How many bureaucrats does it take to change a light bulb?
1 September 2011Any number, but they’ll always screw it up.
The Blog
Forget quantitative easing, why not try the Billion Pound Drop!
26 August 2011As the world economy teeters on the edge of another recession, Keynesian-inclined economists are coming up with more and more outlandish ideas for stimulating the economy, from encouraging shoplifting, to faking an alien invasion as an excuse to ramp up military spending. These mechanisms, I will try to argue, while insane, do indicate how current… [Read More]
EBacc should be based on entry, not performance, to achieve its goal
25 August 2011This year’s GCSE results face additional scrutiny against the new EBacc benchmark: A*-C achievement in the five ‘core’ academic subjects. How schools measure up aside, the government is failing on this indicator.
Un- ‘Finnish’ business
24 August 2011Greece’s second bailout package looks to be on the cusp of unravelling, as several member states are pushing for their own conditions in return for their bailout contributions. The ring leader, Finland’s new government, is proving a thorn in the side of the would-be Eurozone ‘fixers’, obstinately refusing to roll over and ‘play ball’ and leading others… [Read More]
A-levelling up?
19 August 2011In our report, Swedish Lessons (2008), we described a troubling rate of grade inflation: Results from the ALIS project use the International Test of Developed Abilities to compare the attainment of pupils from year to year. Taking an average of 40 A-level subjects, Robert Coe found that those scoring 50 per cent on the ITDA… [Read More]
Don’t legislate from the hip
18 August 2011Everyone is keen emphasise how the English riots change everything. But one of the worst things that the Government and policy-makers could do in reaction to the riots is overreact.
The ever closer union
17 August 2011Each time the EU finds itself floundering, you can be sure of two things: there will be a rush of people saying ‘I told you so’, and the respective leaders of France and Germany will appear, united on a podium, with a ‘cunning plan’ to salvage the day. This usually involves some suggestion of ‘deeper… [Read More]
Eurobonds – blue or red?
15 August 2011In the Matrix Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) asks Thomas A. Anderson or Neo (Keanu Reeves) – You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole… [Read More]
EU’ve Got Mail
10 August 2011Buried amidst the media flurry sparked the recent riots, a seemingly inconsequential nugget of news has slipped largely undetected beneath the public radar.
EHRC refuses Britain a fair hearing
8 August 2011The Equality and Human Rights Commission contributes very little to meaningful equality in Britain today and should be abolished, according to a new Civitas report. Added to the Government’s much trumpeted ‘bonfire of the quangos’, the EHRC would save the Treasury tens of millions of pounds at no obvious cost to the general public. Small… [Read More]