Duncan O'Leary
Senior Researcher
Duncan works on projects looking at public services, skills and work.
- Comment is free, but some are less abusive than others Good to see that the Guardian is getting a little more web 2.0 with its comment moderation over on Comment is free. The site has lots to offer, but the comment streams tend to be 50% comment, 50% abuse. Which is a shame, because it tends to damage the quality of debate on there. continue reading on 28th January 2008
- Groundblog day I don’t know why I keeping blogging about school choice, but I can’t help it. Today Matthew D’Ancona writes over on the Spectator blog that the announcement yesterday on school admissions is ‘an old fashioned public sector rationing system doing its bleak work’. continue reading on 17th January 2008 Comments (2)
- Battle of the 'isms This was the most interesting thing I read over the weekend. It’s a piece looking at the furore going on in Australia over an alleged racist remark in an international cricket match. The accused player has now offered his defence: he says it was a comment about another player’s wife, not about his race. So, asks the article, why is this a defence? Which ‘isms have become acceptable? continue reading on 14th January 2008 Comments (2)
- The meaning of modernisation The Times’ Comment Central is one of my favourite blogs and I enjoy Daniel Finkelstein’s writing, but something irks me about this post on welfare reforms. continue reading on 8th January 2008 Comments (3)
- 2008: the year of decisions I know everyone's supposed to be fed up at this time of year but I'm not. I reckon this is one of the biggest, most interesting years for politics for a long time. Here’s why: continue reading on 3rd January 2008
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Reclaiming evidence
Last week I argued that both the government and the opposition are struggling to reconcile ‘following the evidence’ about what works with reforms designed to give those running/working in public services more freedom to make their own decisions. Does evidence trump information, or visa versa? Estelle Morris nails the argument here:
continue reading on 27th November 2007 - Evidence vs Information Here’s a question. Who knows best about how to teach children to read: teachers and headteachers, or the government? And here’s another question: who knows best about how to keep discipline in schools: teachers and headteachers or the government? They are serious questions, but one that policy still fails to answer. continue reading on 19th November 2007 Comments (2)
- 'Power to the people' - but how..? I wonder if David Cameron has prompted an interesting debate this morning – not about council tax and local referendums, but about the politics of power. The question for the Right and the Left (pdf), is whether it is localism or marketisation of services that is best at giving people real power over their own lives. continue reading on 13th November 2007 Comments (1)
- What equals what? My hopes for some a bit more progressive action in the blogosphere may have been answered. Liberal Conspiracy, launched this week, looks like a promising place for some good debate on the liberal left. Chris Dillow writes an early post arguing against equality of opportunity as a key policy goal, in favour of more redistribution instead. His argument is basically that: continue reading on 8th November 2007 Comments (2)
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Warning: the type of information that you provide to people may matter
This strikes me as a great idea:
'Drinkers worried about liver damage can test themselves at home. The LiverCheck test measures levels of two enzymes in the blood produced when alcohol damages liver cells. The makers say the test will give users an idea of whether they are drinking too much.'
continue reading on 30th October 2007 Comments (1)