Rosemary

[QUOTE
I have come across articles a number of times claiming that 90% plus of the Worlds inventions originated in the UK.
Whether that is true I have absolutely no idea, but for sure even now we are still up there with the best of them in that respect.
.[/QUOTE]
Sorry Dick I wiped out your name.

Totally agree, we have some brilliant minds.
When I worked in Japan there was a major discussion at government level as to why they had the best qualified engineers in the world but they could not or did not have the capability to start the ball rolling with original ideas. UK was always cited as having ordinary engineers, ( annoying comment in as far as I was working there), but always came up with the seeds of inventions. I spent a long time working with them and it was obvious what their problem was, too much time spent slavishly following their teachers, professors, superiors at work and seniority the only route to advance. Their ability to solve day to day problems was pitiful.
Looked at from that point of view we may not have the best education system in the world but if a pivotal point can be struck between learning and free thought then somehow we obviously have something right.
Somewhere down the line the Japanese must have learned their lessons because their ability now to create consumer electronics is second to none.

Graham

Domino

Dick
that I think is the problem - there is no kick.
We soldiered on with worn out machinery, clapped out people all thru WWII, troops in too many fields of conflict - the GDY's came in and provided the volume of cannon fodder we were just not able to provide. (sound familiar??)
The Marshall Plan provided - with our money as well as from other places - the replacement machinery (new) that rebuilt the Ruhr and gave the Germans the impetus I think was really ours, but as a member of the winning side all we could do was to write the victor's version of the battles. Germany went out and took on difficult markets whilst we were still writing war stories in flimsy paperbacks.

If you want to see efficiency then go to Japan - sackable offence to have a Bullett Train arrive late, no excuses, no wrong snow on the line, wet leaves. Japanese can out work ethic the Germans.

Many countries now are more efficient, provide true customer service rather than the much talked about UK version where we dish out certificates for attending a course but still don't walk the talk.

We probably have provided the greater part of patents since the 1850's. Just we never exploited them,, Even Marconi had to come to the UK to develop and exploit his work on RF and propagation and Morse Code. In more modern times, the angled flight deck - given to the world. The Harrier - given to the US (we even allowed them to buy from us to resell to Spain in the first version). Computers - allowed guys like Turing to commit suicide because of sexual leanings. WWW invented by an Englishman at a Swiss establishment - given to the world. We even had a legal right to Hong Kong but gave it back to the Chinese because the FCO never wanted a rocky island that didn't seem to do anything

Here that sound ? Its guys like Brunel, Stephenson, Arkwright spinning intheir graves. So many opportunities lost.

agoreira

Whatever happens at Southend, I bet it will get more use than some of the "ghost airports" than have been constructed in Spain. Just been reading this article about airports that have been built in Spain, yet rarely, if ever, see any aircraft. Talk about white elephants. They reckon Spains love affair with bricks and building houses has switched to throwing up roads, airports and high speed train links everywhere, whether they need it or not.

jackytoo

Why shouldn't they, most of the money for these white elephants comes from the EU

jackytoo

If you want to see efficiency then go to Japan - sackable offence to have a Bullett Train arrive late, no excuses, no wrong snow on the line, wet leaves. Japanese can out work ethic the Germans.

All this efficiency failed when they constructed those power stations in an earthquake area!

steviedeluxe

Looks like BA are giving up on London, throwing their toys out of the pram because Heathrow will not be expanded. No question of BA using Southend (can't blame them)! Mind you, Boris wants to build a new airport off-shore - I wouldn't bet against it happening by say 2050.

http://www.airportwatch.org.uk/news/...AIRPORTWATCH=Y

agoreira

It used to, you mean. If you read the report, you'll see the regional governments had to cough up the dosh, and they've run out.

bil

Sorry Dick I wiped out your name.

Totally agree, we have some brilliant minds.
When I worked in Japan there was a major discussion at government level as to why they had the best qualified engineers in the world but they could not or did not have the capability to start the ball rolling with original ideas. UK was always cited as having ordinary engineers, ( annoying comment in as far as I was working there), but always came up with the seeds of inventions. I spent a long time working with them and it was obvious what their problem was, too much time spent slavishly following their teachers, professors, superiors at work and seniority the only route to advance. Their ability to solve day to day problems was pitiful.
Looked at from that point of view we may not have the best education system in the world but if a pivotal point can be struck between learning and free thought then somehow we obviously have something right.
Somewhere down the line the Japanese must have learned their lessons because their ability now to create consumer electronics is second to none.

Graham[/QUOTE]

The quote I heard was, that 50% of all world changing inventions came from the Uk, but were funded overseas.

Personally, I think that the UK's success in this field is due to hybrid vigour.

We have as a nation taken in people from all over the world, and this has resulted in us having the best range of innovative minds.

Dick Dasterdly

I think for many years Spain was looked on as the poor relation with regard to the EU, (seems they've now come full circle), and consequently were by far the biggest benefactors of the huge EU handouts.
Unfortunately much of it was used in the agricultural sector to make the rich richer often by allowing them to invest and increase the value of their assets, whilst at the same time, many smaller farmers who were unable to compete, suffered badly from the resultant over production.

I have been around quite a few of the superb new motorways in more remote areas carrying hardly any traffic at present, however I think the time must surely come when they will turn out to be beneficial and a first class asset to the country.
Much the same probably applies to the hi-speed rail connections and possibly some of the newer airports.

Problem was with the even poorer countries being accepted into the EU, the almost constant flow of funds into Spain inevitably had to be cut right back, and this near enough coincided with the beginnings of the crisis, causing a double whammy which has left the country virtually stranded in the doldrums.

HBG

Isn't the answer much simpler? Spain built a million houses for non-existent buyers, as well as roads for non-existent drivers and airports for non-existent fliers. For the optimistic Spanish entrepreneurs there was nothing wrong with their business plans, until some clever US banks poisoned the world with sub-prime mortgages.

We're all skint now, another wave of trouble is looming, and that house at the end of my street that has been for sale for ten years, will be for sale for another ten.

agoreira

For years Spain was the largest recipient of cash in the EU, but they'd have been naive to believe that could go on forever. I'm all for building for the future, so long as the follow up infrastructure arrives sometime. Ciudad Real now has the longest runway in Europe, and it has 74k people, what did it ever have in mind for that runway? The airport was supposed to ease congestion in Madrid, it's 235kms away, who the hell is going to use that. As the article explains, the regions are feudal like, if you've got a state of the art airport, convention centre or high speed train link, we want one, doesn't matter if it's only half an hour away, or we are never going to have sufficient people to fill it. These are not my thoughts, these are the thoughts of the Spanish reporter, read the comments by the Spanish, entertaining.
Someone blames the government for spending the money on grandoise schemes rather than the people, as brilliant as the AVE is, it's elitist travel, many can't afford to use it. I don't share your optimism of these white elephants become well used in the near future, certainly not in our time. In the meantime they have to be maintained at huge costs, with no revenue coming in.

agoreira

I don't believe a business plan that meant Spain using more concrete, building more houses, than France, Germany and UK together, was ever a good business plan. The writing was on the wall long before the sub-prime mortgages fiasco erupted, we can blame the Yanks for a lot, but I think Spain's demise was entirely of their own making. And we certainly can't blame them for all the corrupt, fiddling alcaldes, funcionarios etc that are banged up, or should be.

steviedeluxe

I don't share the negative viewpoint on the AVE, perhaps because I realise we'll have to wait until 2027 before we can travel between 2 UK cities at high speed. Certainly ask all those airlines who've pulled their Madrid-Valencia flights, because they can no longer compete on this route. Here are some numbers from the Valencia and Barcelona routes:

http://ave-renfe.edreams.es/ave-barc...-desde-madrid/

They've had to increase the daily trains each way between Barcelona and Madrid from 18 to 27, as the numbers of passengers have increased from 5.8 million in a year to 7.7 million. Not the only route where train frequencies have been increased, thanks to the introduction of the new lines

http://www.elnortedecastilla.es/2011...105111609.html

Now to me, if millions of passenger journeys are being carried out on the AVE, I'm not so sure you can call it elitist. Yes, I'm sure there will be people who have to travel more cheaply by coach, just as in the UK many people will choose National Express (or even Easyjet) in preference to high rail fares.

By the way, not just me who admires the AVE train system. Apparently it's been described in the US as the best in the world!

http://www.coastrider.net/news/natio...t-in-the-world

jackytoo

The AVE infrastructure has been a loss for a lot of small pueblos that have lost their cercanias trains. Take the CDS, the málaga local train line finishes at Fuengirola. Despite plans drawn up for an extension to Estepona more than 5 years ago there is still no money for it. Bus services along the coast are poor too.

agoreira

Not too worried about that, as it's not a negative viewpoint. I used the word "brilliant" to describe it, if you can read negative into that, carry on. By elitist, I mean it's great for businessmen and the rich, where time is money, and the price of the fare is of no consequence. I haven't looked at your links, but people switching from flying around the country to the train, are hardly strapped for cash, and it's probably all on expenses. And as they have cancelled some other train services, people are "obliged" to take the AVE. It's a great service, but of course it costs, and whereas everyone has ended up paying for it, a lot cannot afford to use it. I'm not alone in my thoughts.