An appeal to academics
One of Britain’s standout characteristics is the number of world-class universities: we have several top-50 institutions and the Eurozone has none. The brainpower – academics and their students – is a massive national asset. But one that’s not really reflected in our public debate. Whereas American academics are shaping their debate, and often ours, British academics are seldom heard from. This in part a defect in the funding system that incentivises academics to have 'impact' in academic papers but not real-world debate (as opposed to the US, whose universities have far closer links to real-world companies and their research divisions).
