I'm trying to think this through. He presumably thinks too many people are currently in the workforce to allow higher productivity. If we exclude most young people from the workforce those still left in it will have to work harder and be more productive?
He surely cannot believe that tertiary education does anything much for our productivity outside STEM and the professions? Surely that theory has been tested to death by now.
Will be interesting to see what he counts as higher education. It would make zero sense if he means traditional 3-4 year degrees, could be interesting if it is a mix of much shorter courses and ongoing lifetime training.
I would think 35-45% going to traditional degrees and another 25-35% doing further learning post 18, a mix of apprenticeships, part time or intensive courses over months rather than years, would be a good balance for the country.
I would have those percentages the other way around myself. ANd ensuring that almost everyone who leaves school can actually read, write and count would be a good start too.
I'm trying to think this through. He presumably thinks too many people are currently in the workforce to allow higher productivity. If we exclude most young people from the workforce those still left in it will have to work harder and be more productive?
He surely cannot believe that tertiary education does anything much for our productivity outside STEM and the professions? Surely that theory has been tested to death by now.
Blair still talks a decent amount of sense. On this policy he does not. It didn't make sense at the time to those of us at school in the late 90s either.
The report referenced in the Times hasn’t been published yet, so we should probably wait. I suspect there is some conclusion jumping here.
I'm trying to think this through. He presumably thinks too many people are currently in the workforce to allow higher productivity. If we exclude most young people from the workforce those still left in it will have to work harder and be more productive?
He surely cannot believe that tertiary education does anything much for our productivity outside STEM and the professions? Surely that theory has been tested to death by now.
Blair still talks a decent amount of sense. On this policy he does not. It didn't make sense at the time to those of us at school in the late 90s either.
The report referenced in the Times hasn’t been published yet, so we should probably wait. I suspect there is some conclusion jumping here.
Yes, well, it would be a boring world if we waited untill all was known before commenting on things.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
I'm with BigG anyway. I have a deep-seated desire to see Boris leave office. For me it started on 24th July 2019 and it's never gone away. The feeling is sometimes of such intensity that it casts a pall over everything, little else getting a look in, but this isn't always the case, it ebbs and flows. I have bad days, yes, but I have good days too when all it is, this yearning for him to leave office, is like a crick in my neck or a toothache. Today is a good day.
Sergey Radchenko @DrRadchenko New article from Karaganov. Synopsis: The West is falling apart. We should cannibalise Ukraine. Nuclear war is definitely a possibility. Europe is doomed. We'll build a new world, together with China and India. We are heterosexuals. https://globalaffairs.ru/articles/protiv-nas-bolshoj-zapad/.
The daft policies already have the largest country on the globe, with enormous natural resources. Can't they spend a bit of time sorting out their own shit before bothering the rest of us ?
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
We don't know if he is even defining HE as degree level. He could be including what we used to call tech and FE.
I'm trying to think this through. He presumably thinks too many people are currently in the workforce to allow higher productivity. If we exclude most young people from the workforce those still left in it will have to work harder and be more productive?
He surely cannot believe that tertiary education does anything much for our productivity outside STEM and the professions? Surely that theory has been tested to death by now.
Blair still talks a decent amount of sense. On this policy he does not. It didn't make sense at the time to those of us at school in the late 90s either.
The report referenced in the Times hasn’t been published yet, so we should probably wait. I suspect there is some conclusion jumping here.
The headline said further education, not Uni, so we will see what it entails.
Google has stopped censoring the satellite images of Russian military bases, but it's revealed that even the fake aircraft are having maintenance issues:
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
We don't know if he is even defining HE as degree level. He could be including what we used to call tech and FE.
When it was his stupidity wanting 50% to go to uni I think we can assume so. This is blair after all
@dpatrikarakos #Ukraine security expert tells me of a recent convo with an Italian journo.
Italian: “So, to make peace with #Russia, what will you give them?” UA: “What do you mean?” Italian: “Well, you’ll have to give them territory of course!” UA: “Hmmm, yes, ok. We’ll give them Lake Como.”
“At first I really liked him and felt he would be good for the country, but now he has been in power he has been one of the worst prime ministers ever… he is so out of touch and has no idea how the majority of people live their lives.”
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
I'm with BigG anyway. I have a deep-seated desire to see Boris leave office. For me it started on 24th July 2019 and it's never gone away. The feeling is sometimes of such intensity that it casts a pall over everything, little else getting a look in, but this isn't always the case, it ebbs and flows. I have bad days, yes, but I have good days too when all it is, this yearning for him to leave office, is like a crick in my neck or a toothache. Today is a good day.
I sense new political alliances forming. We'll know that the world has really changed if you start with "I'm with HYUFD....."
I'm with BigG anyway. I have a deep-seated desire to see Boris leave office. For me it started on 24th July 2019 and it's never gone away. The feeling is sometimes of such intensity that it casts a pall over everything, little else getting a look in, but this isn't always the case, it ebbs and flows. I have bad days, yes, but I have good days too when all it is, this yearning for him to leave office, is like a crick in my neck or a toothache. Today is a good day.
I sense new political alliances forming. We'll know that the world has really changed if you start with "I'm with HYUFD....."
That will only happen if we decide to be the fourth reich
Google has stopped censoring the satellite images of Russian military bases, but it's revealed that even the fake aircraft are having maintenance issues:
Inflation is not going to be a problem in 2023. Boris, if he is still PM, will still lose in 24, though.
If inflation and the economy is still bad at the next election labour will not be elected because when push comes to shove despite what people say to pollsters absolutely no one trusts labour with a bad economy not to make things much much worse
Sergey Radchenko @DrRadchenko New article from Karaganov. Synopsis: The West is falling apart. We should cannibalise Ukraine. Nuclear war is definitely a possibility. Europe is doomed. We'll build a new world, together with China and India. We are heterosexuals. https://globalaffairs.ru/articles/protiv-nas-bolshoj-zapad/.
Thank goodness he is speaking out against woke cancel culture.
Lol
I’ve noticed the anti-woke brigade have dialled down their outrage recently.
It’s all a bit awkward for them.
Perhaps our free, liberal, open and tolerant society isn’t that bad? And that chicks with dicks don’t lead to the downfall of civilisation, after all?
Ping, you are having a laugh, we are in a helluva state just now , with fcukwits everywhere and loonies running the asylum. UK at present is a banana republic.
Inflation is not going to be a problem in 2023. Boris, if he is still PM, will still lose in 24, though.
If inflation and the economy is still bad at the next election labour will not be elected because when push comes to shove despite what people say to pollsters absolutely no one trusts labour with a bad economy not to make things much much worse
That's a good point. Apart from Wilson defeating Heath (narrowly) Labour has only ever won on a rising economy with the perception that recovery and growth is baked in.
Boris Johnson has been told his Downing Street office has been targeted with “multiple” suspected infections using Pegasus, the sophisticated hacking software made by Israel’s NSO group, which can turn your phone into a remote listening device, it was claimed on Monday.
A report, released by Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto on Monday, said it believed that No 10 had fallen prey to a spyware attack in 2020 and 2021, with the United Arab Emirates being the suspected orchestrator.
Inflation is not going to be a problem in 2023. Boris, if he is still PM, will still lose in 24, though.
If inflation and the economy is still bad at the next election labour will not be elected because when push comes to shove despite what people say to pollsters absolutely no one trusts labour with a bad economy not to make things much much worse
That's a good point. Apart from Wilson defeating Heath (narrowly) Labour has only ever won on a rising economy with the perception that recovery and growth is baked in.
Precisely in good times people are willing to experiment with a little left wingery as they can't do so much damage. When times are hard yeah not the people they want to turn to. Labour are who you call on for a garden makeover than the firm you call on when your first floor is flooding
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
The Tony Blair Institute is producing some b good policy ideas. That’s why I’m keen to wait and see.
Like others I’m highly skeptical of sending more people to university but I suspect that’s not what he’s saying.
It's a good role for Tony, this detached consultant to the nation. The lack of ideology is less important now he's not fronting our main party of the left. It's become a strength even.
I'm with BigG anyway. I have a deep-seated desire to see Boris leave office. For me it started on 24th July 2019 and it's never gone away. The feeling is sometimes of such intensity that it casts a pall over everything, little else getting a look in, but this isn't always the case, it ebbs and flows. I have bad days, yes, but I have good days too when all it is, this yearning for him to leave office, is like a crick in my neck or a toothache. Today is a good day.
See. I can generally agree that Boris is a pretty poor prime minister, and his promiscuous attitude to “the truth” means he probably has to go… but when I hear that he annoys Woke people like you THIS MUCH it makes me want to vote for him all over again
Massive spikes in immigration. Feels like Boris overshot with liberalizing work visas. I am fine with a bunch of lower paid NHS and social care workers coming, but seems like we have lowered the salary level too much outside this:
After a session of weeding I am now sitting in the garden with a pint of Saltaire Brewery Amarillo. A light, refreshing ale, and brewed within walking distance of here.
On Bozo, I am torn. Yes, I want the fecker out ASAP, but on the other hand if he stays it improves our chances at the next GE.
Massive spikes in immigration. Feels like Boris overshot with liberalizing work visas. I am fine with a bunch of lower paid NHS and social care workers coming, but seems like we have lowered the salary level too much outside this:
I'm with BigG anyway. I have a deep-seated desire to see Boris leave office. For me it started on 24th July 2019 and it's never gone away. The feeling is sometimes of such intensity that it casts a pall over everything, little else getting a look in, but this isn't always the case, it ebbs and flows. I have bad days, yes, but I have good days too when all it is, this yearning for him to leave office, is like a crick in my neck or a toothache. Today is a good day.
See. I can generally agree that Boris is a pretty poor prime minister, and his promiscuous attitude to “the truth” means he probably has to go… but when I hear that he annoys Woke people like you THIS MUCH it makes me want to vote for him all over again
I wonder if the majority of people will think of Boris Johnson when casting their vote for their local Councillor? The opposition parties had better hope so as there are precious few positive reasons for voting for them.
Evidence suggests that yes, people do use local elections to give the national government a kicking.
Indeed, it's often easier to give the government a kicking in the locals than at the General.
Our Tory candidates are saying plaintively in their leaflets "We are local residents, not national politicians." Ther are still going to get hammered.
Inflation is not going to be a problem in 2023. Boris, if he is still PM, will still lose in 24, though.
If inflation and the economy is still bad at the next election labour will not be elected because when push comes to shove despite what people say to pollsters absolutely no one trusts labour with a bad economy not to make things much much worse
That's a good point. Apart from Wilson defeating Heath (narrowly) Labour has only ever won on a rising economy with the perception that recovery and growth is baked in.
Not true of the Attlee government. The economy was a post war basket case.
In 1964 Wilson won after the squeeze of 63. Similarly in 75.
While the economy was recovering well in 1997, it was in the context of shredded Conservative economic competence.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
If the state is financing it then its very much the first, if the pupils are finacing it very much more because you want to do it for personal growth. The second however needs to be caveated heavily for those pupils and they need to be stop being told doing a degree will make you better off job's wise. I am sorry there are just not that many jobs that require a degree. Take mine I am a software engineer since back in the late 80's. Never needed a degree back then however you try breaking in as a new start now without a degree and you are pretty much out of luck. Not because you need a degree to do it but because your cv will get auto binned. In fact and heard it said in a few of my workplaces now...first thing they tell a new start from uni is forget what they taught you we will teach you how to do it right.
Inflation is not going to be a problem in 2023. Boris, if he is still PM, will still lose in 24, though.
If inflation and the economy is still bad at the next election labour will not be elected because when push comes to shove despite what people say to pollsters absolutely no one trusts labour with a bad economy not to make things much much worse
That's a good point. Apart from Wilson defeating Heath (narrowly) Labour has only ever won on a rising economy with the perception that recovery and growth is baked in.
Not true of the Attlee government. The economy was a post war basket case.
In 1964 Wilson won after the squeeze of 63. Similarly in 75.
While the economy was recovering well in 1997, it was in the context of shredded Conservative economic competence.
Its a true statement for almost half a century now though
I'm with BigG anyway. I have a deep-seated desire to see Boris leave office. For me it started on 24th July 2019 and it's never gone away. The feeling is sometimes of such intensity that it casts a pall over everything, little else getting a look in, but this isn't always the case, it ebbs and flows. I have bad days, yes, but I have good days too when all it is, this yearning for him to leave office, is like a crick in my neck or a toothache. Today is a good day.
I sense new political alliances forming. We'll know that the world has really changed if you start with "I'm with HYUFD....."
That really would be Government Of National Unity territory. But never say never ...
Massive spikes in immigration. Feels like Boris overshot with liberalizing work visas. I am fine with a bunch of lower paid NHS and social care workers coming, but seems like we have lowered the salary level too much outside this:
The country needs immigration because of its demographics. Politicians (especially some...) will repeatedly lie to us about this, but inside or outside of the EU, with a right wing or left government, we will have continued high immigration for quite a few years yet.
The Tony Blair Institute is producing some b good policy ideas. That’s why I’m keen to wait and see.
Like others I’m highly skeptical of sending more people to university but I suspect that’s not what he’s saying.
It's a good role for Tony, this detached consultant to the nation. The lack of ideology is less important now he's not fronting our main party of the left. It's become a strength even.
He's a detached consultant because if he tried to attach to anything, the nation would rise as one and shout out
Massive spikes in immigration. Feels like Boris overshot with liberalizing work visas. I am fine with a bunch of lower paid NHS and social care workers coming, but seems like we have lowered the salary level too much outside this:
The government has realised that the economy doesn’t work at all without foreign labour, and that the tertiary ed sector is also fucked without foreign students.
In effect, we’ve replaced EU migrants with South Asian, West African and Filipino ones.
I'm with BigG anyway. I have a deep-seated desire to see Boris leave office. For me it started on 24th July 2019 and it's never gone away. The feeling is sometimes of such intensity that it casts a pall over everything, little else getting a look in, but this isn't always the case, it ebbs and flows. I have bad days, yes, but I have good days too when all it is, this yearning for him to leave office, is like a crick in my neck or a toothache. Today is a good day.
See. I can generally agree that Boris is a pretty poor prime minister, and his promiscuous attitude to “the truth” means he probably has to go… but when I hear that he annoys Woke people like you THIS MUCH it makes me want to vote for him all over again
Massive spikes in immigration. Feels like Boris overshot with liberalizing work visas. I am fine with a bunch of lower paid NHS and social care workers coming, but seems like we have lowered the salary level too much outside this:
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
Massive spikes in immigration. Feels like Boris overshot with liberalizing work visas. I am fine with a bunch of lower paid NHS and social care workers coming, but seems like we have lowered the salary level too much outside this:
The country needs immigration because of its demographics. Politicians (especially some...) will repeatedly lie to us about this, but inside or outside of the EU, with a right wing or left government, we will have continued high immigration for quite a few years yet.
No the country needs to work out how to live with falling population and and a population where the bulge in age is slowly rising up the demographic pillar. All countries will slowly get to the point where replacement level is not being achieved. Immigration is a sticking plaster and a ponzi scheme which throws developing countries on the scrapheap by stealing the talent from them
Massive spikes in immigration. Feels like Boris overshot with liberalizing work visas. I am fine with a bunch of lower paid NHS and social care workers coming, but seems like we have lowered the salary level too much outside this:
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Chicken and egg.
Investors won’t invest because they can’t be confident of a high quality labour pool outside London where cost of living is problematic.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
How does the nature of British tertiary education differ? Going entirely off my own prejudices, I would expect that the likes of Germany have rather fewer 18-21 year olds studying literature and rather more studying electrical engineering. I would also expect the nature of the courses studied from 18-21 is rather more practical in Germany. But I may be wrong. I also suspect that pushing rather too many people down pointless academic blind alleys is common to much of the western world.
I'm with BigG anyway. I have a deep-seated desire to see Boris leave office. For me it started on 24th July 2019 and it's never gone away. The feeling is sometimes of such intensity that it casts a pall over everything, little else getting a look in, but this isn't always the case, it ebbs and flows. I have bad days, yes, but I have good days too when all it is, this yearning for him to leave office, is like a crick in my neck or a toothache. Today is a good day.
See. I can generally agree that Boris is a pretty poor prime minister, and his promiscuous attitude to “the truth” means he probably has to go… but when I hear that he annoys Woke people like you THIS MUCH it makes me want to vote for him all over again
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Chicken and egg.
Investors won’t invest because they can’t be confident of a high quality labour pool outside London where cost of living is problematic.
Simple answer....make stem degrees free of fees....charge the ones who want to do media studies.....
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Our cultural industries are amongst our strongest earners, while don't you often moan about how software pay has stagnated for decades?
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Chicken and egg.
Investors won’t invest because they can’t be confident of a high quality labour pool outside London where cost of living is problematic.
Simple answer....make stem degrees free of fees....charge the ones who want to do media studies.....
Oh I agree with that. Mostly.
Personally I’m arts grad who ended up in tech, but to the extent that there are hard and soft arts, I was more at the hard end, hah.
Even when I was studying (late 90s) it was obvious that many were wasting their time on media studies etc. Mind you, one of them became PM of NZ.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
How does the nature of British tertiary education differ? Going entirely off my own prejudices, I would expect that the likes of Germany have rather fewer 18-21 year olds studying literature and rather more studying electrical engineering. I would also expect the nature of the courses studied from 18-21 is rather more practical in Germany. But I may be wrong. I also suspect that pushing rather too many people down pointless academic blind alleys is common to much of the western world.
Part of it sadly is culture as well, in britain if you get for example a degree in chemistry you can only get so high in a company before your career tends to grind to a halt and if you want to go further its go into marketing/sales/management....one key difference I believe between for example the uk and germany where people with skills are valued.
I worked at ICI as a programmer for 10 years and once got told by a manager I was overvalued as my skills as a software engineer was just typing stuff
Inflation is not going to be a problem in 2023. Boris, if he is still PM, will still lose in 24, though.
When do you expect inflation to cease being a problem next year ? Early on or later in the year ?
Early.
I think the next six months we’ll continue to see pressure from Chinese lockdown(s) and the Ukraine war, and then inflation will start to drop out.
do you think it will mean global recession again?
I would not at all be surprised. I think some are picking it for China, others are looking askance at the US.
I don't think people realise the extent to which US policy often has ruinous worldwide effects. The most recent being their craptacular 'stimulus' package that sent the price of all building materials through the roof.
I'm with BigG anyway. I have a deep-seated desire to see Boris leave office. For me it started on 24th July 2019 and it's never gone away. The feeling is sometimes of such intensity that it casts a pall over everything, little else getting a look in, but this isn't always the case, it ebbs and flows. I have bad days, yes, but I have good days too when all it is, this yearning for him to leave office, is like a crick in my neck or a toothache. Today is a good day.
See. I can generally agree that Boris is a pretty poor prime minister, and his promiscuous attitude to “the truth” means he probably has to go… but when I hear that he annoys Woke people like you THIS MUCH it makes me want to vote for him all over again
I think I'm normal not woke. Fact I think you're the abnormal one with the crazy reactionary energy. I'm closer to Everyman than you are, is what I mean. You have a strange take on things. A real oddball.
On which subject, did you see how Coren was purveying his craft again in the Times magazine? Making out that if he reviews anything but stolid Brit food he gets massacred by the dreadful bean peasants for cultural appropriation. He constructed pretty much his whole article around that piece of sophisticated whimsy. God knows how much he gets paid but it's too much imo.
Sergey Radchenko @DrRadchenko New article from Karaganov. Synopsis: The West is falling apart. We should cannibalise Ukraine. Nuclear war is definitely a possibility. Europe is doomed. We'll build a new world, together with China and India. We are heterosexuals. https://globalaffairs.ru/articles/protiv-nas-bolshoj-zapad/.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Our cultural industries are amongst our strongest earners, while don't you often moan about how software pay has stagnated for decades?
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
Yes and no. I really detest the blinkered thinking that doesn’t appreciate the strength (weakened by less EU migration) of the UK’s cultural sector.
But a LOT of kids bounce into “media studies” just “because”. Perhaps media studies is getting a bad rap though. I believe the modern poster boy is “criminology”.
I'm with BigG anyway. I have a deep-seated desire to see Boris leave office. For me it started on 24th July 2019 and it's never gone away. The feeling is sometimes of such intensity that it casts a pall over everything, little else getting a look in, but this isn't always the case, it ebbs and flows. I have bad days, yes, but I have good days too when all it is, this yearning for him to leave office, is like a crick in my neck or a toothache. Today is a good day.
See. I can generally agree that Boris is a pretty poor prime minister, and his promiscuous attitude to “the truth” means he probably has to go… but when I hear that he annoys Woke people like you THIS MUCH it makes me want to vote for him all over again
Your priorities are a fucking state
Unlike the great @SeanT whose priority was to be in a constant state of fucking.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Our cultural industries are amongst our strongest earners, while don't you often moan about how software pay has stagnated for decades?
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
I don't disput a lot of our culture industries are amongst are higher earners for a moment...which incidentally includes our software industries. How many people as a percentage of those that get a degree in media studies however actually go on to work in them vs how many get a job filling in forms for the local council?
Sergey Radchenko @DrRadchenko New article from Karaganov. Synopsis: The West is falling apart. We should cannibalise Ukraine. Nuclear war is definitely a possibility. Europe is doomed. We'll build a new world, together with China and India. We are heterosexuals. https://globalaffairs.ru/articles/protiv-nas-bolshoj-zapad/.
Inflation is not going to be a problem in 2023. Boris, if he is still PM, will still lose in 24, though.
If inflation and the economy is still bad at the next election labour will not be elected because when push comes to shove despite what people say to pollsters absolutely no one trusts labour with a bad economy not to make things much much worse
I hope I'm not alone in thinking that, on balance, the more people who benefit from further/higher education in any nation the better (provided that such education is of a high quality). The benefits of a highly-educated population are not just confined to improved economic performance, although I'm pretty confident that is one of them.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Our cultural industries are amongst our strongest earners, while don't you often moan about how software pay has stagnated for decades?
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
Yes and no. I really detest the blinkered thinking that doesn’t appreciate the strength (weakened by less EU migration) of the UK’s cultural sector.
But a LOT of kids bounce into “media studies” just “because”. Perhaps media studies is getting a bad rap though. I believe the modern poster boy is “criminology”.
It is genuinely amazing how many young people are studying "criminology" at degree level
It must have a reputation as a really soft touch. I fear for these kids with their useless "criminology" degrees and enormous debts in about 5-10 years
The same thing happened with Psychology decades back
The universities tend to be shit, as well:
Solent University (Southampton) 18 Criminology degrees
Massive spikes in immigration. Feels like Boris overshot with liberalizing work visas. I am fine with a bunch of lower paid NHS and social care workers coming, but seems like we have lowered the salary level too much outside this:
The country needs immigration because of its demographics. Politicians (especially some...) will repeatedly lie to us about this, but inside or outside of the EU, with a right wing or left government, we will have continued high immigration for quite a few years yet.
No the country needs to work out how to live with falling population and and a population where the bulge in age is slowly rising up the demographic pillar. All countries will slowly get to the point where replacement level is not being achieved. Immigration is a sticking plaster and a ponzi scheme which throws developing countries on the scrapheap by stealing the talent from them
File under, not going to happen in the UK over the next decade at least.
Massive spikes in immigration. Feels like Boris overshot with liberalizing work visas. I am fine with a bunch of lower paid NHS and social care workers coming, but seems like we have lowered the salary level too much outside this:
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Our cultural industries are amongst our strongest earners, while don't you often moan about how software pay has stagnated for decades?
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
Yes and no. I really detest the blinkered thinking that doesn’t appreciate the strength (weakened by less EU migration) of the UK’s cultural sector.
But a LOT of kids bounce into “media studies” just “because”. Perhaps media studies is getting a bad rap though. I believe the modern poster boy is “criminology”.
It is genuinely amazing how many young people are studying "criminology" at degree level
It must have a reputation as a really soft touch. I fear for these kids with their useless "criminology" degrees and enormous debts in about 5-10 years
The same thing happened with Psychology decades back
Education for education sake isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Inflation is not going to be a problem in 2023. Boris, if he is still PM, will still lose in 24, though.
If inflation and the economy is still bad at the next election labour will not be elected because when push comes to shove despite what people say to pollsters absolutely no one trusts labour with a bad economy not to make things much much worse
I do. Everything was better under Labour
Well we will agree to disagree on that one I guess as I can't think of a single thing
Inflation is not going to be a problem in 2023. Boris, if he is still PM, will still lose in 24, though.
If inflation and the economy is still bad at the next election labour will not be elected because when push comes to shove despite what people say to pollsters absolutely no one trusts labour with a bad economy not to make things much much worse
I do. Everything was better under Labour
Well we will agree to disagree on that one I guess as I can't think of a single thing
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Our cultural industries are amongst our strongest earners, while don't you often moan about how software pay has stagnated for decades?
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
Yes and no. I really detest the blinkered thinking that doesn’t appreciate the strength (weakened by less EU migration) of the UK’s cultural sector.
But a LOT of kids bounce into “media studies” just “because”. Perhaps media studies is getting a bad rap though. I believe the modern poster boy is “criminology”.
It is genuinely amazing how many young people are studying "criminology" at degree level
It must have a reputation as a really soft touch. I fear for these kids with their useless "criminology" degrees and enormous debts in about 5-10 years
The same thing happened with Psychology decades back
I don’t know if it’s an easy touch.
I think people watch serial killer documentaries and think, that looks fun.
Then they see there’s a course down the road and the University of Basildon.
I always ask these kids how many criminologists do they think there are in the UK. It’s like they’d never really considered the question.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Our cultural industries are amongst our strongest earners, while don't you often moan about how software pay has stagnated for decades?
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
Yes and no. I really detest the blinkered thinking that doesn’t appreciate the strength (weakened by less EU migration) of the UK’s cultural sector.
But a LOT of kids bounce into “media studies” just “because”. Perhaps media studies is getting a bad rap though. I believe the modern poster boy is “criminology”.
It is genuinely amazing how many young people are studying "criminology" at degree level
It must have a reputation as a really soft touch. I fear for these kids with their useless "criminology" degrees and enormous debts in about 5-10 years
The same thing happened with Psychology decades back
Education for education sake isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I mean I agree with you, but my conscience is also aware that tertiary costs seem to inflate in the same way that health ones do.
Mind you there’s a whole thread around whether or not we are delivering tertiary education in the most productive way.
Going home tomorrow after an excellent family holiday in Baden-Wurttenberg. It's been helped by spectacularly good weather, but I have to say that Germany is an incredible place. Everything just works, everything is clean and well-organised, there's a palpable aura of efficiency and prosperity everywhere. Something has gone very wrong in Britain that we have fallen so far behind, our public spaces look so shabby and broken by comparison. And while Germany sits at the heart of a market of hundreds of millions of people, with trade and travel across open borders, we have shut ourselves off, growing poorer and ever more mean-spirited, led by an incompetent liar. It doesn't feel great to be British right now.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Our cultural industries are amongst our strongest earners, while don't you often moan about how software pay has stagnated for decades?
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
Yes and no. I really detest the blinkered thinking that doesn’t appreciate the strength (weakened by less EU migration) of the UK’s cultural sector.
But a LOT of kids bounce into “media studies” just “because”. Perhaps media studies is getting a bad rap though. I believe the modern poster boy is “criminology”.
It is genuinely amazing how many young people are studying "criminology" at degree level
It must have a reputation as a really soft touch. I fear for these kids with their useless "criminology" degrees and enormous debts in about 5-10 years
The same thing happened with Psychology decades back
I don’t know if it’s an easy touch.
I think people watch serial killer documentaries and think, that looks fun.
Then they see there’s a course down the road and the University of Basildon.
I always ask these kids how many criminologists do they think there are in the UK. It’s like they’d never really considered the question.
I feel sorry for these kids. They deserve better.
Eh? It’s not the course but the skills you learn. My brother studied History at a poly and now works as a team leader for a software company and is doing very well. The question over “how many historians” there are never came up either.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Our cultural industries are amongst our strongest earners, while don't you often moan about how software pay has stagnated for decades?
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
Yes and no. I really detest the blinkered thinking that doesn’t appreciate the strength (weakened by less EU migration) of the UK’s cultural sector.
But a LOT of kids bounce into “media studies” just “because”. Perhaps media studies is getting a bad rap though. I believe the modern poster boy is “criminology”.
It is genuinely amazing how many young people are studying "criminology" at degree level
It must have a reputation as a really soft touch. I fear for these kids with their useless "criminology" degrees and enormous debts in about 5-10 years
The same thing happened with Psychology decades back
Education for education sake isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I mean I agree with you, but my conscience is also aware that tertiary costs seem to inflate in the same way that health ones do.
Mind you there’s a whole thread around whether or not we are delivering tertiary education in the most productive way.
The sector has undoubtedly grown fat and self indulgent on growth and mildly obscene sums of money. It has not delivered.
Inflation is not going to be a problem in 2023. Boris, if he is still PM, will still lose in 24, though.
If inflation and the economy is still bad at the next election labour will not be elected because when push comes to shove despite what people say to pollsters absolutely no one trusts labour with a bad economy not to make things much much worse
I do. Everything was better under Labour
Well we will agree to disagree on that one I guess as I can't think of a single thing
NHS waiting lists for one.
Ah you mean the targets they put in place which meant they got fiddled by trusts often ending in worse outcomes as people got shuffled back to the beginning by various means.....sorry try again....give someone a target whether private or public sector and they will always find a way of hitting that and it wont actually generally improve things.
I remember stories about in my own sector when they tried introducing various productivity metrics, such as lines of code written, bugs fixed etc. Pretty much every one of them ended up failing to achieve the intended thing and made things worse as people spent more time creating ways to hit targets than producing good quality code. I am sure other software bods here will confirm.
Going home tomorrow after an excellent family holiday in Baden-Wurttenberg. It's been helped by spectacularly good weather, but I have to say that Germany is an incredible place. Everything just works, everything is clean and well-organised, there's a palpable aura of efficiency and prosperity everywhere. Something has gone very wrong in Britain that we have fallen so far behind, our public spaces look so shabby and broken by comparison. And while Germany sits at the heart of a market of hundreds of millions of people, with trade and travel across open borders, we have shut ourselves off, growing poorer and ever more mean-spirited, led by an incompetent liar. It doesn't feel great to be British right now.
“Everything just works” when lubricated with Russian oil paid for with blood.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Our cultural industries are amongst our strongest earners, while don't you often moan about how software pay has stagnated for decades?
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
Yes and no. I really detest the blinkered thinking that doesn’t appreciate the strength (weakened by less EU migration) of the UK’s cultural sector.
But a LOT of kids bounce into “media studies” just “because”. Perhaps media studies is getting a bad rap though. I believe the modern poster boy is “criminology”.
It is genuinely amazing how many young people are studying "criminology" at degree level
It must have a reputation as a really soft touch. I fear for these kids with their useless "criminology" degrees and enormous debts in about 5-10 years
The same thing happened with Psychology decades back
I don’t know if it’s an easy touch.
I think people watch serial killer documentaries and think, that looks fun.
Then they see there’s a course down the road and the University of Basildon.
I always ask these kids how many criminologists do they think there are in the UK. It’s like they’d never really considered the question.
I feel sorry for these kids. They deserve better.
Eh? It’s not the course but the skills you learn. My brother studied History at a poly and now works as a team leader for a software company and is doing very well. The question over “how many historians” there are never came up either.
That’s a decent rebuttal. Although I don’t think education is all about earnings, there are charts that show how much various degrees are expected to earn you.
My hypothesis is that criminology is very low, probably a negative ROI on the fees.
History, on the other hand, tends - whether because of the course or the sort of people who study it - to deliver better returns.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Our cultural industries are amongst our strongest earners, while don't you often moan about how software pay has stagnated for decades?
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
Yes and no. I really detest the blinkered thinking that doesn’t appreciate the strength (weakened by less EU migration) of the UK’s cultural sector.
But a LOT of kids bounce into “media studies” just “because”. Perhaps media studies is getting a bad rap though. I believe the modern poster boy is “criminology”.
It is genuinely amazing how many young people are studying "criminology" at degree level
It must have a reputation as a really soft touch. I fear for these kids with their useless "criminology" degrees and enormous debts in about 5-10 years
The same thing happened with Psychology decades back
Education for education sake isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
I entirely agree. University broadens the mind in multiple ways, not just what you study, but socially, emotionally, culturally, artistically. It is an intrinsically good thing. Ideally everyone should have the chance
BUT it is all so different now: when 3 years at Uni saddles you with a lifetime of debt
It is hard to believe my generation was paid BY THE STATE to go to Uni. And we had all the best drugs and music. We were indeed lucky; I can understand why Boomers are resented by the young
Going home tomorrow after an excellent family holiday in Baden-Wurttenberg. It's been helped by spectacularly good weather, but I have to say that Germany is an incredible place. Everything just works, everything is clean and well-organised, there's a palpable aura of efficiency and prosperity everywhere. Something has gone very wrong in Britain that we have fallen so far behind, our public spaces look so shabby and broken by comparison. And while Germany sits at the heart of a market of hundreds of millions of people, with trade and travel across open borders, we have shut ourselves off, growing poorer and ever more mean-spirited, led by an incompetent liar. It doesn't feel great to be British right now.
“Everything just works” when lubricated with Russian oil paid for with blood.
Quite a daft post. Stick to the travel writing, which I’ve hugely enjoyed.
Going home tomorrow after an excellent family holiday in Baden-Wurttenberg. It's been helped by spectacularly good weather, but I have to say that Germany is an incredible place. Everything just works, everything is clean and well-organised, there's a palpable aura of efficiency and prosperity everywhere. Something has gone very wrong in Britain that we have fallen so far behind, our public spaces look so shabby and broken by comparison. And while Germany sits at the heart of a market of hundreds of millions of people, with trade and travel across open borders, we have shut ourselves off, growing poorer and ever more mean-spirited, led by an incompetent liar. It doesn't feel great to be British right now.
“Everything just works” when lubricated with Russian oil paid for with blood.
How many Iraqis died so we could protect our oil supply? 750,000 I think.
We cant put even the perecentage of graduates we have currently in degree level jobs. Most are doing jobs that used to require a levels or even o levels. Why doesnt the twat just fuck off
Blair and New Labour had thirteen years to sort tertiary education out, and stonking big majorities with which to do it. I am far from convinced they did any good, and suspect they did a great deal of harm.
Now a policy which said we will pitch university places at a few percentage over graduate jobs available would have made sense then if the theory more graduates meant more graduate level jobs then the level would have risen naturally.
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
A question: what is the main point of tertiary education from the state's point of view? Is it to make young people feel like they've achieved something, to train young people up for good jobs, to provide skills the country needs, or something else?
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
I think we need to consider where economically productive jobs come from, and whether these take a skilled, intelligent workforce.
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
The problem is not of the suitability of the british for tertiary education. The problem is the lack of jobs that actually really require a degree level education. South Korea for example has a lot of high tech jobs and I suspect a lot of their graduates aren't doing media studies and other such bollocks courses
Our cultural industries are amongst our strongest earners, while don't you often moan about how software pay has stagnated for decades?
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
Yes and no. I really detest the blinkered thinking that doesn’t appreciate the strength (weakened by less EU migration) of the UK’s cultural sector.
But a LOT of kids bounce into “media studies” just “because”. Perhaps media studies is getting a bad rap though. I believe the modern poster boy is “criminology”.
It is genuinely amazing how many young people are studying "criminology" at degree level
It must have a reputation as a really soft touch. I fear for these kids with their useless "criminology" degrees and enormous debts in about 5-10 years
The same thing happened with Psychology decades back
The universities tend to be shit, as well:
Solent University (Southampton) 18 Criminology degrees
I'm trying to think this through. He presumably thinks too many people are currently in the workforce to allow higher productivity. If we exclude most young people from the workforce those still left in it will have to work harder and be more productive?
He surely cannot believe that tertiary education does anything much for our productivity outside STEM and the professions? Surely that theory has been tested to death by now.
Blair is diametrically wrong, again. The last thing the country should be doing, is encouraging more young people to get £50k into debt studying something worthless.
If I had an 18 year old, I’d be either telling them to learn a trade, or to get a white-collar apprenticeship that might result in a sponsored degree a few years down the line.
Doesn't that depend entirely on said 18 year old's interests and aptitude?
My daughter wants be a vet. She knows that involves some serious studying. (But on the positive side, has excellent job prospects on the far side.) I'm not going to try and force her to take an apprenticeship to do something she's not interested in.
Comments
Starmer: -5 (-)
Sunak: -18 (-6)
Johnson: -21 (+2)
Starmer now strongly ahead on best PM:
Starmer vs Johnson:
Starmer: 39% (+1)
Johnson: 33% (-2)
Starmer vs Sunak:
Starmer: 41% (+3)
Sunak: 28% (-5)
Sunak's reputation is wrecked.
Quote Tweet
Redfield & Wilton Strategies
@RedfieldWilton
Westminster Voting Intention (17 Apr):
Labour 42% (–)
Conservative 34% (–)
Liberal Democrat 10% (+2)
Green 5% (–)
Scottish National Party 5% (+1)
Reform UK 3% (-1)
Other 1% (-2)
Changes +/- 10 Apr
Can't they spend a bit of time sorting out their own shit before bothering the rest of us ?
https://twitter.com/expatua/status/1516087197920813061
Good latest polls just out for Macron.
Ipsos-Sopra Steria 15–18 Apr 56% 44%
Ifop-Fiducial 15–18 Apr 54.5% 45.5%
Remember you can get 7/4 on him polling over 55%,
12/1 (down from 16/1) on over 60%
or 40/1 over 65%
He outperformed polls in the first round by around 3-4%. I think the 55%+ is value and I'm covered for the others above.
Like others I’m highly skeptical of sending more people to university but I suspect that’s not what he’s saying.
Throw in Schleswig Holstein for the SDP in Germany and maybe we have a deal
However all he managed to do was make it almost mandatory to goto university for any non manual job as even working for example in insurance and just filling out forms for customers you rang....doesn't need a degree as its hardly rocket science but they will still ask for one
https://www.google.com/maps/place/52°37'58.8"N+39°28'06.7"E/@52.6330022,39.4670325,746m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m9!1m2!2m1!1slipetsk+air+field!3m5!1s0x0:0x971c9d28e4c6898a!7e2!8m2!3d52.6329888!4d39.4685163
Inflation is not going to be a problem in 2023.
Boris, if he is still PM, will still lose in 24, though.
IMO that question needs answering before the form of tertiary education can start to be considered.
https://archive.ph/nlY11
After a session of weeding I am now sitting in the garden with a pint of Saltaire Brewery Amarillo. A light, refreshing ale, and brewed within walking distance of here.
On Bozo, I am torn. Yes, I want the fecker out ASAP, but on the other hand if he stays it improves our chances at the next GE.
Country before Party. Get rid now.
In 1964 Wilson won after the squeeze of 63. Similarly in 75.
While the economy was recovering well in 1997, it was in the context of shredded Conservative economic competence.
I think the next six months we’ll continue to see pressure from Chinese lockdown(s) and the Ukraine war, and then inflation will start to drop out.
"FUCK OFF, TONY"
In effect, we’ve replaced EU migrants with South Asian, West African and Filipino ones.
We have huge amounts of net inward migration and a highly liberal points system. But it is never enough. Never
If we look at international competitors then rates of Tertiary education are similar to our own, with Germany and Italy the exception. South Korea has a 70% rate for example.
It seems that there is a PB consensus that Britons are less suited for degree level education than other countries, particularly with other peoples children/grandchildren in mind. I disagree, the problem of British Tertiary education is more the nature and quality of the courses than that of the applicants.
Clearly Patel (and or Johnson) have decided that this is what voters want.
I think some are picking it for China, others are looking askance at the US.
Investors won’t invest because they can’t be confident of a high quality labour pool outside London where cost of living is problematic.
I also suspect that pushing rather too many people down pointless academic blind alleys is common to much of the western world.
I think there are a lot of poor value courses out there, but a well skilled workforce will generate its own job opportunities. Indeed isn't that what productive economic growth looks like?
Personally I’m arts grad who ended up in tech, but to the extent that there are hard and soft arts, I was more at the hard end, hah.
Even when I was studying (late 90s) it was obvious that many were wasting their time on media studies etc. Mind you, one of them became PM of NZ.
I worked at ICI as a programmer for 10 years and once got told by a manager I was overvalued as my skills as a software engineer was just typing stuff
On which subject, did you see how Coren was purveying his craft again in the Times magazine? Making out that if he reviews anything but stolid Brit food he gets massacred by the dreadful bean peasants for cultural appropriation. He constructed pretty much his whole article around that piece of sophisticated whimsy. God knows how much he gets paid but it's too much imo.
I really detest the blinkered thinking that doesn’t appreciate the strength (weakened by less EU migration) of the UK’s cultural sector.
But a LOT of kids bounce into “media studies” just “because”. Perhaps media studies is getting a bad rap though. I believe the modern poster boy is “criminology”.
It must have a reputation as a really soft touch. I fear for these kids with their useless "criminology" degrees and enormous debts in about 5-10 years
The same thing happened with Psychology decades back
The universities tend to be shit, as well:
Solent University (Southampton)
18 Criminology degrees
Teesside University, Middlesbrough
17 Criminology degrees
https://www.whatuni.com/degree-courses/search?subject=criminology
I think people watch serial killer documentaries and think, that looks fun.
Then they see there’s a course down the road and the University of Basildon.
I always ask these kids how many criminologists do they think there are in the UK. It’s like they’d never really considered the question.
I feel sorry for these kids.
They deserve better.
Mind you there’s a whole thread around whether or not we are delivering tertiary education in the most productive way.
I remember stories about in my own sector when they tried introducing various productivity metrics, such as lines of code written, bugs fixed etc. Pretty much every one of them ended up failing to achieve the intended thing and made things worse as people spent more time creating ways to hit targets than producing good quality code. I am sure other software bods here will confirm.
Although I don’t think education is all about earnings, there are charts that show how much various degrees are expected to earn you.
My hypothesis is that criminology is very low, probably a negative ROI on the fees.
History, on the other hand, tends - whether because of the course or the sort of people who study it - to deliver better returns.
BUT it is all so different now: when 3 years at Uni saddles you with a lifetime of debt
It is hard to believe my generation was paid BY THE STATE to go to Uni. And we had all the best drugs and music. We were indeed lucky; I can understand why Boomers are resented by the young
Stick to the travel writing, which I’ve hugely enjoyed.
I can't really talk having done Economics...
My daughter wants be a vet. She knows that involves some serious studying. (But on the positive side, has excellent job prospects on the far side.) I'm not going to try and force her to take an apprenticeship to do something she's not interested in.
The British maximise their utility by paying less tax, keeping their public spaces in squalor, and buying tat from abroad.