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Economist Podcasts

Gown and out: are British universities broke?

Economist Podcasts

The Economist

News & Politics, News

4.44.9K Ratings

🗓️ 17 July 2025

⏱️ 21 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

UK universities are internationally renowned, but their finances are in a mess. Our correspondent offers a lesson in how to fix them. Why an amateur football league is thriving in China. And what Superman tells us about American foreign policy. Listeners of “The Intelligence” get 15% off our business writing and storytelling course. Visit economist.com/writingcourse and use code INTELLIGENCE


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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, it's Adam Grant from Worklife, a podcast from TED.

0:05.3

This episode is brought to you by FreshWorks.

0:08.0

FreshWorks believes the complexity is the enemy of efficiency.

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where ROI is someday, not today.

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0:27.9

And with FreshWorks AI-assisted service software, you'll work smarter, not harder.

0:33.0

FreshWorks uncomplicates.

0:34.6

Learn more at freshworks.com. The Economist. Hello and welcome to the intelligence from The Economist.

0:53.7

I'm Jason Palmer.

0:55.7

And I'm Rosie Bloor.

0:57.1

Every weekday, we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world.

1:05.1

China's officials rarely encourage local and regional rivalries.

1:09.0

But a wildly popular new amateur football league seems to have the party's blessing,

1:14.7

possibly because it's bringing some much-needed economic activity.

1:20.1

And Superman has been standing up for truth, justice and the American way for almost nine decades.

1:26.9

With a rebooted film out, our correspondent asks what the Caped Wonders crime fighting tells us about US foreign policy.

1:38.3

But first... Britain's universities are more broke than a student who's just spent the summer interrailing around Europe.

1:57.0

Mark Johnson is a senior editor at The Economist.

2:04.2

The regulator reckons that four in ten universities are running deficits this year and universities are making big cuts to make their

2:09.5

budgets work. Mark, we're always being told how brilliant British universities are. Why are they in

...

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