|
|
Article: Bagehot: Wink, wink.(David Cameron)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- July 26, 2008
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
The Tories are placing too much faith in interesting but limited ideas
SCANDINAVIANS rarely litter. Italians drink in moderation. Mugging is uncommon among the Arabs. Mexicans look after their grannies. Rich Americans give generously to charity. And politicians--especially, these days, in the Conservative Party--are susceptible to snazzy theories whose time seems to have come.
The importance of groupthink is one of the fashionable ideas to which the Tories are newly in thrall. The originators of these ideas are a loose school of like-minded academics, mostly Americans and either social psychologists or behavioural economists. Their basic insight is that ...