A pause for thought
This site is taking a break to refresh its gills
OWING TO other commitments e-conomist will be taking an indefinite break. These are just some of the highlights from previous years that are still of some interest and that I am particularly proud of.
Cousins and Diplomats
A review of Chris Patten’s autobiographical excursion on the European Union and its place in the world. I take issue with him on a number of grounds including policy towards Turkey, democratic accountability in the EU and the Iraq conflict. I found Chris Patten an excellent apologist for the middle-European consensus but in the end found the book’s arguments unconvincing. Go to article...
How People Work
An examination of Steven Pinker’s thoughts on cognitive and evolutionary psychology after I had read “How the Mind Works” and “The Blank Slate”. Steven Pinker is a very eloquent author who has some interesting things to say about human nature and the history of research in psychology. However, he has taken evolution altogether too seriously and doesn’t seem to understand the creative side of human psychology very well. Go to article...
Trusting Phonics
This article followed a BBC Newsnight special report on a school in East London that had been forced to embrace a programme of “synthetic phonics” to tackle a serious problem with illiteracy. This article argues that educational academics should take the scientific method seriously rather than advocating the latest politically correct nostrum in teaching methods. Go to article...
Guessing the Future, 3-part essay
In 2004, Bill Emmott, the then-departing editor of The Economist, published a book on geopolitics in the 21st century, “20:21 Vision”. It was a thoughtful and thought provoking book that sparked a number of ideas. My review of it is to be found in Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.
Beagle 2 whimpers
A short and pithy piece I wrote in the aftermath of the crash-landing of Britain’s pathetic attempt to conquer the Red Planet. Bad haircuts, pop musicians and a clean-room in the back of a van. Where did it all go wrong? Go to article...
An Illiberal Education
“Culture and Anarchy” by Matthew Arnold is one of the classics of 19th Century political writing. Simon Heffer decided to co-opt it in his Radio 4 attack on the modern welfare state and this article explains why he fell far short of Arnold’s example. Go to article...
Reforming the House of Lords
This essay was an attempt to inject some historical perspective into Lords reform by making a case for checks-and-balances within the framework of representative government. It outlines a key episode in the history of the Peloponnesian War to show how the pure democratic experiment of ancient Greece failed through lack of a check on the majority. The article then examines the US Constitution and explains why it has proven so resilient over the last 200 years. My personal solution to a fully-elected upper-chamber is provided, but it is not really the main point of the essay. Go to article...
A Democratic Manifesto
It is has long been my contention that democracy is a living ideal and that it must constantly be defended and re-invigorated if it is not to crumble into tyranny. Many people take it for granted in this country, but I wonder how many of us could make a spirited defence of it in the areas of the world where it is poorly understood and quite frequently misunderstood by even its most fervent advocates. This is a 900-word vaccination for those whose democratic immune-system needs a boost. Go to article...
The poverty of Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism ought now to be only of historical curiosity. I wrote
this essay, at the age of twenty, that demolished Utilitarianism as a
rational system of morals. Utilitarianism, particularly as its’ later
development in the form Consequentialism, had metamorphosed into a
thin veneer around conventional Christian morality. I found that it
was no longer viable nor indeed credible. This essay attracts some
traffic, so I will maintain it here for the future. But I have moved
on, and so should everyone else.
Go
to article... 