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The Uk: Knowledge Economy? .........


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HOLA441

We hear lots of claims about the UK becoming a 'knowledge economy'. Where's the evidence.

Patents granted (Latest available) by country

#1 Japan: 994 per million people

#2 Korea, South: 779 per million people

#3 United States: 289 per million people

#18 United Kingdom: 82 per million people

International Mathematical Olympiad > Results for the 2006 IMO > Points (Latest available) by country

#1 China: 214

#2 Russia: 174

#3 Korea, South: 170

United Kingdom: no ranking in top 16 countries

Business spending in research and development (Latest available) by country

#1 Sweden: 2.58 % of GDP

#2 Japan: 2.19 % of GDP

#3 Finland: 2.13 % of GDP

#12 United Kingdom: 0.92 % of GDP

Economic freedom (Latest available) by country

#1 Hong Kong: 3.55

#2 Singapore: 3.5

#3 New Zealand: 3.3

#9 United Kingdom: 3.15

Research and development personnel (per capita) (Latest available) by country

#1 Iceland: 19,161.8 per million people per 1

#2 Estonia: 1,623.41 per million people per 1

#3 Slovenia: 1,074.59 per million people per 1

#43 United Kingdom: 44.3077 per million people

exports per capita > Exports per capita, US$ (Latest available) by country

#1 Singapore: 49,100

#2 Hong Kong: 40,700

#3 Belgium: 25,900

#25 United Kingdom: 6,270

GDP > Nominal (per capita) (Latest available) by country

#1 Luxembourg: $66,463.78 per capita

#2 Norway: $54,467.23 per capita

#3 Switzerland: $47,999.07 per capita

#12 United Kingdom: $35,421.29 per capita

Overall productivity > PPP (Latest available) by country

#1 Luxembourg: $89,722.30

#2 United States: $74,624.70

#3 Ireland: $74,266.60

#22 United Kingdom: $50,825.40

Industrial production growth rate (Latest available) by country

#1 Azerbaijan: 50 %

#2 Equatorial Guinea: 30 %

#3 China: 22.9 %

#150 United Kingdom: 0 %

Results of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) involving a half-million students in 41 countries.

#1 France: 557

#2 Switzerland: 533

#3 Australia: 525

UK no ranking in top 16

Source of information

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HOLA442
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HOLA443

Unfortunately, most who would underpin the knowledge economy are only too aware that we are lagging behind. The problem is deeply rooted - the fact that those doing GCSEs/A-levels/Degrees are so much less well equipped than 20 years (or even 10 years) ago is very significant. The simple reality is that the government drive for quantity has seriously impacted on the quality. Ultimately, without the quality, we cannot advance.

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HOLA444
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HOLA445
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HOLA446

Those are very biased surveys. The UK leads the world in educating young people in things far more relevant than boring maths and research. We teach them media studies (watching TV), film studies (going to the pictures) and consumer and lifestyle skills (shopping).

By concentrating on these essential skills the UK will maintain itself at the leading edge in the new world order.

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HOLA447
Those are very biased surveys. The UK leads the world in educating young people in things far more relevant than boring maths and research. We teach them media studies (watching TV), film studies (going to the pictures) and consumer and lifestyle skills (shopping).

By concentrating on these essential skills the UK will maintain itself at the leading edge in the new world order.

So true.

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HOLA448
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HOLA449
We have got a knowledge economy! I've come up with this:

Patent #38757420: Method of turning participants in a conversation against you by pointing out that the price of something cannot rise beyond wages forever.

Actually the half-wits in the patent office would probably grant it!

Even with all the prior art!

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HOLA4410
Those are very biased surveys. The UK leads the world in educating young people in things far more relevant than boring maths and research. We teach them media studies (watching TV), film studies (going to the pictures) and consumer and lifestyle skills (shopping).

By concentrating on these essential skills the UK will maintain itself at the leading edge in the new world order.

Don't forget we also lead the world in wispy assymetric haircuts, and sullen 'emo' bands singing about being unhappy!

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HOLA4411

Ye Gods those figures are so depressing. :(

Still we probably lead the world in the production of "celebrities", WAG's and property porn so it's not all bad eh? :rolleyes:

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HOLA4412
I think you are missing an important piece of the jigsaw...

118020322_f5132e3fba_o.jpg

You have got to smile at the yanks really. What are they so SCARED of all the time? I mean who do they think they are going to have to fight with all that hardware! What a ridiculous country.

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HOLA4413

With the merkin budget at least, you have to bear in mind that this is only the MOD budget. To that you need to add Homeland Security (what else is it for if not Defense) veterans affairs, Nukes (looked after by the department of energy afaik) and a load of other stuff - notably this year about 300Bn$ for Iraq. So probably closer to 800BN than 500...

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HOLA4414
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HOLA4415
You have got to smile at the yanks really. What are they so SCARED of all the time? I mean who do they think they are going to have to fight with all that hardware! What a ridiculous country.

And they are borrowing money to do it! Like that's a sustainable defence position.

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HOLA4416
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HOLA4417
Typical cheap knock at the expense of this great country.

What about where we lead Europe?

e.g.

Fattest people.

Most indebted.

Most drink-related violence.

Drug use.

Teenage pregnancies.

Land of mope and gory!

Where do we stand in the STD rankings?

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HOLA4418

I think the truth is the world has become more of a knowledge based economy, in that nearly everything is produced or services offered more intelligently.

I would suggest the UK economy is going in the other direction out of sync especially with new Eastern cultures who seem to be embracing new technologies more readily into all aspects of their lives.

The simple fact the UK is consuming much more with a short term supply of credit than other "poorer" countries which means services sectors available to exploit this wealth is in the UK. This means the service sector will be seen to be very important to the extent of being vital. Hairdressers, cleaners, shoe shine boys are looked apon as the cutting edge of the knowledge based economy especially if they have a website and a marketing dept.

The real facts are technology, in all its aspects, is moving east whilst the UK relies more on service sector employment.

The global banking system could be said to have its centre in London due to the deregulation and special treatment given to foreign financiers or anyone with large quantities of money. This growth has been significant, and weathered the storm in the early 90s well, before re-bounding back with even higher growth to where it is today. Cheap money over the past decade has helped fuel this enormous growth in the sector that directly accounts for around a quarter of GDP!

This is what many call the knowledge economy in essence but unfortunately this will disappear and quicker than many think.

I would suggest it quite possible that China and Indias economies by 2050 would dwarf the UKs into relative insignificance.

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HOLA4420
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HOLA4421
I think the truth is the world has become more of a knowledge based economy, in that nearly everything is produced or services offered more intelligently.

I would suggest the UK economy is going in the other direction out of sync especially with new Eastern cultures who seem to be embracing new technologies more readily into all aspects of their lives.

The simple fact the UK is consuming much more with a short term supply of credit than other "poorer" countries which means services sectors available to exploit this wealth is in the UK. This means the service sector will be seen to be very important to the extent of being vital. Hairdressers, cleaners, shoe shine boys are looked apon as the cutting edge of the knowledge based economy especially if they have a website and a marketing dept.

The real facts are technology, in all its aspects, is moving east whilst the UK relies more on service sector employment.

The global banking system could be said to have its centre in London due to the deregulation and special treatment given to foreign financiers or anyone with large quantities of money. This growth has been significant, and weathered the storm in the early 90s well, before re-bounding back with even higher growth to where it is today. Cheap money over the past decade has helped fuel this enormous growth in the sector that directly accounts for around a quarter of GDP!

This is what many call the knowledge economy in essence but unfortunately this will disappear and quicker than many think.

I would suggest it quite possible that China and Indias economies by 2050 would dwarf the UKs into relative insignificance.

I think the whole idea of the knowledge economy is over played. High technology and scientific research are only really of interest to established western economies that are looking to find new security, new comforts and convenience, or have the economic power to devote effort to what is generally "entertainment" and occassionally the pursuit of pure knowledge.

I think the whole idea of India and China being really interested in focussing on cutting edge research is totally wrong; the reason they are starting to do so now is because they can sell it to us. Once we're economically insignificant, their priorities will be raising the living standards of the billions who live their in absolute poverty, using mechanism and technologies long since perfected, rolling them out on a large scale. IMO that will be the driver of those economies - domestic consumption of far more mundane products. Most people in India dream of owning a refrigerator. That will be the sort of thing that will drive their economies, once the wealth of the west fades. They've no immediate interest in manufacturing whizzy software and mobile phones other than to sell them to us. Once we've lost our appetite and ability to pay for that, it will disappear off the radar.

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HOLA4422
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HOLA4423
Don't forget we also lead the world in wispy assymetric haircuts, and sullen 'emo' bands singing about being unhappy!

Yes and retro fashion such as wearing "sports blazers" (?) with jeans; please, to all the blazer+jeans wearers out there, stop! It was a risible combination in the 80's and it still is now.

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HOLA4424
Guest Bart of Darkness
And they are borrowing money to do it! Like that's a sustainable defence position.

Maybe they're hoping that everyone will be too scared to ask for their money back.

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HOLA4425
I think the whole idea of the knowledge economy is over played. High technology and scientific research are only really of interest to established western economies that are looking to find new security, new comforts and convenience, or have the economic power to devote effort to what is generally "entertainment" and occassionally the pursuit of pure knowledge.

I think the whole idea of India and China being really interested in focussing on cutting edge research is totally wrong; the reason they are starting to do so now is because they can sell it to us. Once we're economically insignificant, their priorities will be raising the living standards of the billions who live their in absolute poverty, using mechanism and technologies long since perfected, rolling them out on a large scale. IMO that will be the driver of those economies - domestic consumption of far more mundane products. Most people in India dream of owning a refrigerator. That will be the sort of thing that will drive their economies, once the wealth of the west fades. They've no immediate interest in manufacturing whizzy software and mobile phones other than to sell them to us. Once we've lost our appetite and ability to pay for that, it will disappear off the radar.

I have been switching over to that Chinese news channel every now and again and have noticed all the new inventions people come out with on a daily basis. Most of them (nearly all) are absolute c##p but it reminds me of all those British inventions that came out at the turn of the century (most were totally c##p aswell) when this country was the innovators for the world.

Last one I saw was for the new air conditioned shirt for that busy executive :huh: The bloke modelling it looked like he was wearing a spacesuite and was floating away from his desk :blink: but the newsreader kept a straight face. Have the Chinese got a sense of humour?

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