Jonathan Pearce has written about the talk last night on the Samizdata blog.
See also a comment on my previous entry.
John Wilden, in the audience, made a good point at the end of the evening. He said that the government outlaws monopolies in commercial life. But at the same time, it operates one in healthcare [and education, too, one might add]. This is inconsistent. If monopolies damage the interests of consumers, then monopolies in healthcare and education must also, logically, damage consumers.
Posted by James Bartholomew • Indexed in General
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The government monopoly of education is untenable. Sooner or later - probably sooner - governments will need to face up to the truth that diversity is the only route to excellence.
At present, innovation in higher education - the level where the consumers are adults, not minors - is suppressed in favour of protectionism in favour of the state sector. This results in such idiocies as the "all universities are equal" fallacy and an overpowering web of state regulation and interference that tells the consumer less and less about the quality that it is supposedly measuring.
Consumers of education know good from bad, regardless of government-promoted confusion and social engineering. It's time to stop propping up institutions that would fail if subjected to market forces, and also to allow the private sector to enter the market and promote diversity and experimentation with the aim of finding solutions in education that will meet the needs of modern students and employers rather than the government and academic establishment.
Posted by: Professor John Kersey at December 10, 2005 10:58 PM
And you get unionised Leftist teachers brainwashed at socialist teacher training schools and luniversites inculcating young minds with PC agendas.
Separation of School and State long overdue...
Posted by: niconolcast at December 11, 2005 09:19 PM
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Very true. Of course, the (current) Government do not see the state monopoly as damaging consumers but as "protecting" or "helping" them by giving the impression of equality and all for "free", while the nasty private sector charges people (shock! horror!) for goods and services and some people cannot afford some goods and services (boohoo! boohoo!).
The reality is that state monopoly brings uniformity, breeding mediocrity breeding further uniformity and further mediocrity - with the end result being a "society" of incredibly miserable, boring and depressing proportions, and a state monopoly of incredibly destructive proportions.
The sooner radical reform takes place the better. My fear is that the Tories will not be bold enough to make the required changes. This will leave the so-called "Liberals" who, once upon a time, may have supported such reforms, but today is too busy caring about the human rights of suspected terrorists... (at this point the Left accuse me of racism for suggesting that we have stronger ties to our own citizens than to foreigners...)
Posted by: Rory at December 8, 2005 12:32 PM