Productivity, service and an absence of pipe fitters

After Professor Roman Grynberg’s rubbishing of much of the international rating systems - with which we are so routinely engrossed – it was hardly surprising that my interest would be pricked by the article in last week’s Guardian, ‘BNPC Feeds Rating Agencies Wrong Statistics’.

Mind you, the headline was the only part of the article which I could readily understand, the rest being way over my head.  But apart from the charge that the BNPC is fiddling the figures, I did wonder if the Guardian had done the Productivity Centre a favour by reminding everyone of its existence. 

After all, this was a hugely expensive project which was established at a time when there was major concern about our failure to be as productive as we are supposed to be.  Twenty years later and I imagine that its net effect is virtually nil.  Apart from attending expensive international conferences, what on earth does it do? Is the taxpayer getting value for money or are we continuing to pay for an institution which has never justified its costly establishment.  I merely ask because I have not the slightest idea – but if the place feels that it needs public support it should make some effort to tell everyone what it claims to do.  How, for interest’s sake, might it react to my very recent productivity story. Thus – I am picking away in an attempt to produce a book probably to be titled, ‘Gaborone – A Portrait of a City’ – and needed to pin down the origins of an article entitled ‘Gaberones’ which was published in 1969.  The author was identified as belonging to the University of `Liverpool in England but the photocopy of the article did not indicate in which journal it had been published. I did a bit of googling and late mid morning on Friday the 4th sent off my query being aware that I might not even get a response or, that if I did, it would not appear before the following Monday or Tuesday.  The response from the Liverpool librarian which was sent at 12.13 (13.13 here) on the very same Friday, told me that my query obviously related to an article of that title in vol 54(2) of the journal Geography, April 1969, pp. 217-220. I sent my e mailed thanks for his remarkable help on 5.33 (4.33 his time). To my amazement, he immediately responded saying that it had been a pleasure to help. Wow.

Editor's Comment
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