Actually, as jgh has noted, there was no question asked. Therefore, the correct response would run something like this:
“Oh please do fuck off, you Jeremy Corbyn lovin’ twat of a Socialist. And while you’re at it, get a real job.”
As to SOAS itself, nothing says you’re serious about combating inequality like having a Chancellor who is a princess, a Director who is a baroness, and a President who has a DBE…
john77
@ Dennis
Ah, but it’s not inequality when all the top jobs are held by women, only if 51% or more are held by men.
I’m a former SOAS student: studied Chinese there in the nineties. Not many radicals there then, but the bar was a great place to buy weed
jgh
I studied Japanese in the 1980s when that was the Next Big Economy that was going to rule the world. Got a nice Japanese girlfriend out of it though.
DP
Dear Mr Worstall
Does SOAS consider this a ‘problem’ that needs to be ‘solved’ or just an observation of the way things work?
Successful investment will always foster inequality. It is inequality which drags everyone up. If there is no inequality, there is nothing to strive for, no incentive to strive and no incentive to invest.
DP
john malpas
Why not say what SOAS is?
As for the rest – Huh?
-TOMIOS.
MyBurningEars
I read some lecture notes by a SOAS guy – economic geography iirc.
He presents a Marxist economic analysis after spending a little while “disproving” neoclassical economics.
For instance “homo economicus” is assumed to maximise profit …but we know real people are motivated by things other than profit! They are influenced by their religious or philosophical beliefs, their love for their family, their desire for personal happiness, need for leisure and to enjoy what they do, etc etc. Therefore conventional economics is a busted flush.
MyBurningEars
I wonder, during his undergrad, which lecture of Econ 101 the “utility function” first got mentioned. It is a reasonable guess that he stopped attending lectures the one before that.
So Much For Subtlety
Andrew M – “Russell Brand is apparently considering studying at SOAS. Says it all really.”
That reflects rather[*] well on SOAS. Let us know when they make him 0.2 of a Professor.
[*]comparatively speaking anyway
ken
I can see it as an exam question – the first part is a bit crap – since you can just answer it with a no. Or Tim could be right and there may be a nutjob in SOAS who thinks FDI increases inequality between countries. . If the former, a poor quality question, if the latter, evidence of nutjobs in academe.
At a pinch, I suppose you could argue that countries that accept FDI become richer and countries that do not like Venezuela do not.
I suspect I am missing your point.
here are some IMF economists asking themselves the same question
http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=43718
Err, Luis, “financial development” and “foreign direct investment” are not the same thing.
oh well then
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/sdn/2015/sdn1513.pdf
see para 31
Yes, but between countries?
I see no question, all I see is a statement. A question has to have the verb reversed and end in a question mark.
answer there would be: FDI reduces inequality between countries. perfectly sensible exam question, if along lines of:
Q1. evaluate the statement “FDI has fostered inequality between countries and within countries”
often set exams where answer you are looking for is: no.
Actually, as jgh has noted, there was no question asked. Therefore, the correct response would run something like this:
“Oh please do fuck off, you Jeremy Corbyn lovin’ twat of a Socialist. And while you’re at it, get a real job.”
As to SOAS itself, nothing says you’re serious about combating inequality like having a Chancellor who is a princess, a Director who is a baroness, and a President who has a DBE…
@ Dennis
Ah, but it’s not inequality when all the top jobs are held by women, only if 51% or more are held by men.
Russell Brand is apparently considering studying at SOAS. Says it all really.
http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/02/is-russell-brand-thinking-about-going-to-university/
I’m a former SOAS student: studied Chinese there in the nineties. Not many radicals there then, but the bar was a great place to buy weed
I studied Japanese in the 1980s when that was the Next Big Economy that was going to rule the world. Got a nice Japanese girlfriend out of it though.
Dear Mr Worstall
Does SOAS consider this a ‘problem’ that needs to be ‘solved’ or just an observation of the way things work?
Successful investment will always foster inequality. It is inequality which drags everyone up. If there is no inequality, there is nothing to strive for, no incentive to strive and no incentive to invest.
DP
Why not say what SOAS is?
As for the rest – Huh?
-TOMIOS.
I read some lecture notes by a SOAS guy – economic geography iirc.
He presents a Marxist economic analysis after spending a little while “disproving” neoclassical economics.
For instance “homo economicus” is assumed to maximise profit …but we know real people are motivated by things other than profit! They are influenced by their religious or philosophical beliefs, their love for their family, their desire for personal happiness, need for leisure and to enjoy what they do, etc etc. Therefore conventional economics is a busted flush.
I wonder, during his undergrad, which lecture of Econ 101 the “utility function” first got mentioned. It is a reasonable guess that he stopped attending lectures the one before that.
Andrew M – “Russell Brand is apparently considering studying at SOAS. Says it all really.”
That reflects rather[*] well on SOAS. Let us know when they make him 0.2 of a Professor.
[*]comparatively speaking anyway
I can see it as an exam question – the first part is a bit crap – since you can just answer it with a no. Or Tim could be right and there may be a nutjob in SOAS who thinks FDI increases inequality between countries. . If the former, a poor quality question, if the latter, evidence of nutjobs in academe.
At a pinch, I suppose you could argue that countries that accept FDI become richer and countries that do not like Venezuela do not.