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HOME OFFICE UKBA: How changes to our immigration system affect your application to work here


A page explaining how applications to come to work in the UK will be affected by the new points-based system.

Also on 'opendemocracy', see Roger Southall on The
politics of pressure: the world and Zimbabwe: "For too long the
international community has been at odds with western demands for increased
pressure upon the....Zanu-PF regime of Robert Mugabe being met with African
(and notably South African) resistan

Unlike perishable agricultural products, oil can be stored in the ground. So when will an owner of oil reduce production or increase inventories instead of selling his oil and converting the proceeds into investible cash? A simplified answer is that he will keep the oil in the ground if its price is expected to rise faster than the interest rate that could be earned on the money obtained from selling the oil. The actual price of oil may rise faster or slower than is expected, but the decision to sell (or hold) the oil depends on the expected price rise.

Honesty about 1968

Paul Rogers, author of a series of books on the war on terror, claimed the Taliban are getting stronger than they have been since the war began.

He claimed the only end to violence would be to open negotiations with less radical members of the militant group.

'That would be downright impossible under a (George) Bush administration,' he added.

Professor Rogers, from the University of Bradford, said the Taliban are resurgent because Europe and the United States have been distracted by Iraq.

He said: 'Clearly there has been a real upsurge recently. But the worst thing of all is that this was anticipated.

'The Taliban are stronger than they have been for years - borders with western Pakistan are very loose, they have more money and, most importantly, they have taken full advantage while US and European forces have been distracted by Iraq.

'For the first time in five or six years there are more coalition forces being killed in Afghanistan than Iraq.

'This is simply because the job did not get done. Afghanistan did not get the help it needed five or six years ago and then the US and Britain took their eyes off the ball.'

He added: 'Almost all colonial wars have only been ended through compromise - and Afghanistan will prove no different.

'I don't believe that will ever happen under a Bush government which sees only military action as the answer. I can only see more and more deaths in the short term.'

Democracy and new media

How, then, could creativity be made to pay? The answer was already becoming apparent a century ago: creations must make money indirectly by promoting sales of something else. Just as auto makers used to sponsor grand prix racers to spice up the image of their cars, computer manufacturers now sponsor hotshot software designers to build brand recognition for their hardware. The same is true for individuals. The royalties that the Four Sopranos earn from their recordings are surprisingly small; the recordings mainly serve as advertisements for their concerts. The fans attend these concerts not to appreciate the music (they can do that far better at home), but for the experience of seeing their idols in person. In short, instead of becoming a knowledge economy we became a celebrity economy.

Luckily, the same technology that has made it possible to capitalize directly on knowledge has also created many more opportunities for celebrity. The 500-channel world is a place of many subcultures, each with its own heroes. Still, the celebrity economy has been hard on people -- especially for those with a scholarly bent. A century ago, it was actually possible to make a living as a more or less pure scholar. Now if you want to devote yourself to scholarship, there are only three choices. Like Charles Darwin, you can be born rich. Like Alfred Wallace, the less-fortunate co-discoverer of evolution, you can make your living doing something else and pursue research as a hobby. Or, like many 19th-century scientists, you can try to cash in on a scholarly reputation by going on the lecture circuit.

But celebrity, though more common, still does not come easily. That is why writing this article is such an opportunity. I actually don't mind my day job in the veterinary clinic, but I have always wanted to be a full-time economist; an article like this may be just what I need to make my dream come true.