Why can’t Britain build anything anymore? The news this week of the £100m ‘bat tunnel’ gave us some clues. Here’s the story of this tunnel, which has been 12 years in the making, and some thoughts on what it tells us

I have followed you all to that other place. Same name. New photo. Which now is also the photo here.

4 emails in 48 hours from British SMEs saying they will no longer ship to the EU or Northern Ireland from mid December because of the new GPSR rules. (One benefit of a niche hobby is occasional forewarning of things hitting SMEs).

🪙'A brilliant book' Martin Wolf, Financial Times Chief Economics Editor 🪙'Chock full of marvellous nuggets, this fascinating book is both important and surprisingly cheering' Ed Conway, author of Material World Blood & Treasure by Duncan Weldon is out in 5th June.

Podcast fans can find me on History Hit (talking about the economics of the Mongol Empire) and the Bunker (talking about the economics of war more generally).

Why liberal democracies win total wars | Duncan Weldon engelsbergideas.com/essays/why-lib…

It’s publication day. Available from wherever you prefer to buy your books/ebooks/audiobooks.

How have war and violence shaped institutions? The author of Two Hundred Years of Muddling Through, Duncan Weldon is here help us understand how and why the economics of conflict have changed over time. Blood and Treasure by Duncan Weldon is out now: brnw.ch/21wTb7t

As it’s the 18th June.

Terrific stuff from Duncan Weldon on how the Allies in the Second World War sought to minimise their own casualties while inflicting maximum damage on the enemy. For Engelsberg Ideas.

This week's episode of The Briefing Room available here - bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00… - David Aaronovitch with Duncan Weldon Mehreen Khan Chris Giles