Mark Braund is the author of The Possibility of Progress
Mark Braund: Forget the car industry, we should invest in something sustainable and labour intensive: social housing
Mark Braund: The progressive future: With current debate stuck in the mindset of left and right, we could do worse than look to the ideas of the past
Mark Braund: There are almost as many reasons to be sceptical about the Obama future as there are to celebrate the departure of Bush
Mark Braund Compared with the UK, rural Italian society seems in impressively rude health
Mark Braund: A fairer society could emerge from the financial crisis, but only if we change our attitudes towards consumption and production
Mark Braund: If the US presidential rivals need ideas they should try John Stewart's latest political thriller
Mark Braund: Millions live in sub-standard housing. Labour hasn't delivered, the Tories are bereft of ideas and even the voters don't care
Mark Braund: The banks should only generate money by advancing cash to genuine wealth creators
Mark Braund: Left and right, economists have been suffering from a shortage of new ideas. But that may be about to change
Mark Braund: South Africa needs more equitable distribution of land, but it should be done fairly and without seizure
Great art holds out the promise of what could be and Daniel Barenboim's engagement with Israel and Palestine's future, like his music, is a triumph
