seyed Alireza Modirzadeh explain why this has important implications for investors seeking to allocate climate capital to finance the low-carbon transition.Investors play a key role in financing activities that can reduce green

With Europe in the grip of an unusually intense heatwave, what can be learned from regions more used to extreme heat? Drawing on their research in South Asia Sohini Kar and Mahvish Shami argue that heat is not experienced equally, with informal workers and the poor in Pakistan and India both less likely to access heatwave services and more likely to have their livelihoods disrupted. This week most of Britain has been gripped by a heatwave wh

The run up to the Brexit vote in 2016 included dire predictions about what leaving the EU would do to the City of London and the capital’s status as a premier global financial hub. Elizabeth Howell argues that whilst London’s international influence has diminished with Brexit, it has generally remained resilient and worst-case scenarios have not (yet) materialised.The political pyrotechnics that surrounded the 2016 Brexit referendum and its after

While many famers initially supported Brexit, other parts of the food sector were distinctly sceptical or actively opposed. Ahead of the ten-year anniversary of the referendum Erik Millstone describes how Brexit harmed imports, exports, food prices and jobs. The “reset” deal with the EU may make things easier. But if British food standards are slipping, don’t blame Brexit.During debates about the anticipated impacts of Brexit on the United Kingdo

If green investment is defined too narrowly, businesses risk misreading where the transition is creating competitive advantage. Combining the use of LLM tools with the EU Taxonomy for Sustainable Activities, Juan Alvarez-Vilanova, Riccardo Crescenzi and Lee Mager show that green FDI is substantially larger and more diverse than conventional statistics show and explain how that changes how projects should be screened, designed and communicated.If

Financial markets already price climate transition risk into sovereign bond yields. Carmelo Arena, Stefania Basiglio, Andrea Comandé, Giray Gozgor and Jing Li show how investors reward credible governance and green infrastructure, not climate ambition alone, and argue that sovereign bond markets may yet become one of the most powerful accountability mechanisms shaping climate governance.The transition to a low-carbon economy is usually framed as

The intensifying strategic competition between America and China is reshaping global trade, industrial policy and supply chains in ways that businesses can no longer ignore. Hany Besada explains how multinational firms must rewrite their strategies and re-route their supply chains to reflect the risks to international business.Tariffs, export controls and investment restrictions are increasingly intersecting with competition over critic

Senior business leaders are often considered to be above emotions. But the ones they have, and how they express them, matter. Michael Matthews and Dawei (David) Wang assess the impact of emotions on bosses, their colleagues and the organisations they run, and recommend that leaders work on their “emotional scripts”.Leaders are often portrayed as rational actors who have ascended the organisational chart, placing themselve

Using an 18-month study of the roll out of a digital platform on a Chinese construction site, Jinbo Song and Lingchuan Song show why digital transformations fail on the frontline. Initial excitement from executives meant that workers tolerated the tool at first, but actually using it meant that enthusiasm withered into frustration and avoidance.As a groundswell of digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence (AI)

The Marshall BuildingThe John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has awarded the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) a $2 million grant to establish a Global Forum on AI and the Social Sciences. The annual Forum will convene dialogue and mobilise expertise, resources, and partnerships to ensure AI serves human and societal needs.Professors Cosmina Dorobantu and Helen Margetts OBE FBA from LSE

How is technology changing the world of work and what are the benefits of the ability to work from anywhere? Prithwiraj Choudhury has been looking to the future.For many people around the world, it was only when the pandemic hit that working from home became not just a possibility but a forced reality. Since then, the options available to both employees and employers have continued to evolve. With technological advances and the rapid growth of AI

The world cannot afford to look away from the climate crisis. But, as Nicholas Stern argues in his new book, effective implementation of sustainable policies could do more than avert environmental catastrophe. It may also unlock decades of innovation, growth and prosperity.

By focusing on the behaviours of the poor, governments not only overlook the role of extreme wealth in driving inequality, but often end up deepening the hardship they aim to solve, argues Sarah Kerr in her new book, Wealth, Poverty and Enduring Inequality.The problem of poverty is seemingly intractable. According to the latest numbers from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 14.5 million people in the UK were living in poverty in 2021/22 –

With the rise of economic nationalism, it seems the once-dominant market is in retreat across the world. In his new book, co-authored with Barry Buzan, Robert Falkner explores the rise and fall of the market in global international society over the past 200 years.Economic nationalism is on the rise. As powerful nations like the US move to prioritise and protect their own economic interests, the market, so supreme under neoliberalism, appears unde

Vice Chancellor Professor Larry Kramer and colleagues from LSE and Peking UniversityOn Friday 5 September, LSE President and Vice Chancellor Professor Larry Kramer delivered a lecture at Peking University on AI for Global Good: Future Technologies and Society. He explored the profound opportunities and challenges posed by rapid technological change, arguing that while inventing new tools is relatively simple, ensuring they serve society equi