Opinion
Ridley: The idea that China will overtake the US is outdated
“I think the idea that China is about to overtake the U.S. Is looking out of date, actually.”
Assertion Supported
Ridley: UK has the developed world's highest industrial power prices
“The highest industrial electricity prices in the developed world, bar none, second highest domestic electricity prices second to Germany.”
Assertion Partly supported
Ridley: Norway drilled 40 North Sea wells last year; UK drilled zero
“Norway has drilled something like 40 new gas and oil wells just in the past 12 months, I think, Britain has drilled zero, but it's the same field.”
Opinion
Ridley: Brexit Was Right but UK Failed to Capitalize via Deregulation
“We did Brexit. Many people think that was a mistake. I don't. I think it was the right thing to do, but we didn't make, take advantage of it. We didn't say, now we're out in the world, let's deregulate”
Insight
Ridley: Infinite Growth in a Finite World Is Possible Through Efficiency
“I'm constantly told you can't have infinite growth in a finite world. Not true. Because growth can consist of doing more with less. So you halve the size of your machine or halve the amount of energy going into it. That is growth.”
Insight
Ridley: Human brain expansion may be sexual selection equivalent to peacock's tail
“This could have been sexual selection, not natural selection. Because what do we use our big brains for? We use it to write poetry, and do art, and be funny, and all these kind of things. So we use it for seduction. So there's an argument that this thing is, a…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ridley: Chinese entrepreneurs are being absorbed by state-owned enterprises
“You've seen what's happened to a lot of Chinese entrepreneurs, they've been swallowed up by state owned enterprises or partnerships with them.”
Insight
Ridley: Governments picking winners leads to losers picking the government
“You've got to be careful that in picking winners, you don't end up with losers picking the government.”
Opinion
Ridley: West would be better off with classical rationalism than Judeo-Christian tradition
“Well, I'm a bit of an old atheist myself who feels that we'd be better off with the rationalism from the classical world rather than the Judeo-Christian tradition that came after it.”
Opinion
Ridley: UK policing of 'non-crime hate incidents' is Orwellian
“Complaining to our government about its crackdown on non-crime hate incidents, which is the ridiculous Orwellian term for people who say things on, online that, that lead them to being arrested. You know, criticizing that, as J.D. Vance has done, is the right …”
Assertion Contradicted
Ridley: Global Forest Cover Is Increasing Every Year
“We're reforesting the globe. There is more forest cover every year now.”
What-if
Ridley: A personal computer pioneer would have emerged without Steve Jobs
“If Steve jobs hadn't existed, there would still have been a hero of the personal computer.”
Insight
Ridley: Radio Played a Major Role in the Rise of 20th-Century Dictators
“I personally think that radio played a large part in the rise of the dictators in the 19 twenties. You know, if you look at the degree to which Mussolini and Hitler used radio to, As, you know, a demagogic tool.”
Insight
Ridley: Global Populist Waves Show Broad Forces Matter More Than Individual Leaders
“You know, you get, you know, Donald Trump in America, Georgia Maloney in Italy, Nigel Farage in Britain, you know, you get similar characters, not exactly the same, but similar characters emerging at the same time in different places, and that suggests That th…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Ridley: UK GDP Per Capita Has Stagnated for 15 Years
“We've not grown in GDP per capita terms significantly in 15 years now.”
Assertion Supported
Ridley: Global humpback whale population rebounded from 5,000 to 130,000
“The number of humpback whales in the world, right, was down to 5000 in the mid-nineteen sixties. It's now a 130,000.”
Matt Ridley