Comments on The Devil's Kitchen: Economics spot

That steering wheel graphic looks awfully familiar...

2012-01-11T03:30:05.703Z

That steering wheel graphic looks awfully familiar:

http://www.chris-longhurst.com/speakingaboutnannycars.html

"what characterises those groups is that they...

2011-12-29T20:59:24.865Z

"what characterises those groups is that they strive for higher education and are willing to make any sacrifices necessary" - children do not have such insights and are largely dependent on an impetus created by parents.

Even the best intentioned teachers cannot properly address the needs of 30 odd kids per class - one of the reasons why those who can afford it choose private schools (which typically have smaller class sizes).
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-48712/Private-schools-chosen-small-classes.html

Obviously fewer 'sacrifices' are needed when education is outsourced or supplemented by one to one tuition, or even freedom from those social elements with an antagonistic attitude toward learning.

"alternatively they could simply look at the ...

2011-12-28T12:38:59.219Z

"alternatively they could simply look at the social groups who tend to get into the more prestigious uni's, and wonder why it is the same groups who are over-represented, time and time again?"

No doubt there is some bias when talking about oxbridge, but if it is the same groups getting into uni more generally then what characterises those groups is that they strive for higher education and are willing to make any sacrifices necessary. That attitude is a "cultural advantage" that is open to everyone willing to adopt it.

There are clearly far, far too many students - mos...

2011-12-28T11:55:48.692Z

There are clearly far, far too many students - most of them 'studying' completely useless subjects made up by crazed left-wing sociologists and the like. Anything that discourages young people from taking up their 'right' to three years of drunken self-indulgence and self-righteous complacency at the tax-payers' expense, and encourages them to do something practical and useful with their lives must be a good thing. Tuition fee increases? Just the beginning! Close down all the bog-standard ex-polys and privatise the rest!

"Only if they listen to the usual "class...

2011-12-27T16:55:08.441Z

"Only if they listen to the usual "class war" demagogues" - alternatively they could simply look at the social groups who tend to get into the more prestigious uni's, and wonder why it is the same groups who are over-represented, time and time again?

Personally I think 'intelligence' is unlikely to explain such a huge differential - the exiting new financial arrangements will merely accentuate this disparity which are largely driven by long standing cultural advantages.

Todays students will be the first generation who may STILL be paying off their uni fees, when their own children become eligible for higher education.
I mean who thinks fees are likely to go down - I don't?

At least a substantial percentage of students with libertarian leanings (if we accept Yoyoman's claim) will thrilled at this little bit of educational darwinism?

"9K will result in a change in student demogr...

2011-12-27T13:41:32.864Z

"9K will result in a change in student demographics such as a higher proportion of students from middle or upper class families ....... mmmm, I wonder."

Only if they listen to the usual "class war" demagogues and are convinced against logic that they can't afford it despite it being a loan they may never have to pay back if they don't earn enough.

"I'm a student DK and I think socialism i...

2011-12-24T14:31:25.183Z

"I'm a student DK and I think socialism is wrong" - then I assume you are happy about the move toward a 'market' in higher education - £9k a year (and rising) for tuition fees - I wonder if the 9K will result in a change in student demographics such as a higher proportion of students from middle or upper class families ....... mmmm, I wonder.

It is true though, we are mostly shit.

2011-12-23T17:51:06.322Z

It is true though, we are mostly shit.

@yoyo That's an interesting stat. Got a refer...

2011-12-23T12:27:50.124Z

@yoyo

That's an interesting stat. Got a reference for it? (I'm not doubting you but I'd like to be able to back up the claim if I use it against some students).

I'm a student DK and I think socialism is wron...

2011-12-22T15:44:10.361Z

I'm a student DK and I think socialism is wrong: please be more subtle and move away from ad hominem attacks on groups... there are more libertarians who are students as a percentage than any other group in the UK... so be kind to us!

Just watch The Young Ones if you want to know abou...

2011-12-22T12:39:32.510Z

Just watch The Young Ones if you want to know about students. Terrible people.

I blame the students less for this mess than the t...

2011-12-21T20:29:43.562Z

I blame the students less for this mess than the teachers. For undergrads, we should really just leave out the market failure bits unless we're willing to put the time into showing the limitations - under what conditions they apply, when policy can and cannot improve things, and that the general presumption ought to be that policy is more likely to screw things up than are markets, even where markets fail. There are big exceptions, but they're exceptions.

@K R True. I'm sure many of the most vocal cr...

2011-12-21T18:31:49.486Z

@K R

True. I'm sure many of the most vocal critics of socialist idiocy have a shameful past involving a bit of Guardian reading and seeing 'the right wing' in the same blind way born again Christians view Satan.

Its inevitable that the young will view 'the left' as the path to freedom when the gates to rebellion are all contolled by the left. At least, the easy to find ones are anyway. It actually takes a hell of a lot of research and learning to arrive at a libertarian path. I mean, go chat to any normal person about a taxless society or a world without laws and see how mad you look. Everyone knows socialism but few even have any frame of reference for what most of us believe.

We should all count ourselves very lucky that we are here and not trapped in an intellectual limbo like so many fellow travellers clearly are.

This site is just full of wisdom.

2011-12-21T11:44:07.830Z

This site is just full of wisdom.

Don't lump me in with that load of fucking idi...

2011-12-21T09:22:44.913Z

Don't lump me in with that load of fucking idiots.

"... the general law that there is not a s...

2011-12-21T07:49:52.981Z
"... the general law that there is not a single social sector on this planet so ill-informed, self-righteous and pig-ignorant as a student."

Apart from pressure groups and fakecharities, that is?

Even you were a student once. Think of UKUncut as...

2011-12-21T06:11:58.011Z
Even you were a student once. Think of UKUncut as a giant kindergarten run by the attendees. They make a lot of mess, a lot of noise, demand lots of attention then go home in the evening. In the scheme of things UKUncut is a passing phrase in the journey to adulthood for it's participants and we should't put our blood pressure at risk over them.