Matt Ridley



Profile:
Full name:

Area of interest: Environment: evolution, genetics, environment and society

Journals/Organisation: The Times

Email:

Personal website: http://www.rationaloptimist.com

Website:

Blog: http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog

Representation: http://www.rationaloptimist.com/contact

Networks: https://twitter.com/mattwridley



Biography:
About:

Education:

Career: http://www.rationaloptimist.com/biography

Current position/role:


 * also writes/written for:

Other roles/Main role:

Other activities:

Disclosures:

Viewpoints/Insight:

Broadcast media:

Video:

Controversy/Criticism:

Awards/Honours:

Scoops:

Other:



Books & Debate:


Latest work:

Speaking/Appearances: http://www.rationaloptimist.com/speaking

Current debate: 

The Times:
Column name:

Remit/Info:

Section:

Role:

Pen-name:

Email:

Website:

Commissioning editor:

Day published:

Regularity:

Column format:

Average length:



Articles: 2016

 * The next Apple should be grown in Europe - The continent has potential to be a tech powerhouse. Instead we’re stymied by EU regulation that deters entrepreneurs - 5th June
 * Wipe out zika with army of GM mosquitoes - Beyond insecticides, the best chance we have of halting this devastating disease is to embrace scientific innovation - 30th May
 * Brexit optimism is an example for Remainers - The relentless negativity and propaganda of the pro-EU camp contrasts with a bright future painted by its opponents - 23rd May
 * Gene editing isn’t a slippery slope to eugenics - Parents don’t want to create perfect babies and we couldn’t anyway. Ignore the hysteria: DNA science is a great force for good - 16th May
 * It’s madness to cut off this rural lifeline - With fast broadband the countryside could play a huge part in the economy. The government must rethink its plans - 9th May
 * Britain’s role has been to break up Europe - The English Channel has kept us apart from continental wrangling. Now we have a chance to engage more globally - 2nd May
 * Climate change lobby wants to kill free speech - A letter by peers about this newspaper’s coverage of global warming is part of a systematic campaign to shut down debate - 25th April
 * Stop misusing science to scare the world - De Niro’s intervention in the MMR vaccine row highlights how the cherry-picking of data is warping our understanding - 18th April
 * Muddled messages over obesity help nobody - The less fat, more carbohydrate diet was discredited years ago. It makes no sense and should not be public health policy - 11th April
 * Race to go green is killing heavy industries - Britain’s energy levies may be good for men in suits at conferences but they’re bad for the men in boiler suits - 4th April
 * Four-legged reasons why we don’t have enough homes - Green bureaucrats cannot continue to use great crested newts or bats as a way of stopping useful development - 28th March
 * Britain leads the world in saving our blue planet - A quiet revolution is going on to protect hundreds of unique species in the waters surrounding UK overseas territories - 21st March
 * Trade treaties are old hat. Let’s move on - Enough red tape: most British imports and exports continue quite happily and legally without complex agreements - 14th March
 * Let’s kill off this nuclear white elephant - EDF can’t afford to build Hinkley Point and Britain can’t afford to pay for it. There are better options elsewhere - 7th March
 * The tide needs to turn again over child abuse - First we’re inclined to blame one section of society, then another. These shameful episodes have given us clear lessons - 29th February
 * Leaving Europe would be a leap into the light - The Leave campaign are the true radicals — they understand that the EU holds us back from being effective innovators - 23rd February
 * Threat to vaping is a backward step for UK - New EU rules will hit smokers trying to quit. This flies in the face of all we have learnt about managing addiction - 16th February
 * Cheap oil is here to stay thanks to fracking - The technological innovation of the shale industry has benefits for conventional oil too, and will save us all money - 8th February
 * How the EU outers can defeat Project Fear - Vote Leave must persuade the wavering third of Britons that we’d be better off economically if we strike out alone - 1st February
 * Kill the invaders and you protect the wildlife - By ruthlessly exterminating rats and reindeer, South Georgia has provided a remarkable lesson in conservation - 24th January
 * Hollywood’s new role in the battle of good versus evil - Apocalyptic films appease westerners’ appetite for violence - 9th January
 * Don’t blame climate change for these floods - From allowing water onto farms to improved land management, there are many ways we can mitigate future problems - 4th January



Articles: 2015

 * We have no choice but to cut badger numbers - The scientific evidence is conclusive. If you conduct selective badger culls, hedgehog populations will bounce back - 21st December
 * No wonder we have this climate change fudge - From the Paris summit to EU reform, grand ambitions crumble when there are too many nations at the negotiating table - 14th December
 * Zuckerberg will rise above his sneering critics - Facebook chief has already changed the world for the better and will fight poverty far more effectively than governments - 7th December
 * The doom-mongers should look at the science - Those at the Paris climate-change summit fear nasty weather later this century, but the evidence is against them - 30th November
 * Why Muslims are turning away from Islam - As scepticism and materialism replace blind faith, more people than ever worldwide are opting for atheism - 23rd November
 * Prosperity, not force, is the best birth control - China’s now-abandoned one-child policy was praised by western environmentalists but it was cruel and ineffective - 2nd November
 * This absurd Lords deadlock must be broken - The tax credit vote today underlines why we cannot go on with the upper house overturning the will of the Commons - 27th October
 * Now here’s the good news on global warming - Activists may want to shut down debate, but evidence is growing that high CO2 levels boost crops and nourish the oceans - 19th October
 * Let’s face it, Cameron’s heading for EU failure - That means the referendum will effectively be about the status quo, which is a big advantage to the Out campaign - 12th October
 * Could this be the cure for the ills of old age? - Advances in science that promise to keep the elderly healthy and productive could soon revolutionise all our lives - 5th October
 * No smoke without fire in this EU nightmare - The latest emissions scandal is the draconian and health-threatening regulation being imposed on e-cigarettes - 29th September
 * Feed the world? Bumper harvest shows we can - The eco-gloomsters who warned of a Malthusian disaster were wrong. A global food glut is more likely than famine - 21st September
 * Smile! Genetic engineering is here to help - Ignore the pessimists who claim we are on a slippery slope to designer babies. They said just the same about IVF - 7th September
 * Africa’s population boom is not the problem - To curb migration we need to extinguish wars, expel dictators and calm religious extremism: easier said than done - 24th August
 * ET hasn’t phoned but don’t take it personally - Given the obstacles to life it’s astonishing we’re here at all. Earth seems to be a space oddity – but danger could lie ahead - 3rd August
 * Let’s cut these regressive wind and solar taxes - If the world can’t agree on reducing emissions, Britiain should seize the moment and make energy bills cheaper - 27th July
 * Stand tall (and small) outside the EU: it works - After its economic disasters, Iceland is now thriving – and Greece can do the same by learning many of its lessons - 20th July
 * If you want to tax the rich: Keep it simple - George Osborne – like Gordon Brown – has increased the complexity of the tax system and that helps the wealthy - 6th July
 * Britain has the chance to be the world’s doctor - Health will be the booming industry of the 21st century and we need to cash in on our expertise in so many areas - 29th June
 * Meet the aliens deadlier than climate change - Species are being driven to extinction by foreign invaders unwittingly introduced by humans and not by economic development - 22nd June
 * We’re remembering 1815 for the wrong reason - The year of Waterloo was an annus mirabilis of the industrial revolution, putting Britain on course to change the world - 15th June
 * At last, a brilliant plan for us all to go green - The best way to look after the Earth is to promote economic growth and interfere as little as possible with nature - 8th June
 * Fifa isn’t the only fiefdom to cast its shadow - The World Cup fiasco is the latest in a string of global scandals triggered by leaders who believe they are above the law - 2nd June
 * This demonising of fossil fuels is madness - Our lives are vastly improved by oil and coal but this is wilfully ignored by those pressing for institutions to disinvest - 18th May
 * Cameron faces guerrilla warfare in the Lords - With the Tories massively outnumbered in the upper chamber, the PM may struggle to win any controversial votes - 11th May
 * At every election I’d vote for the reformers - The best governments throughout history have challenged and defeated the self-serving bureaucracies of their time - 5th May
 * Africa needs to be rich—rather than green - Cheap, coal-fired energy will help the developing world to become healthier, happier and afford to fight climate change - 27th April
 * Britain now needs to grow its own Googles - Only high-tech innovation will give us the cash to fund our future, so why won’t Cameron or Miliband talk about it? - 20th April
 * Welfare reforms are working for everyone - Job creation has surged in the past five years on the back of Iain Duncan Smith’s tough-love approach to benefits - 13th April
 * Help me escape my parliamentary nightmare - It’s hell . . . a Labour minority government rules, the SNP gnaws away at the Union and no one can afford a fresh election - 6th April
 * Driverless cars should steer us away from HS2 - In fifteen years’ time people will want their own way of getting around, not a hugely expensive high-speed railway - 30th March
 * Here’s how to bring our oceans back to life - Ignore the eco doom-mongers obsessed with climate change: over-fishing is the real threat to marine diversity - 23rd March
 * Cutting emissions is going to bankrupt us - We can’t rely on nuclear or renewables, so we’ve pinned our hopes on carbon capture – but that’s not working either - 16th March
 * Brussels blight is damaging our food supply - Cereal producers are making giant strides everywhere but Europe . . . and officialdom’s war on innovation is to blame - 9th March
 * It’s a scandal that the NHS is too big to fail - When public bodies such as the BBC fail miserably, they still survive. That wouldn’t happen with private companies - 3rd March
 * Who wants cheaper jeans and cheaper beer? - Despite loud opposition to free trade, consumers will benefit if Europe and America open their markets to each other - 16th February
 * Gas is essential. Don’t give up on fracking - With oil prices so cheap and scaremongers in full cry, it might be tempting to forget shale. That would be a big mistake - 9th February
 * The church is wrong on ‘three-parent’ babies - We are not rushing into mitochondrial DNA donation. The safety of this technique has been debated every step of the way - 2nd February
 * It’s common sense: kill the rats, move the bats - Human intervention ruins wildlife everywhere. We mustn’t shy away from taking action to set the balance right - 27th January
 * We must pick our battles in war on cancer - It’s a foe that keeps developing ways to kill us. For some patients, love, morphine and whisky may be the best answer - 5th January



Articles: 2014

 * Happy new year, Britain . . . and here’s why - History suggests that 2015 will bring numerous reasons to be cheerful. So long as we don’t go on a spending spree - 29th December
 * More monogamy makes the world less violent - When rich, powerful males take many wives, those left without a mate are driven to crime. Just look at Islamic State - 22nd December
 * To avoid big IT catastrophes, follow Darwin - These creationist computer projects have cost the taxpayer billions. The government now realises evolution is the key - 15th December
 * Scientists must not put policy before proof - Environmental researchers are increasingly looking for evidence that fits their ideology, rather than seeking the truth - 8th December
 * Hurrah for the little-changing face of Britain - If Daniel Defoe came back today he’d find a very familiar country. Cultural evolution has worked better than revolution - 16th November
 * Cheap oil makes the world richer . . . and fairer - The falling cost of energy, helped by fracking, should be celebrated. It can deliver a circle of prosperity and innovation - 20th October
 * We can beat ebola with beds on the ground - But if we lose the battle against this terrifying disease, we may be facing a pandemic as bad as the Black Death - 13th October
 * Brussels and its busy bees are a perfect pest - An EU pesticide ban that was supposed to protect bees has done no such thing. All it does is damage farmers’ crops - 6th October
 * Could these weird coins transform our lives? - The electronic bitcoin may one day replace flawed currencies and make banks, and even governments, redundant - 29th September
 * Don’t fall into the Brussels home rule trap - The last thing England needs is another expensive tier of government. It would only help the EU to cut us down to size - 22nd September
 * The ozone hole isn’t fixed. But that’s no worry - The risk from extra UV light is just one of the dangers that have been overplayed by the eco-exaggerators - 15th September
 * Government is the acceptable face of violence - The threat of force is implicit in law and order but a modern state should recoil at the armour on show in Missouri - 25th August
 * Dismal Europe must embrace free enterprise - The Anglo-Saxon economic approach is working: open markets and deregulation good, subsidies and high taxes bad - 18th August
 * Gamekeepers are one of nature’s best friends - Grouse moor owners spend twice as much on our heathery hills as the RSPB spends on all of its conservation projects - 11th August
 * This ebola epidemic should frighten us all - Though the disease is unlikely to spread globally, we need to concentrate on its likely host – the myriad bat species - 4th August
 * Another renewable myth goes up in smoke - If wood-burning power stations are less eco-friendly than coal, we are getting the search for clean energy all wrong - 28th July
 * Anglicans and atheists, unite against intolerance - The excesses of the Trojan Horse scandal would be allowed in faith schools. Religious practice has no place in education - 21st July
 * Beware alarmists warning of slippery slopes - Opposition to vital medical developments means we are forced to struggle more than we should to enjoy the benefits - 14th July
 * The awkward squad won’t let Sydney sell its soul - Notebook - 30th June
 * Eat up your GM crops. They’re good for you - Genetically modified foods are cheaper to grow, need fewer pesticides and can be enriched with anti-cancer agents - 23rd June
 * You don’t own the land 300m below your feet - Householders can’t be allowed to hold up underground energy projects. In fact, many property rights are too strong - 9th June
 * Start spreading the good news on inequality - All over the world, the poor are becoming less poor. In Britain, the tax system is doing its job by reining in the rich - 2nd June
 * Sometimes it is right to wipe out a species - Mankind would not overreach itself by making extinct some organisms that cause misery – or by bringing back others - 26th May
 * If Nigel Farage was Gladstone I’d vote for him - You rarely find governments that stay clear of both boardroom and bedroom. A new liberal realignment is needed - 19th May
 * Humans are not all the same under the skin - There are genetic variations between races, but they don’t matter. It is co-operation that brings progress to our species - 12th May
 * The Goldilocks effect tells us we are all alone - How can intelligent life exist only on Earth? Because a series of lucky breaks has made us the planet that is just right - 5th May
 * Don’t expect public science to lay golden eggs - If you put government money into research you don’t necessarily get technology – and growth – as your reward - 28th April
 * The richer we get, the greener we’ll become - The world’s climate change experts are now saying that strong growth doesn’t hurt the environment, it protects it - 21st April
 * Looking for work? Let’s put that in writing - The way job numbers have recovered suggests that Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare reforms may be having an effect - 7th April
 * The most baffling disappearance in history - The mystery surrounding flight MH370 is greater than anything we’ve known before - even in the pre-satellite age - 31st March
 * We’ll be relying on Putin’s gas for years yet - Fracking could have been a huge benefit, but at least there are signs that the Government is getting its act together - 24th March
 * No need to fear the hi-tech jobs massacre - Silicon Valley wonders if its robots are destroying work. But humans will always finds new ways to occupy themselves - 17th March
 * Surprise! Now the good news about diseases - The incidence of malaria, far from going up, is in steady decline. The same is true of HIV and TB but it’s hardly reported - 10th March
 * The sceptics are right. Don’t scapegoat them - There is no evidence, Mr Miliband, Lord Stern and others, that our floods and storms are related to climate change - 17th February
 * Science keeps showing us how little we know - The ancient footprints on a Norfolk beach are just the latest mystery in the tangled story of our earliest ancestors - 10th February
 * The bare necessities of life will come to you - Most of us think the poor stay poor and inequality is exploding. Wrong. The evidence is that these are times of plenty - 3rd February
 * Successful societies can’t afford monkey business - Poorer men are the big losers in cultures that don’t honour monogamy. Violence and polygamy tend to be bedfellows - 20th January
 * The West was behind this Chinese atrocity - A green idea based on a false premise, the one-child policy was the result of mathematical modelling - 13th January 2014
 * Roll up: cherry-pick your research results here - It’s not only Tamiflu where inconvenient data goes unpublished. Try climate science and psychology too - 6th January 2014



Articles: 2013

 * Britain’s best days may still lie ahead - The Anglosphere nations’ bottom-up experiment with liberty under the law can still dominate the future - 30th December 2013
 * Woolwich shows how civilised we’ve become - Behind the horrors of the Rigby murder and recent paedophile scandals lies a more optimistic picture - 23rd December 2013
 * Jupiter to Earth — who’s in charge here? - If we do find alien life forms, watch the arguments begin about who has the authority to deal with them - 16th December 2013
 * Britain’s IQ test is to raise the lower levels - About half our intelligence is inherited, but the other half comes from education and experience - 9th December 2013
 * Green energy could kill Britain’s economy - George Osborne needs to act fast if we are to benefit from falling gas prices in the rest of the world - 2nd December 2013
 * Let immigrants in. Then send them home - It isn’t racist to say that an influx of foreigners causes problems – but let’s use them to export our values - 25th November 2013
 * Does China need democracy to be rich? - Westerners are subject to more economic meddling from the State than our Communist-led cousins are - 11th November 2013
 * London isn’t burning. Don’t fetch the engines - Dramatic reductions in the number of fire incidents across Britain mean we can afford a smaller fire brigade - 4th November 2013
 * We won’t be blown away by St Jude’s storm - Technology, trade and globalisation mean that the weather can wreak less damage than ever before - 28th October 2013
 * With nuclear power, small is beautiful - Instead of turning to China for huge projects such as Hinkley Point, we could mass-produce reactors - 21st October 2013
 * Are those white elephants in the water? - Pride in our offshore wind farms is wildly misplaced. They are costlier than all other forms of energy - 14th October 2013
 * Don’t stub out this great way to quit smoking - E-cigarettes will save lives if we keep them out of the itching regulatory hands of the health nannies - 10th October 2013
 * Progress won’t end if chips stop shrinking - Silicon technology will no longer get smaller and cheaper. Now Man’s ingenuity must take over - 3rd October 2013
 * Global lukewarming need not be catastrophic - There’s a middle way between those who deny climate change is real and those who say it’s disastrous - 28th September 2013
 * Green energy or cheap? Ed can’t have both - It is breathtaking hypocrisy for the architect of expensive renewables to call for a price freeze - 26th September 2013
 * Lighten up, Sir David. Our wildlife is safe - Attenborough’s fears are unfounded. Population levels will drop and more land will revert to nature - 12th September 2013
 * Man who cleared up a question of pollution - The economist Ronald Coase showed how free markets help the environment - 5th September 2013
 * Why I’m torn between freedom and security - Was the detention of David Miranda an assault on the press or a necessary protection? It’s impossible to decide - 21st August 2013
 * Let’s shatter these five myths about fracking - Shale gas does not cause earthquakes, pollute water or use toxic chemicals. Wind turbines do far more damage - 15th August 2013
 * GM crops don’t kill kids. Opposing them does - ‘Golden rice’ prevents the vitamin A deficiency that kills millions every year. Yet Greenpeace is blocking it - 1st August 2013
 * Don’t give Alan Turing a pardon. Give him a plinth - As well as being a codebreaking war hero, he was one of our greatest scientists. We must celebrate his achievements - 18th July 2013
 * There’s no cure to the health spending paradox - At the same time as it gets cheaper to do IVF or cataracts, our constant innovations will inevitably push up budgets - 11th July 2013
 * The dash for shale oil will shake the world - . . . but not because of earthquakes: the enormous riches being discovered could slash oil prices across the globe - 3rd July 2013
 * Cancer fights hard. We must be bold to beat it - We know prevention is easier than cure. But for all our scientific breakthroughs, progress is disappointingly slow - 27th June
 * Culling badgers is good. Even for the badgers - TB is not the only problem. The explosion in their numbers is also destroying the smaller animals they feed on - 13th June
 * So who will lobby for the poor old taxpayer? - The real scandal is politicians putting the interests of narrow (often undeserving) groups before those who foot the bill - 6th June
 * Earth to Met Office: check your climate facts - The latest science suggests that our policy on global warming is hopelessly misguided - 20th May
 * Don’t write off Bitcoins as just another bubble - Demand for the virtual currency proves people don’t trust governments with their money - 19th April
 * Weird weather? That’s the pub bore forecast - Forget the anecdotes and face the facts: weather always fluctuates. Arctic springs and angry summers are not oddities - 27th March
 * ‘Burnable ice’ will set the energy world on fire - Even the most die-hard environmentalists should not argue against this new power source - 15th March
 * World outlook: rosy. Europe outlook: awful - Weighed down by bureaucracy and suspicion of science, we seem determined to turn relative into absolute decline - 2nd January



Journal #2:
Column name:

Remit/Info:

Section:

Role:

Pen-name:

Email:

Website:

Commissioning editor:

Day published:

Regularity:

Column format:

Average length:



Articles:




News & updates:


References:


Links:

 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Ridley