A Modest Proposal? Basic Capital vs. Higher Education Subsidies

All young adults have a morally significant interest in having adequate opportunity for ambition formation. At present governments typically spend large amounts in support of young adults, such as in the form of higher education subsidies, but we do not ask if this expenditure is the most equitable way of ensuring adequate opportunity for ambition formation for all young adults. Would it be more equitable and desirable to use the resources to pay every young adult a capital grant on maturity rather than for higher education subsidies? The article considers a range of arguments against this basic capital proposal and in defence of education subsidies. It concludes that the case for the basic capital policy is strong, although it is not possible to say that it is definitely preferable in the absence of empirical research that is beyond the scope of this article.     

A Suicidal Woman, Roaming Pigs and a Noisy Trampolinist: Refining the ASBO's Definition of 'Anti-Social Behaviour'

This article discusses the definition of anti-social behaviour employed by section 1(1)(a) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 for the purposes of the Anti-Social Behaviour Order. It argues that, if the ASBO is to remain at the forefront of the Government's campaign against anti-social behaviour, this section should be amended. The article begins by outlining the claimed benefits of, and critics' concerns about, the definition, arguing that the difference of opinion stems from different views of state power. It then argues that the ASBO has been employed for social control, often at the expense of more constructive forms of intervention, and that this has shown New Labour's willingness to vest enforcement agencies with the wide discretion conferred by section 1(1)(a) to have been misplaced. Finally, it proposes a refined version of section 1(1), which focuses the Order on the cases for which it was purportedly designed whilst maintaining any benefits of the broad definitional approach currently taken in section 1(1)(a).