This summer I took AS-Levels in Politics, French and Spanish and an A-Level in Maths all of which will be graded under the new A* system. Around me, politicians are talking about how exams are getting easier and it seems like the general consensus from the press, employers and the public is that they just aren't as useful as they were in the Good Old Days. The Conservatives are talking about changing the value of a Media Studies A-Level in comparison to one in Physics, and I'm well aware that by the time I apply to university in December, the value of the subjects I chose over a year ago may well have changed: in a few years, the qualifications I gain now may be redundant and the meaning of the grades completely different. I'm therefore particularly concerned about education reform and the policies of the Government and other parties.
I'm also interested in the use of free market principles in recovering from the current economic crisis, and how this has led to calls for less Government intervention in other areas coupled, ironically, with calls for the Government to legislate against the multi-million pound bonuses. At a time like this, therefore, when the Government is being challenged on practically every front and the public is calling for reform, it is fascinating to be able to spend two weeks working with a think tank as prestigious and influential as the Adam Smith Institute.
In what little free time I spend not panicking about the future, I can be found acting, writing, or playing underwater hockey.
Yesterday Rose Friedman passed away peacefully at her home in California. The wife of Milton Friedman, she co-authored many publications with him, most notably