The Economist Debate Series

The Economist, my favorite news magazine, has started a new online initiative, a debate series. Normally this would prove to be a rather dull affair, but I was intrigued when the notice I received indicated that the debate would be in the Oxford Style, which was written in such a way that I got the impression I was just supposed to know what that means. American high school education, you have failed me again! It turns out that in such a thing, all questions from the audience go through a moderator, who decides which questions are actually relevant. This has its pros and cons, of course, but it has to be a sight better than the often-asinine YouTube debate with the Democratic presidential candidates a few months back. When you have a snowman asking questions about global warming, you know that things have gone too far.