TONY BLAIR'S view of the history of education is one of state neglect with occasional exceptions. I don't want to say there's no truth in this story. But there is an alternative story to be told, which is not one of neglect but one of creeping collectivisation. On the resources side, this culminated in the … Continue reading Opinion: Beware the collectivisation of education
Author: Robert Skidelsky
Economist and member of the House of Lords
Opinion: No, Prime Minister
We must confront our past, not continue it," Tony Blair announced in his Romanes lecture on education (Prospect, February). His history of education is one of state neglect with occasional exceptions (Balfour's 1902 Act, Butler's 1944 Act) until Jim Callaghan's Ruskin speech in 1976. There was then a little progress under the Tories, but basically … Continue reading Opinion: No, Prime Minister
Book Review: A stake in the heart
The Stakeholder Society by Bruce Ackerman and Anne Alstott Yale University Press. £16.95. In the 1980s, both Communism and democratic socialism succumbed to globalization. There is much about this double defeat which is still mysterious, not least its rough coincidence in time. What is clear is that, from the 1970s onwards, socialism started to recede. … Continue reading Book Review: A stake in the heart
A Conservative Economic Policy
1. There is a basic philosophical divide between Conservatives and Labour, which has survived Labour’s transition to ‘new’ Labour. The Conservatives believe in lowering taxes when it is prudent to do so, and conducting the rest of their economic & social policy in such a way as to enable this to happen. ‘New’ Labour believe … Continue reading A Conservative Economic Policy
Family Values
The House of Rothschild: The World's Banker, 1849-1999 by Niall Ferguson Viking, 658 pp., $34.95 The House of Rothschild: Money's Prophets, 1798-1848 by Niall Ferguson Penguin, 518 pp., $18.95 (paper) 1. In his delightful memoirs, the art historian Kenneth Clark recalls that Lord Cunliffe, governor of the Bank of England, came to lunch with his … Continue reading Family Values
Nato’s deadly legacy from Kosovo
With the west's humanitarian concern now focused on Russia's assault on Grozny, it is a good moment to look back on Kosovo, not least because the renewal of the Chechen war is a direct consequence of the Kosovan operation. It showed Russia the "western, civilised" way of waging this type of war, and it tilted … Continue reading Nato’s deadly legacy from Kosovo
Kosovo: The balance sheet
Ten months after the end of the Kosovan war sufficient time has elapsed and information accumulated to draw up a tentative historical balance sheet. I say 'historical', because what has been done cannot be undone. We must live with the consequences, and do our best in the new situation. This does not mean, though, that … Continue reading Kosovo: The balance sheet
Reputations – A.J.Ayer
The recent downsizing of A.J. ('Freddie') Ayer is none too soon. For several decades no one who went to Oxford could escape the stultifying influence of his Logical Positivism and its associated Verification Principle - the view that, apart from logic and mathematics, all statements which cannot be verified empirically are meaningless. This doctrine managed … Continue reading Reputations – A.J.Ayer
‘Kosovo and Russia’s Place in International Relations
The Nato action in Kosovo raises three questions for international relations. Was it legal? Was it just? And was it prudent? I will concentrate mainly on the third question, because this is most directly to do with Russia’s place in the international system. But first let me say something about the first two. Was it … Continue reading ‘Kosovo and Russia’s Place in International Relations
Podium: The flaws in the new world order
ONE OF the oldest divides in politics is between the moralists and the prudentialists. Moralists have a passion to make the crooked path of humanity straight; prudentialists to make the best of an inherently imperfect world. I know that prudence is itself a moral virtue, and moralists are also capable of discarding the sandals of … Continue reading Podium: The flaws in the new world order
Robert Skidelsky 