A biography for Geoff Mulganhasn’t been written yet.
“Learning isn't something you should only do solo.”
“I can think of nothing worse than a think-tank where everybody agreed.”
“A tablet replacing an exercise book is not innovation, it's just a different way to make notes.”
“I have a lot of admiration for people willing to face the public, but I'd prefer not to.”
“Even many of the teenagers who feel confident on navigating the web simply don't have the skills needed to 'write and create' digital tools, not simply consume them.”
“People don't want charities to usurp the state as the core provider of social services.”
“Recycling is an area where jobs could be created at low cost. Green collar workers. That's not very sexy.”
“As the Internet of things advances, the very notion of a clear dividing line between reality and virtual reality becomes blurred, sometimes in creative ways.”
“Courses can, and should, incorporate the excitement and fun of programming games, apps or even real digital devices.”
“Young people who were relaxed about posting every detail of their life on Facebook become a lot less relaxed when they realise just how transparent their life has become to future employers.”
“The once-science-fiction notion of hyper-connectivity - where we are all constantly connected to social networks and other bubbling streams of digital data - has rapidly become a widespread reality.”
“Europe has shown how government can be organised in a network. Its institutions both compete and co-operate and include a directly elected parliament that does not appoint the executive, independent judiciaries and a complex set of relationships between the Commission, the Council of Ministers and the Parliament.”
“Cities simply don't have the powers they need to radically innovate in cutting obesity or the number of disaffected teenagers.”
“Capitalism is not so much an aberration as a step on an evolutionary path, and one that contains within it some of the answers to its own contradictions.”
“For most of human history, the main goal of states has been to conquer land and to achieve glory for their rulers, usually at others' expense. Then in recent decades it was all about GDP. It's only in very recent history that rulers have been willing to commit themselves to helping their citizens live happier lives.”
“Most governments do have inbuilt biases in favour of the rich and powerful, and most do contain plenty of manipulators who love intrigue, who have lost whatever moral compass they may once have had and who protect themselves with steely cynicism.”
“In Britain, polls show large majorities in favour of mansion taxes and higher taxes on the finance sector.”
“Everyone knows of great projects that were too dependent on a charismatic individual, or simply too expensive to be replicated.”
“A modest dose of self-love is entirely healthy - who would want to live in a world where everyone hated themselves? But taken too far, it soon becomes poisonous.”
“There is incredible potential for digital technology in and beyond the classroom, but it is vital to rethink how learning is organised if we are to reap the rewards.”