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Smithian Sympathy: the ‘father of modern economics’ turns 300
Professor Adam Dixon is the Adam Smith Chair in Sustainable Capitalism here at Panmure House, Smith’s former home, now a centre for modern social and economic research and debate.
The Need for a New Social Contract
Baroness Minouche Shafik Delivers Thought-Provoking Adam Smith Address on Need for a New Social Contact at Panmure House in Edinburgh. Written by Kenny Kemp
Energy and Energy Storage- Hutton One Year On
There will be a shift towards home-grown energy solutions globally and thus renewables will expand.
The Role of Engineering in Climate Change - Hutton One Year On
Our engineering success, and the economic system built on that success is not sustainable.
ESG & Impact Investing - Hutton One Year On
Successfully delivering impact investment requires commitment from investors to establish and implement clear decision-making frameworks and defined key performance indicators.
Taxes and Incentives- Hutton One Year On
Tax an item and people will consume and produce less of it, incentivize it, and they will produce more.
Global Availability of Resources- Hutton One Year On
In effect, humanity is paying more to run faster and go backwards.
Hutton Series on Climate Change: One Year On
Confidence for change will come from individual choice and corporate purpose
Biden’s anti-monopoly crusade won’t fix our economic woes
The tools that tamed corporate monopolies a century ago will not save us today and creating more competition will not help. The real problem remains shareholder capitalism.
Corporations Must Do Their Part to Preserve Democracy
China does whatever it can to thrive economically, putting freedom and prosperity at risk for the rest of the world.
The Role of Engineering in Addressing Climate Change
Session Five of the Hutton Series saw the panellists recognising the importance of the transition in energy use and associated infrastructure and related behavioural patterns. Professor Susan Krumdieck outlines the details in her manifesto for Panmure House Perspectives.
Adam Smith and the Pin Factory
Adam Smith’s description of the pin factory, with which he begins The Wealth of Nations, introduces the fundamental economic concept of the division of labour.
A Climate for Change, but How?
The role of business in addressing climate change.
The significance of carbon pricing
Economic thinker Andrew Milligan takes us back to basics on the significance of carbon pricing.
How to get to Net-Zero
COP26 is our opportunity to re-commit ourselves to the difficult but perfectly feasible challenges of taking our country to net zero
What can be added to the happiness of someone in good health, out of debt, and with a clear conscience? pondered Adam Smith
Economic thinker Andrew Milligan points out that the present response to Covid-19 is not unique and that governments do increase National Debt to eye-watering levels in times of crisis.
The Hutton Series on Climate Change: The Response from the Financial Sector
As a participant in the financial sector session, alongside senior figures from the investment and financial regulation worlds, it offered an opportunity to look back in order to look ahead.
Why the Privileged Leader must step up to solve a global challenge
We face another pandemic in 2021 which now requires a moral ‘vaccine’.
An Architect’s Challenge: Interview with Panmure House architect, Jon Newey
Jon Newey, a member of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, was selected to transform the derelict and forlorn Panmure House into an internationally acclaimed centre for Scotland’s most famous economist Adam Smith.
Adaptation for Future Resilience
Humanity is a juggernaut on a collision course with the hard limits of nature
Henry and Adam: A deep and special friendship
A retrospective look at the relationship between the 3rd Duke of Buccleuch and Adam Smith by Professor Benny Higgins, chairman of the Buccleuch Estates.
The Children’s Champion: Young People to the Fore
Thirty Years Ago, in September 1990, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) came into force.
OBITUARY: A champion of Panmure House restoration
This obituary appeared in The Times newspaper in November 2019.
Orwell & Smith
Two outstanding writers of their generations shared a similar and critical fate, the inaugural Inspirational Alba address in Panmure House heard in Edinburgh, in early 2020, before the Covid-19 lockdown.
Banking's Journey from Virtue to Vice
Award-winning author and writer Ian Fraser sets out his views of how and why the Scottish banking industry, much admired by Adam Smith, have fallen from grace.
A road map for a better future
Distinguished global economist and writer, and former Management Editor of The Economist, Frances Cairncross has been in the vanguard of thinkers interpreting and making sense of our chaotic and contradictory world. Dr Cairncross is also Chair of Heriot-Watt University Court, where she helps guide the institution’s future. She talks with Panmure House Perspectives Writer Kenny Kemp.
Home at last: a professor’s journey with Adam Smith
The regeneration of Panmure House, Adam Smith’s final home, is now nearing completion. Panmure House Perspectives met with Professor Keith Lumsden, former director of Edinburgh Business School and the driving force behind the original project. He speaks with chief writer Kenny Kemp.
Tackling the crime of our time
Dr Steve Johnson reviews a serious issue that is endemic in our business world: fraud. So what motivates those who steal from their employers and what can be done to halt this alarming global trend? He speaks to Kenny Kemp about his doctoral research inside a Southeast Asian non-governmental organisation.
Life Lessons from the Chancellor, Bob Buchan
Bob Buchan, Chancellor of Heriot-Watt University, shares a selection of his business lessons learned at the sharp end of financing gold and copper mines in the harshest regions of the world. He received an honorary doctorate from Heriot-Watt in 2011. He spoke to Kenny Kemp.
Intelligent life, Jill, but not as we know it
Professor Robert MacIntosh, Head of School of Social Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, argues that thoughtful educational institutions must answer the key question: ‘Why study with us?’
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Past Perspectives
Panmure House Perspectives began life as a biannual business magazine. Hard-copy printing ceased in response to the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, and all our articles are now published fully online. Past editions of the printed magazine are still available to download in PDF format below.