The Economist Europe – July 22-28, 2017

14 The EconomistJuly 22nd 2017

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Student numbers

Contrary to received wisdom,

the overall number of universi-

ty students has fallen, not

risen, in England since the rise

in tuition fees (“Fees high, foes

fume”, July 8th). The number

in full-time study has grown,

but there has been a 43%

decline in part-time students,

typically older learners who

tend to be more price sensitive

and debt averse than their

full-time counterparts. Data

from the Higher Education

Statistics Agency suggest there

were 172,000 fewer undergrad-

uate students in total at English

higher-education institutions

in 2015-16 than in 2011-12, the

year before tuition fees rose.

There were also 13,500 fewer

students from poor areas, not

more, as is generally claimed.

The disastrous collapse of

part-time study matters be-

cause it can affect social mobil-

ity and improvements to eco-

nomic productivity. All the

political parties went into the

election promising to champi-

on lifelong learning. All those

in power have a responsibility

to make good on that promise.

GUY MALLISON

Director of strategy

Open University

Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

Censorship in China

It was strange to read about the

death of Liu Xiaobo, China’s

foremost political dissident,

only in foreign newspapers

(“China’s conscience”, July

15th). But this is a country

where strange things happen

all the time. This summer,

foreign television shows and

films have mysteriously

disappeared from almost all

the popular video-streaming

sites. Western talk shows have

been banned. Since June social

platforms have been prodding

their users to registertheir real

names.

Before it was deleted, I

watched a biopic of Aung San

Suu Kyi (using a pseudonym to

avoid the censor). When she

was in confinement for being

Myanmar’s conscience, Ms

Suu Kyi wrote “Freedom from

Fear”. I wonder if Liu Xiaobo

got a chance to do the same.

We are often told by the

government that the West’s

influence will corrupt us and

damage the younger gener-

ation. The truth is we fear the

government more than any

outside influence.

LU YANHAN

Suzhou, China

Correcting a correction

You were too eager to correct

yourself regarding Willy

Brandt’s wartime exile (Correc-

tion in the July 8th edition

concerning Helmut Kohl’s

Obituaryin the June 24th

issue). There were two parts to

his exile from Nazi Germany.

Before the war he was in Nor-

way, but when Norway was

occupied Brandt managed to

escape to Sweden, where he

remained until the fighting

finished. So you got it right the

first time by stating that his

wartime exile was in Sweden.

JEAN GUILL

Luxembourg City

Why Trump succeeds

Regarding your special report

on Donald Trump’s America

(July 1st), in “Strangers in Their

Own Land”, Arlie Russell

Hochschild provides a meta-

phorical storyas an insight

into the roots of American

populism. The American

Dream isjust over the hill and

everyone is in line, but the line

is moving slower than it used

to. At the very point that the

line begins to slow, women,

blacks and other minorities

begin to cut in line. Not only

that, but the federal govern-

ment helps them cut in line.

When those already in line

complain, they are called

rednecks, white trash and

Bible-thumpers. They become

angry.

Affirmative action is hugely

unpopular with white voters.

Cutting in line violates a fun-

damental sense of justice.

Republicans have run against

affirmative action for decades

and yet done very little to

change the policies. Then Mr

Trump arrives and berates

mainstream Republicans,

humiliating them in the

debates, which become some-

thing akin to a professional

wrestlingmatch. The backlash

against affirmative action is

gathering strength and clarity.

This is the result of telling

white Americans that identity

politics is an issue of justice,

just not for them.

MARK WOLFGRAM

Visiting fellow

Carleton University

Ottawa

The battle for Baltimore

Your article about the rising

tide of homicides in Baltimore

called for better policing and

schools, and fewer drugs (“On

murderous streets”, July 1st).

Yet the one biggest change that

could help the city, and the rest

of America, would be to end

the insane war on drugs itself.

The policy’s vast economic

and human costs might be

justified if it reduced the harm

of drugs. But it does the oppo-

site, wreaking devastation, as

in Baltimore.

The violence is a conse-

quence of giving criminals

control of the drug trade, so

they battle over turf. The illicit

high prices force many addicts

into crime to finance their

habit. Around 50,000 Ameri-

cans die annually from over-

doses. All this could be elimi-

nated if a fraction of the

billions wasted on the failed

drug war were instead spent

on treating addicts compas-

sionately rather than puni-

tively, and making drugs legal,

regulated and safe.

FRANK ROBINSON

Albany, New York

Taiwan’s diplomacy

I read Ma Ying-jeou’s com-

ments on Panama’s regrettable

decision to break diplomatic

ties with Taiwan (Letters, July

1st). I must reiterate that the

Taiwanese government

respects the historical fact of

the 1992 meeting with Beijing

and remains dedicated to

maintaining the status quo of

peace, stability and predictable

cross-Straitrelations.

However, it is also crucial

that these relations proceed on

the basisof equalityand pari-

ty, and that both sides take

measures to promote construc-

tive exchanges and dialogue

when developing a stable

partnership for the region.

As President Tsai Ing-wen

stressed, although Taiwan has

lost a diplomatic ally, our

refusal to engage in diplomatic

bidding wars will not change.

Taiwan will not revert to the

old path of confrontation. The

Republic of China (Taiwan)

exists and will not go away,

and neither will its values and

standing in the international

community.

DAVID LIN

Representative

Taipei Representative Office in

the UK

London

Dream titles

The Books and arts section in

the July 1st edition drew my

attention to a puzzling trend in

book publishing: the length-

ening of book titles. Richard

Reeves’s 26-word monster—

“Dream Hoarders: How the

American Upper Middle Class

Is Leaving Everyone Else in the

Dust, Why That Is a Problem,

and What to Do about It”—is

illustrative rather than record-

breaking.

Presumably this trend has

something to do with selection

algorithms, that electronic

version of Darwinian theory. I

offer to any commissioning

editor my modest proposal:

“Book Titles: The Long and the

Short of It, whySubtitles Mat-

ter, and What Should be Done

to Reverse the Trend”.

TUDOR RICKARDS

Manchester 7

Letters