"When technology allows people to plug into the political process directly, then Members of Parliament, like other intermediaries, may find themselves looking for a new role in life."

Demand for knowledge is rising from corporations and individuals. Our investment in knowledge creation and learning has to rise. To encourage this, education needs to leave behind organisational models inherited from the nineteenth century. The main response to demand for more investment in education has been to expand the role of schools and universities, extending the time students spend in these institutions and introducing performance targets to drive the system to higher levels of productivity.

"Diana was the upstart challenger, an entrepreneur who used new technology to outmanoeuvre the established but tired incumbent. For the royal family, read IBM: for Diana, read Microsoft."

Three forces are driving modern economies - finance, knowledge and social capital. It is no coincidence that all are intangible: they cannot be weighed or touched, they do not travel in railway wagons and cannot be stockpiled in ports. The critical factors of production of this new economy are not oil, raw materials, armies of cheap labour or physical plant and equipment. These traditional assets still matter, but they are a source of competitive advantage only when they are vehicles for ideas and intelligence which give them value.