Thank Fathom it's Friday Archives

What’s happening in Japan? Kaizen it ain’t.

Erik Britton12 June 2026|Tags: Inflation, Japan|

The Japanese term ‘Kaizen’ has been co-opted by Western management consultants and lifestyle gurus, and is taken to mean a culture of continual improvement: tiny, incremental changes, day after day that, after a long period, mean success. I vividly remember being shown around a Japanese-owned factory in the UK, where the management had recently presented one of their employees with a reward for having found a way to shave 1.7 seconds off the time it took him to complete one

The role of AI in techno-economic competition

Andrew Harris5 June 2026|Tags: AI, Innovation, China|

Today’s blog is something a little different – I’m sharing the video version of our latest special edition podcast episode on AI and US-China techno-economic competition. Last month I caught up with David Lin from the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP) at the 2026 SCSP AI+ Expo in Washington DC. We’ve known each other for about four years now, since Fathom wrote a report for the SCSP about the future of AI and techno-economic competition between the US and China

Is this thing broken? The Loonie is not moving

Erik Britton29 May 2026|Tags: Oil prices, Canada|

Until President Trump took office for the second time, one of the most-reliable relationships in foreign-exchange markets was between the value of the Canadian dollar and the price of oil. When oil prices rose, so did the Loonie, making Canadians richer as a result. Since oil is priced in US dollars, a stronger Loonie meant Canadians did not get so much Canadian currency in exchange for their oil as they otherwise would have; but they got more of everything else.

Innovation with Chinese characteristics

Erik Britton22 May 2026|Tags: Innovation, China|

In Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, frustrated with the inability of the airmen under his charge to execute a perfect 90-degree turn on parade, Lieutenant Scheisskopf gives serious consideration to having nickel-alloy swivels surgically inserted into their thighs. Likewise, all governments probably sometimes wish the individuals and private firms in their jurisdiction would line up perfectly in the service of the needs of the state, forgetting that, in open societies, the state exists primarily to serve them, not the other way around.

Get over it already: Brexit, a ten-year audit

Erik Britton15 May 2026|Tags: Politics, BREXIT, UK politics|

A late family friend named Martin, whom I once asked what he thought of a mutual acquaintance said: “I don’t know; I haven’t formed an opinion yet.” How long had he known this person? Twenty years. Well, almost ten years after the UK voted to leave the EU, I find I still haven’t really formed a strong opinion about the impact that Brexit has had. It’s not that I haven’t thought about it. It’s that a couple of other things

Is UK politics broken?

Jenny Booth8 May 2026|Tags: first-past-the-post, UK politics, Politics, Elections|

I was stuffing an election leaflet through a letterbox in my council ward this week when a burly man stopped to chat. He told me he was a Reform voter, and pointed out his house down the street, decorated with Union Jack bunting. He complained that Reform was painted as a racist party, and said that as his adopted brother was Black he could not be a racist. We agreed it was important to listen to other people’s viewpoints. As

Just not feeling it? The vibecession explained: it’s the jobs, stupid

Erik Britton1 May 2026|Tags: Covid, Labour market, Vibecession, Economic sentiment|

Do you know anyone who has suffered, or is suffering, from long COVID? I do, and it can be a very serious matter. In a broader, economic sense, though, we all are. Since COVID, economic sentiment across most of the developed world has been consistently in mild recessionary territory: the first time we have seen that pattern since we started collecting the data in the early noughties. This protracted ‘vibecession’ is not about growth, which is fairly strong in the

A passion for supply chains

Erik Britton24 April 2026|Tags: Supply chains, cobalt|

Many years ago, when I still worked at the Bank of England, I was chatting to a former Bank employee at an evening function in the Court Room (a grand, chandeliered, Turkish-carpeted ballroom). She had recently left the Bank to join a major global management consultancy, so I asked her what her role was. She said she was analysing supply chains. “Gosh, that sounds interesting,” I said, in what was intended to be a dry, ironic tone. She said that

Champagne-o-nomics

Brian Davidson17 April 2026|

These days, apparently, if you care about the environment and like Champagne you are a ‘Champagne Socialist’. At least that’s the theory of some people who did not join me for three days of sipping delicious cuvées and vintages in the elegant surroundings of Épernay. If that is the charge, I must plead guilty. Here is my defence. It’s hard to think of a word that comes with more baggage than Champagne. To some, it symbolises class, quality, aspiration and

One person’s trash is another’s treasure

George Archer10 April 2026|

‘One person’s trash is another person’s treasure: the proverb could not be more true than in today’s context, when global consumption, and consequently waste, are reaching new highs. For example, reflect on all the old electronic products you have disposed of: mobile phones, PCs, speakers, hard drives, washing machines and more. Then map that to a global or even national total… it must be pretty substantial. But amid this heap of e-waste lies a goldmine. Electronic products generally rely on