Blog 2023 Malcolm Blair-Robinson

University Fees and Education Reform.

These two issues, though separate, are together. Universities have to charge for their services, whether the student, the taxpayer or a combination. Up until New Labour the taxpayer paid all of it. Then through the unpopular student loans, some of the burden fell to the students. Now a much bigger burden is to be borne in the shape of much bigger loans. The less well off, or those who take on the critical less well paid jobs, will bear a heavier burden because the loan will represent a proportionally larger debit against their net worth and their earnings. This may be necessary, but it cannot be right.

Into this unhappy situation comes Michael Gove and his proposed far reaching reforms. I have been critical of this clever minister and I did not altogether warm to his early plans for independent schools to be set up on a whim, but funded by the state. What he is trying to now is much more interesting. He is planning to empower teachers and upgrade their competence, rationalise the exam regime and the subjects taught and require the basics, rather than the fads, to have priority. What students actually know and what use is this knowledge in the wider world will once again drive the learning train, not the crackpot theories of academic good- for- nothings and gullible politicians.

This is important because it is the crass failure of the general education system to bring young people to school leaving age with any useful outcome, which has put such demand upon the universities to offer them a credible start in working life. If this can be sorted out, very many fewer students will need to go to university or gain any practical advantage from so doing. Instead they will be able to go into commerce, industry or public service, with a first class eduction. Those who do go to to university will be able to put their extra learning to good use for the benefit of us all. This is not happening now. This will change the cost base and make paying, by whatever method, a good deal easier.

It is morally questionable to make young people take out loans for thousands of pounds to pay for something they should already have been given free by the age of eighteen. A really good education to give them a start in life. I think the clever minister understands this. I hope so.

Euro Collapse?

It is not impossible, though it is unlikely. If the Euro-zone is to survive, however, as a coherent, rather than a troubled, currency it has to meet the criticism of every major commentator. It is impossible to have a currency without a government and all economies in the zone must operate within the same fiscal policy. This requires significant surrender of sovereignty. If the democratic institutions of the zone give the people the right to choose who makes the decisions, then all will, in the end be well.

At present the governance of Europe is among the most peculiar of all the systems currently operating across the world. It is never quite clear who is in charge of what or whether their authority is accepted and understood. The democratic link with much of the structure is stretched, leaving many of the populations of  the nation states in the dark. This provides the illusion of sovereignty to members, but as Ireland has woken up to discover to its dismay, it is an illusion. 

Thus, given that we expect the Euro to survive, we must assume that proper governance will be installed. That may mean that some will want to leave. We cannot yet prophesy how it will all turn out.  We do know what is spooking the markets. Suddenly the size of the sovereign, banking and personal debts of the vulnerable countries is throwing up two questions.

Can such debt mountains ever be paid off? Will the affected populations accept the levels of austerity necessary to make that likely over a long, perhaps very long, term?  Nobody knows the answer to either of these key questions. Markets hate uncertainty. Investors walk away or charge the earth. This is the heart of the current crisis.