Labour and Industry

Jeremy Corbyn’s recent speech to engineering and manufacturing employers has ( as is generally the case!) been misrepresented. Launching Labour’s Build it in Britain, Corbyn has been accused of wanting to establish a ‘protectionist’ blanket around UK manufacturing and by implication being ‘pro-Brexit’ even though it’s questionable whether there’s anything in EU legislation that would … Continue reading Labour and Industry →

‘Full employment’ ?

Post-war governments committed themselves to maintaining ‘full-employment’. According to economist John Maynard Keynes, this meant the state ensuring levels of 'aggregate demand' remained high. But governments also accepted that there would be ‘trade-offs’ – as the labour market tightened, inflation would start to rise and so on. Economists tried to calculate the ‘non-accelerating inflation rate of … Continue reading ‘Full employment’ ? →

Another fall in apprenticeship starts

The number of apprenticeship starts has fallen again. Latest government figures show just 290, 500 starts for the nine-month period from last August. This compares with 440,300 for the same period a year ago. The Department for Education chart below illustrates the extent of the decline. It suggests that David Cameron’s target of 3 million … Continue reading Another fall in apprenticeship starts →

Key Stage 4: what price a campaign?

It’s over 5 years now since Michael Gove’s decision to bow to his critics and retain GCSEs. But despite this humiliating reversal, Gove, who had arrogantly lectured the education establishment on the need to introduce new English Baccalaureate certificates in key subjects, still managed to impose his educational priorities and undermine much of what was once … Continue reading Key Stage 4: what price a campaign? →

Lost students

Last week Education Datalab published worrying statistics on the number of school students who had been taken off roll and failed to take their GCSEs - some 22 000 more would have been eligible for post-16 study this year. https://ffteducationdatalab.org.uk/2018/06/whos-left-2018-part-one-the-main-findings/ Yet while young people may finish their mainstream secondary schooling at the end of year … Continue reading Lost students →

Higher productivity for the many, or just the few?

For many people, increases in education provision and education performance have contributed to a growth in economic productivity – the increased output per worker. But it’s the level of investment in physical rather than human capital that’s more important. From the mid-20th century, for example, the ‘Fordist’ production line increased output and reduced prices, but … Continue reading Higher productivity for the many, or just the few? →

Stuck at the start?

Last week’s TUC report Stuck at the start provides clear evidence of the difficulties facing young workers. For example: • 40 per cent of workers on agency contracts or in casual work are aged 16-24 and 36 per cent of workers on zero-hours contracts are aged under 25. • Three fifths of younger workers are in … Continue reading Stuck at the start? →

Zero-sum education?

Post-war economists considered education a ‘public’ but also an individual ‘merit good’ benefitting both society and the individual. Indeed, like the National Health Service, education reforms were a key part of the welfare state. Educational reformers have continued to operate with these assumptions, but in other respects, education and the NHS are very different. Devoting … Continue reading Zero-sum education? →

Should Labour be supporting T-levels?

The Tories are pushing ahead with T (Technical) -Levels promising they represent a major reform of secondary education. Worryingly, Labour is also backing them, mistakenly thinking they will provide real opportunities for the 50% of 17-18 year olds not going university by providing the employment skills needed for social mobility in the new 21st century … Continue reading Should Labour be supporting T-levels? →

Lining up one generation against another

David Willetts, once Universities minister under David Cameron, now Chair at the Resolution Foundation has made his name arguing that the current difficulties faced by young people are the result of the excesses enjoyed by their parents - the ‘baby boomer’ generation of the post-war years. Willetts – as architect of the current tuition fees scandal, … Continue reading Lining up one generation against another →