David Davis-Mp

Monday

David Davis-Mp

David Davis’ resignation letter

From our UK edition

There have been a significant number of occasions in the last year or so on which I have disagreed with the Number 10 policy line - ranging from accepting the Commission’s sequencing of negotiations through to the language on Northern Ireland in the December Joint Report. At each stage, I have accepted collective responsibility because it is part of my task to find workable compromises, and because I considered it was still possible to deliver on the mandate of the referendum, and on our manifesto commitment to leave the Customs Union and the Single Market. I am afraid that I think the current trend of policy and tactics is making that look less and less likely.

Friday

David Davis-Mp

The paradox of incentives

From our UK edition

Banker bashing has become something of a national pastime, and politicians have been quick to join in. But rather than devoting their energy to avenging past sins, our political leaders might be better off learning the lessons of Dan Ariely’s book, The Upside of Irrationality. In this valuable work, Ariely shows that the incentive of big bonuses can actually damage performance, not improve it. He cites a century-old experiment in which rats were placed in a cage with two pathways. One led to a reward, the other to a device which gave the rats an electric shock. The aim of the experiment was to see how quickly the rats learned which path to take. As an added twist, the scientists varied the size of the electric shock.