Besides, countries need not just this new elite’s money; perhaps even more, they need its skills.To acknowledge this is uncomfortable. It is much easier to say that we should not be relying so much on foreign inward investment, or, more snobbishly, that if Lord Lloyd-Webber wants to go (and it is not clear that he does) his departure would be to the cultural benefit of the country. It is tough to have to acknowledge that politicians, trained to construct policies that will appeal to voters, have also to construct policies which appeal to non-voters.But, from the tone of the political debate, you can see that politicians are aware of the need to broaden their appeal. Labour has sought not just to reassure British taxpayers, not just to reassure foreign investors, but also to reassure foreign nationals who have come to work or live in the UK. For though the new mobility of financial and human capital in one sense diminishes a national politician’s power, it also creates an opportunity. Create a climate attractive to both forms of capital, and the world will beat a path to your door..
Catherine Edwards thought she wanted to be a paediatrician and then, at the age of 19, she took a class at UCLA (University of California at Los Angeles) called Education 180. “I realised that the reason I wanted to be a paediatrician was to help other people, especially children, and that I could accomplish this by being a teacher.”
She is not alone. After decades in the wilderness, teaching is once again a profession of choice in America and the likes of Ms Edwards, now 21, are on the cutting edge of a trend that few dared to predict. “Teaching is hot!” exclaims Arthur Levine, president of Teachers’ College, Columbia University, in New York City.
Admission applications at the top college are up 54 per cent on last year and 115 per cent over three years ago.
That story is repeated, though less dramatically, at teaching programmes around the US. The boom is being fuelled by a new spirit of idealism among the young, and also among forty-somethings who are starting second careers. What some people are calling the most progressive mood since the Sixties is well-timed: there is a national shortage of teachers. So, could it happen in Britain too?Certainly some factors are similar. Interviews with undergraduates in America show that the Me Generation is ancient history and the notorious Generation X is fading fast. In its place is the We Generation and these young people are driven not by money or status but by idealism and the desire to give something back.”This is a generation in which more than six out of 10 students are now involved in community service,” says Mr Levine. “This generation is very interested in politics, but not national or international politics They are interested in local politics They do not believe in national leaders They don’t believe in government They don’t believe in most of our social institutions.
