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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 1d

Correlation does not equal causality. I mean maybe it's the pain of the early circumcision that disrupts developing brains and the tylenol has nothing to do with it? We don't know, and not knowing is quite a bad basis for policy.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 1d

Christ I actually wasted 10 minutes googling the evidence for this. It's a quarter truth. There are studies that suggest associations between tylenol, early circumcision and autism. But I can't find any evidence of a proposed causality. It's classic more research required territory.

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 1d

RFK JR: There are many other confirmations -- there are two studies that show children who are circumcised early have double the rate of autism. It’s highly likely because they are given Tylenol

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

I think it was Hayter's idiots - he allegedly hired two halfwits to take and fail the civil service exams, letting his favoured candidates come through as higher performers. This backfired when one of Hayter's preferred candidates proved so dim he was beaten by an idiot.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

Interesting - where can I read more? I assume this was pre-Northcote-Trevelyan?

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

The British approach to elite formation is much less legible, which also has ups and downs. There is an informal Whitehall fast track very much like the ENA system but it's not at all obvious how you get on it. I think our system is probably more permeable but less meritocratic.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

I did a study trip ages ago to try and understand the French civil service. My overwhelming takeaway was about how structured and talented their elite is. The downside of course was that this made it a bit of a monoculture with a very slow absorption rate for new ideas.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

I'm in the foothills of considering a book on policymaking and understanding how the paradigm shifted from classics to social sciences is actually an important part of the tale I want to tell. It would ultimately try and make sense of whatever the new thing emerging might be.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

I struggle with the idea that the key to social mobility is to get a tiny number of working class kids into Trinity.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

Personally I think the solution should be less about access to Oxbridge and more about creating a wider range of elite institutions, and perhaps degree structures like the US system which allow progress into more elite institutions over time.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

My very subjective impression is that a lot of today's PPEists dropped the economics.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

I think this speaks to the more general challenge posed by Oxbridge. When two institutions exert such huge influence over our national life we cannot just treat them like any other university. They become a policy issue.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

I don't know the history but the politics and social science offer is very different between the two universities. PPE was explicitly designed to modernise training for future public servants (who previously studied classics). Cambridge's HSPS looks fascinating but does a different job.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

The tutor system is very interesting and obviously also pricey. There are lots of reasons to think it might be better, but I'd love to see some evidence.

Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

I believe the Oxbridge degree is awarded purely on the exams, so coursework marks don't matter really? Very glad this wasn't true at my place. Among other things being a left hander who writes with a hook contortion is a significant practical disadvantage.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

There is too much polling.

YouGov @yougov.co.uk · 2d

How many browsing tabs do you typically have open?*

1: 6%
2-5: 54%
6-10: 14%
11-20: 8%
21-30: 2%
More than 30: 3%

*across all windows, on desktop/laptop

yougov.co.uk/topics/techn...

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

I'm curious... do you think the Oxbridge system has advantages? I'm thinking very small group tutorials and the hothousing that comes with relatively shorter terms, more essays, the insularity of college life?

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 2d

I was working in the civil service the last time they tried to get numbers down to pre-Brexit levels. I produced a lovely plan and sent it to the Cabinet Office.

You will observe that the size of the civil service has not decreased.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 4d

The class debate in Britain is utterly broken, exhibit 3,456,649.

James Austin @jamesdaustin.bsky.social · 4d

I know plenty of politicians 'working classify' their backgrounds, but this from Jenrick is taking the piss.

His father's linked in is here: uk.linkedin.com/in/bill-jenr...

He was a managing accountant who ended up as the Managing Director of Cannon Industries

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 5d

FWIW I led a Whitehall EDI team in the George Floyd era, which presumably makes me first against the wall. I did think some of the ideas and rhetoric were excessive, but I remain proud of the work we did.

Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 5d

We only tell people who know the secret handshake.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 5d

*People* being fundamentally good obvs. Must stop skipping words.

Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 6d

Hard agree. Progressives frame racism in economic terms because it plays into their priors about being fundamentally good, and because it makes the problem amenable to progressive policy solutions. At best 'people turn to racism because of poverty' is a partial account.

Prof Nisreen Alwan @nisreenalwan.bsky.social · 6d

Sorry I keep talking about this but I’m genuinely alarmed by the growing narrative that poverty is a cause of racism. First it’s super insulting of people on low incomes. Second it normalises & excuses racist takes. And third it deters real action on racism by shifting the whole focus to economics.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 5d

To be clear - this is all stuff I really like and that is *precisely why* I think it won't work.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 5d

I despair at some of the more therapy-flavoured takes which think grief tending and community organising will address racism. If I'm doing an abhorrent thing that makes me feel powerful and included then I'm probably not turning up to the grief circle or doing a community share offering.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 5d

Well Tommy Robinson could only hold his little gathering because some very rich people paid the bills. But equally there is some basic psychology here - latent racism being given social license, people who feel neglected asserting themselves, protest just feeling really good to be part of.

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Simon Parker @simonparker.bsky.social · 6d

Hard agree. Progressives frame racism in economic terms because it plays into their priors about being fundamentally good, and because it makes the problem amenable to progressive policy solutions. At best 'people turn to racism because of poverty' is a partial account.

Prof Nisreen Alwan @nisreenalwan.bsky.social · 6d

Sorry I keep talking about this but I’m genuinely alarmed by the growing narrative that poverty is a cause of racism. First it’s super insulting of people on low incomes. Second it normalises & excuses racist takes. And third it deters real action on racism by shifting the whole focus to economics.

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