3 ms·

Okay, let me rephrase. Does this new service provide any value which isn't already being provided by a large number of private organisations?

• toomuchtodo 11y ago
  I don't believe that's the right question. The question is: Can the government provide this service more effectively (better, cheaper, faster, without bias) than private organizations. I'd argue the answer to that is "yes", very similarly to how the Obama administration cut private banks out of student loan funding [+]. Where you see the possibility of failure, I see opportunity for both success in the mission and more transparency. I can FOIA a federal government entity; I cannot do the same for a corporation. [+] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/education/11educ.html http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/education/11educ.html
  • deleted 11y ago
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  • hugh4 11y ago
    But the other rankings are modest side projects for entities whose main business is elsewhere -- eg the Times Higher Education Supplement which probably has the best ranking. It also has the nice point of covering the world instead of just one country. And how good can rankings get, anyway? There's always a huge error bar, so being the 20th best vs the 40th best institution is meaningless. All the rankings tell us that Harvard and MIT and Stanford are very good and some place you've never heard of us rubbish.