CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

JEROM E BURNE is a science w r ite r

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JE R EM Y CLARKE is a freelance w rite r

DIANE COYLE is econom ics ed i to r of th e Independent and au th o r o f The Weightless World (Capstone)

DAVID DONNISON is au th o r o f the fo r th com in g Policiesfor a Just Society (M acm illan)

ANDREW FERGUSON is senior editor o f W a sh in g to n ’s The Weekly Standard

WINSTON FLETCHER is chairm an o f Bozell UK H o ld ings

MARK FREEDLAND is senior professor o f law a t S t John’s College, Oxford

SIMON FRITH is d ire c to r o f th e John Logie Baird C en tre a t S trathclyde University

TIMOTHY GARTON ASH is th e author o f The File: A Personal History (H arperCollins)

HERB GREER is a contributor to The World + I and th e Sunday Telegraph

FRED HALLIDAY is professor o f in ternational relations a t th e LSE. H is m o s t recent book is Islam and the Myth o f Confrontation (IB Tauris)

JA M E S HARDING is th e F T co rrespondent in China

ANTHONY HEAD is a w r ite r based in Japan

FRANQOIS HEISBOURG is executive vicep resid en t o f M a tra s , based in Paris

PAUL HIRST is professor o f social th eory at B irkbeck College and co -au thor o f Globalisation in Question (Polity Press)

DAVID HOWELL is advisory d ire c to r at SBC W a rb u rg D illo n Read

JOHN LLOYD is associate ed i to r o f th e N ew Statesman

ROSS McKIBBlN is senior professor o f h is to ry a t S t John’s College, Oxford

NADINE MEISNER is a dance critic

PAUL ORMEROD is chairm an o f Post-O rthodox Economics

JOHN PLENDER w rite s for th e F T

FRITZ SCHARPF ru n s th e M ax Planck In s t i tu te in Cologne

ROGER SCRUTON is a w riter. T h is article f irs t appeared in N ew York’s City Journal

POLLY TOYNBEE w rite s for th e Independent

GEORGE WALDEN is th e au th o r o f We Should Know Better (F ourth Estate)

NICOLAS WALTER is d ire c to r o f T h e Secular Society

GEOFF WATTS p resents Medicine Now (BBC)

PETER WAYNE is se rv in g 13 years for robbery a t L indholm e prison, Yorkshire

GEOFFREY WHEATCROFT is th e au thor o f The Controversy o f Zion (Sinclair Stevenson)

CLARE WIGFALL is a s tu d en t a t the U n iv e rs ity o f M anchester

2 PROSPECT January 1998

Prospect Issue twenty-six January 1998

OPINIONS 8 THE GERMAN DISEASE FRITZ SCHARPF says that too many vetoes block political reform in Germany.

LUCK OF THE DRAW MARK FREEDLAND AND RO SS M cK IBBlN regret that the National Lottery has destroyed thoughtful betting.

16 DEBATE: GUIDING GLOBAL MARKETS DIANE COYLE AND PAUL HIRST Are capital markets more sensible than governments?

ESSAYS 20 FIRST IN EUROPE? TIMOTHY GARTON ASH says Britain has never had it so good in the EU— but Europe itself is in a mess.

B a d draw. Page 9

10 DESERT STORM II FRANCOIS HEISBOURG What i f . .. Gadaffi decided to take on the west in North Africa?

1 1 SOCIOLOGY OF KNOWLEDGE DAVID DONNISON says that the cause o f unemployment depends on where you live.

13 TOYS AND THE HUMAN CONDITION PAUL ORMEROD regrets persistent market failure in the toy industry.

14 MEAN STREETS ROGER SCRUTON says that modern street furniture degrades citizens.

Posted w ith confidence. Page 14

Spicy fu tu re ? Page 20

25 ANNUS MEMORABILIS GEOFFREY WHEATCROFT Two events defined 1997. What do they tell us about Britain?

Good-bye rose... Page 25

29 CHINAS CULTURELESS REVOLUTION JA M E S HARDING Chinese life today is more colourful outside the cinema than inside— the mass media remain stifled.

34 THE NEW CLASS JOHN LLOYD Institutionalised corruption and criminality have eaten into Russia’s soul. It is getting worse.