With the economic crisis getting into full swing in 2009, it is reassuring to know that the brightest and best from the nation’s thinktanks are on hand to offer advice on how to escape the current hole the world finds itself in. The only problem is that there is little agreement on either the cause or the cure.
Compass has hailed the crisis as an opportunity for Britain to break free from the chains of neoliberalism. In a ‘thinkpiece’ entitled Breaking out of Britain’s Neo-liberal State, Gerry Hassan and Anthony Barnett claim that ‘the current set of events, uncertainty and instability shows the failure of the world that neoliberalism brought about’ and say there is ‘an historic opportunity and challenge to all of us: whether we be liberals, conservatives, nationalists, or just concerned about the future of Britain and the world’.
Over at the Adam Smith Institute, not surprisingly, any predictions of the demise of global capitalism are taken with a heavy pinch of monetarist salt. ‘We are constantly being told that the current economic problems are akin to the Great Depression, or that the credit crunch was as significant a blow to capitalism as the fall of the Soviet Empire was to communism,’ writes Tom Clougherty on the ASI’s blog. ‘But these things are simply not true … People aren’t going to starve. The stock market is going to recover. And capitalism itself isn’t going anywhere.’
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The number of policy wonks that watch reality television is probably roughly equal to the number of ex-Big Brother housemates that attend seminars on tax harmonisation – ie, not very many. But the New Local Government Network has proved itself the exception, finding inspiration for their latest ideas in the unlikely place of ITV1’s the X Factor.
NLGN’s report, What’s In a Name?, urges councils to commemorate local British heroes by naming public places (such as streets and parks) after them following X Factor-style public votes. The report’s author, James Hulme, offers some examples: why not name Edinburgh’s public library after JK Rowling, a Manchester park after David Beckham or a road after Oasis’ Gallagher brothers?
‘Celebrating the achievements of local people would give areas a unique identity and focus, especially at a time when there is concern over so-called ‘clone towns’ of identikit high streets,’ says Hulme. ‘It would also be a strong sign that local areas are proud of their heritage and be an opportunity to enlighten newcomers and tourists to their area of the many things achieved there.’
The proposals received a ringing endorsement from local government minister John Healey, who pointed out that the public needn’t just vote for national icons but could ‘choose their community’s unsung heroes; those who serve others and win the respect and admiration of the people around them.’
Tanked up would like to propose naming the streets of Westminster after the ‘unsung heroes’ of our most influential thinktanks. So, who knows, in future you may find yourself walking through ‘Sunder Katwala park’ on the way to ‘Chris Leslie library’, before stopping for a swim at the ‘Richard Reeves leisure centre’.
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Tanked up would like to wish the Fabian Society a very happy birthday after it reached the grand old age of 125 during the first week of 2009, cementing its reputation as ‘the UK’s oldest thinktank’. ‘On the evening of Friday January 4th 1884, around 15 people met at the home of Edward Pease to inaugurate an association whose ultimate aim shall be the reconstruction of society in accordance with the highest moral possibilities,’ wrote Fabian general secretary Sunder Katwala on the organisaton’s very modern-looking website.
To mark the occasion, the Fabians, along with the London School of Economics, are to publish online the full range of Fabian tracts and pamphlets from 1884 to 1997.