Lifelong Learning (1995)

Abstract

In a world where capital moves freely between countries, the main factor which determines the prosperity of a people is their skill. Countries which have higher levels of skill grow faster than other countries at the same level of income.¹ So our policy on skills cannot be passive – to wait until manifest shortages appear. It must be active – to improve skill levels and thus produce in advance a more flexible workforce, better-equipped to respond to and initiate change.

Centre for Economic Performance, LSE, Occasional Paper, 9 (December 1995) pp. 1–27. The paper was submitted in evidence to the IPPR Committee on Public Policy and British Business. The authors are extremely grateful to Gerald Holtham, Simon Milner and Joshua Hillman for helpful discussions.