Shows / Hrkn to .. Thought for the Week
Hrkn to .. Thought for the Week
Each week we reflect on key issues, drawn from a wide range of areas: economics, politics, the environment, matters of physical and/or spiritual life, and, often, the search for a more egalitarian form of capitalism — including opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to achieve their potential. We've published these commentaries as a written record since August 2017, and as an audio podcast since March 2022. Visit https://shareradio.co.uk for more
Episodes
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Tip of the Iceberg
'Stop the boats', calls the UK Prime Minister, but there's no linking of his short-term strategy to the big global issues which are driving migration…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Democracy’s struggle with the long-term
Democracy is a great blessing, but it has a major Achilles Heel — it is not good at coping with all the long-term issues which are growing in number and…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Reigning forwards — or reining back?
As we progress through the pomp and splendour of the Coronation over the next few days, many will be asking themselves ‘what is the relevance of the monarchy…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Investing in Energy
Dire warnings about the damage from climate change, plus the war in Ukraine, mean that we need to wean ourselves quickly off fossil fuels. However the…
- Hrkn to .. Thought for the Week
Thought for the Week: Understanding Stock Ownership
The first SHARE conference in Cambridge last Friday provided much food for thought, and comments particularly drew attention to the need for widespread…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Economic Dynamism across Generations
There's a real logic to maintaining economic dynamism throughout the broad span of adult life: our commentary today picks up on recent reports in The Times on…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Resurrection
The climax of the Easter story, for those of a Christian persuasion, is resurrection: something which should concern us all, because we're all going to die one…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Customer Stock Ownership to the Rescue?
At first sight the challenges facing TikTok and John Lewis appear very different. For the former, it's the risk of being denied access to much of the free…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Holding Government to Account
The big ticket item this week is the House of Commons Privileges Committee, which is holding a televised evidence hearing with Boris Johnson on Wednesday 22nd…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Underlying Principles for Taxation
For the past 250 years, starting with Adam Smith, there have been valiant attempts to set out principles for taxation: but they have been principally domestic…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Boris deserves credit for eventual Irish-EU pragmatism
“Give your grace abundantly to our European Union Leaders, that they may lead with wisdom and insight”, prayed Archbishop John Sentamu in early 2019. But it…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Male Headship and Putin
Putin's two-hour monologue in Moscow last week sought to justify his assault on Ukraine with a raft of dogma, including a presumption of divine male headship -…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Leadership in Devolved Nations
Just as Nicola Sturgeon steps out of Scottish politics and Rishi Sunak struggles with the Brexit Protocol for Northern Ireland, my attention was drawn to some…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Coping with Change and Disaster
The earthquake disaster in Turkey shows yet again how little we learn from the past, and the limited attention we give to planning for the future…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Solving the AI Challenge to Wealth, Control and Intelligence
The huge take-up of ChatGPT over recent weeks has brought the challenge of Artificial Intelligence into sharp relief. As the Chief Executive of its creator…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Generation X in the Spotlight
If you’re currently aged between 43 and 59, start watching the news carefully: the chances are that the Government has you firmly in its sights. Of course…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Resolution in need of foundations
The Resolution Foundation's paper 'ISA ISA Baby' released last week drew a scathing response from This Is Money, and understandably so. Their analysis of the…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Inter-Generational Rebalancing In Action
Everyone knows the key ingredients which provide the best opportunity for a young person to achieve their potential in adult life. Love and encouragement are…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Professional but Uninspiring
New Year resolutions are in the air, and both Sunak and Starmer set out theirs in speeches on 4th and 5th January respectively. Much of the media reporting was…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Unwrapping God’s technology
Our understanding of science moves forward relentlessly: it feels that we are not far from unwrapping the mysteries of the spiritual dimension. For example…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Action for Oldies
Liz Truss and Kwazi Kwarteng could have done with the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee report 'Where have all the workers gone?' to supplement our…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Moving on from 2022
Let's hope that, as we approach 2023, we can start looking ahead in contrast to the wave of pessimism with which we greeted 2022, and which has proved to be so…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Transforming our nation of shopkeepers into global financiers
Last week's rather under-stated 'Edinburgh Reforms' will pave the way for a major step forward in the UK's contribution to global financial services. In what…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Sharing Love
Last week's Census announcement, that the population of those in England and Wales who identify as Christian has fallen below 50% for the first time in 1,500…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: The Pointlessness of War
Even if Putin were to succeed in his barbarous land-grabbing attempt, what would he inherit? A land where almost all facilities of civilisation are being…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Conservative Socialism
Far from digging the UK out of the mess that seventy years of socialist welfare have got it into, our new Conservative government seems intent on burying us…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Empowering the United Nations
The greatest challenges facing humanity - climate change, economic injustice and peaceful coexistence - are global and long-term in character. The United…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Barriers to Social Mobility
The UK Office for National Statistics reports that one person in every six was born overseas. It's evident that geographical mobility is already with us: the…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Investing Basics
Following the past few turbulent weeks on stock markets, the launch of a new training course called ‘Investing Basics’ by the UK society for individual…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Educational Choice
As Rishi Sunak steps into the lead role in British politics, we look at the educational choices which have paved the way for him, and discuss how the search…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Health and the Economy
Our new Chancellor of the Exchequer, formerly the longest-ever serving British Health Secretary, is uniquely well-placed to understand the burden that…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Excess Debt is not the answer
The past seventy years have seen remarkable progress in so many areas, but they have also been accompanied by a growing addiction to debt. We've lost…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Science to the Rescue
Lord Rees, Astronomer Royal and former Master of Trinity College Cambridge, has just published a new book called ‘If Science is to Save Us’, which he discussed…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Workforce Capacity is the Missing Link
There's a key missing link in Kwasi Kwarteng's mini-Budget strategy — workforce capacity. The unemployment rate is already at a record low of 3.6%, with many…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Energy Supply - the Silver Lining
The ground-breaking announcement last week from the Oxford Institute for New Economic Thinking, almost totally eclipsed when it was published, is that…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Tributes to the Queen
“I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year, ‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.’ And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness …
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Transforming Leadership
As Liz Truss takes the hot seat in British politics, we explain why political leaders must embrace disintermediation and servant leadership as the way forward…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Future generations left stranded by Baby Boomers
Hardly a day goes by without yet more evidence of our approach to empowering the next generation being wholly dysfunctional; the gap between Baby Boomer and…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Quality of life for all is the challenge
The contrast between stock market reaction so far this year and that which followed the oil price shock in the 1970s suggests that there is little comparison…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Generational Disconnect
Janice Turner's strikingly clear article in Saturday's Times (13/8/22) sets out why young people from low income households have such a struggle finding…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: ++ Justin's Lions
Opening the Lambeth Conference last week, Archbishop Justin drew his colleagues' attention to the ‘lions’ threatening humanity with attack, hostility, danger…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Engage or Detach?
The dilemma between whether to engage or detach has challenged humanity for millennia. In all walks of life, from international tensions to faith, and from…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Sacrificing the economy to NHS universality
Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are both understandably focused on the economy, challenged by massive public debt and soaring inflation, but who will tackle the…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the WeeK: Personal Share Ownership Matters
Publication of the Austin Report by HM Treasury should herald a new era for a vibrant UK stock market and much greater profile for personal investors. However…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: There has to be a role for the unconventional
People come in all shapes and sizes, and there are many people who have that strange combination of seemingly boundless energy and inherent unpredictability…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Wanted - Systemic Commitment for Inter-generational Rebalancing
Are rich people who come from poverty more likely to be sympathetic to others in poverty because they understand their lives? Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Guiding Principles for our first 250
Welcome to our 250th commentary, all produced over these last five years since Share Radio moved to 100% online broadcasting. It's been a period of massive…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Our human legacy — personal and species
In much of modern life we value the present much higher than either the past or the future; the latter because, if we'd like our descendants to remember where…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Sense of Ownership
Boris Johnson clearly hopes that an increased focus on home ownership will restore his fortunes as we approach the next election in the United Kingdom: we've…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: The Global Elizabethan Legacy
The Commonwealth's extraordinary ability to reconcile and accept diversity of politics and faith in this huge and growing family of nations started with…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Raleigh off the Road
It's sad to see the demise of Raleigh International, which has arranged for 55,000 young people to join expeditions to developing countries over the past 44…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Looking Forwards
'Consult not your fears, but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Government must learn how to be a catalyst
The Bank of England expects the price inflation peak to be high, but short-lived: however if it feeds into wage inflation it could seriously undermine both…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: The need to re-discover Conservative values
Will Johnny go marching home, after this awful set of mid-term elections for the Conservatives? He has the intelligence needed to steer this country forward…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Young People Search for Meaning
The Theos Think Tank has demonstrated that the ‘angry hostility towards religion engineered by the new atheist movement is over' in their report ‘Science and…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Inflation Drivers
The range of major drivers which will steer inflation over the years ahead is wide and diverse, but their duration must be considered as well as their positive…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Realising Individual Potential
Helping young people to achieve their potential as an individual is a key objective for those who believe in a more egalitarian form of capitalism. So in this…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Misrepresenting Christianity
How can Patriarch Kirill, head of the Russian Orthodox Church justify his support for Putin's murderous assault as in keeping with Christian teaching? Former…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Abundance and Scarcity
The contrast in wealth distribution between key regions and countries around the world is as stark as ever. In this commentary, using analysis in the Credit…
Hrkn to .. Thought for the WeekThought for the Week: Needed - A Strategy for Sharing
There's no question over Rishi Sunak's commitment to a strategy to encourage people to work; however, faced with a major cost of living crisis for those on the…
