Traditional university is on the cusp of a digital revolution – but it should survive August 26, 2013 VISIT any British university this autumn and you’ll see Britain’s fresh-faced youth being taught by academics in lecture halls, seminars, and (at the swanky end) tutorials. Although we live in an age when industry after industry has been transformed by the internet, almost all the teaching in our universities goes on face-to-face, in person. But [...]
We don’t need to look to US Republicans to find a crisis in conservatism August 26, 2013 RELATIONS between the UK Conservative Party and US Republicans are at an all-time low. Ask some Republicans their view of David Cameron’s Tories, and many talk disparagingly of “Barack Obama’s friends”. And many Conservatives aren’t unhappy about this, with the conventional wisdom on the state of US politics recently expounded by Tory MP Jesse Norman. [...]
Transparency over the true cost of investment is more vital than ever August 26, 2013 MARK Carney has been lauded by homeowners for giving forward projections on interest rates, now set to deliver record low mortgage bills for the forseeable future. Yet after four years of 0.5 per cent interest rates, many will see forward guidance as the final nail in the coffin for cash-based savings. There is already strong [...]
Letters to the Editor – 27/08 – HS2 alternatives, Foreign buyers, Best of Twitter August 26, 2013 HS2 alternatives Environmental opponents of the High Speed Two plans should consider the alternatives more carefully. The fact is we need more capacity, and no way of achieving this will leave the countryside entirely untouched. Some call for the widening of existing West Coast Mainline tracks, and the introduction of double-decker trains. But these options [...]
Why far too many young people still struggle to find work after education August 22, 2013 AFTER a summer-size portion of angst and anticipation, judgement day has finally been and gone. More than 600,000 households across the country will be waking up today with the hangover of GCSE results. While some will be bounding out of bed, excited about sixth form in September, a drop in top grades and a falling [...]
There’s no point in a financial services Trip Advisor unless reputation matters August 22, 2013 ONCE again, a major mis-selling scandal has broken out, with 13 high street banks and credit card issuers facing a £1.3bn redress bill for mis-sold card protection policies. No amount of financial regulation seems to stop the flow. Until 1986, there were no mis-selling scandals. The sales of financial products were regulated by contract law [...]
Rising UK house prices intensify the need to cut illogical stamp duty August 22, 2013 STAMP duty has to be a good candidate for the most stupid, destructive and illogical of the UK’s many taxes. Residential stamp duty raised £4.2bn in 2011-12, just 0.8 per cent of the government’s total tax revenues. But its reform is long overdue. It’s stupid because its “slab” rate structure means that, if someone buys [...]
Letters to the editor – 23/08 – BBC Licence Fee, Foreign companies, Best of Twitter August 22, 2013 BBC Licence Fee [Re: TV licence offences responsible for a tenth of all UK court cases, Wednesday] Currently, if you have a TV but don’t watch live TV over it, you’re still subject to “reminders” to pay – even though you’re not liable. A better system would be to make us pay for what we [...]
Liberty in transit: What the detention of David Miranda signifies for Britain August 21, 2013 THE DETENTION and interrogation of David Miranda, partner of campaigning journalist Glenn Greenwald, on his way from Germany to Brazil has brought up some interesting facts – and attitudes. Views on such a cloudy subject vary, but two strong camps have emerged. To hear one set of commentators, the Intelligence Services have magical powers of [...]
Why we shouldn’t be surprised by the rapidly rising cost of High Speed 2 August 21, 2013 IT’S A familiar but depressing story. When a big government project is first advocated, the backers downplay the costs in order to gain political support. As the scheme progresses, the budget increases dramatically, but the momentum behind it makes it difficult to stop. The same pattern is repeated again and again. The Channel Tunnel Rail [...]