A billionaire philanthropist is backing Europe's first major school of government, which opens at Oxford University later today. Len Blavatnik, a Russian-American industrialist, has ploughed £75m into the venture so far and says he is prepared to offer more. The school, which will be launched with a message of support from the former US president Bill Clinton, aims to train outstanding graduates from around the world in the skills and responsibilities of government. It will show them how to approach issues such as climate change and to tackle health crises like the potential flu pandemic.The first students will arrive in 2012 and the school will eventually accept 120 a year. They will study for a Master's degree which will include a unique mixture of the humanities, law, science, social sciences, technology, health, finance, energy and security policy.Paul Collier, a professor of economics at Oxford and an adviser to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, said: "The 21st century demands a new skill set for dealing with public policy than the skill set traditionally taught in public policy schools. For instance, knowledge of climate change and to deal with health scares are an important part of that skill set. If you don't have that, you take leadership decisions which are very, very damaging. You need a leadership team that understands the nature of medical sciences."The only other institution offering similar courses is the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University in the US. But Professor Collier said that while the Harvard school looked at solutions from a US perspective, its British peer would have a more global outlook. "For Oxford, the world is bigger than the country," he added.Mr Blavatnik, 53, is the founder and chairman of Access Industries – a company with investments focused on natural resources, chemicals and telecommunications in the US, Europe and South America. His donation is one of the largest by an individual donor to any university.He studied in Moscow before emigrating to the US in 1978. He received a Master's degree in computing from Columbia University and a postgraduate degree in business administration from Harvard. He has previously donated to Harvard, Cambridge and Tel Aviv universities and British institutions such as the British Museum, the Tate, the Royal Opera House and the Prince's Trust.In a video address at today's launch, Mr Clinton, who studied at Oxford, will say: "Oxford's reputation as an international powerhouse of research will help students and the global community to better understand not just politics and economies, but also public health, environmental science, development, genetics and the humanities."http://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/oxford-expands-with-billionaires-16375m-gift-2083859.html
http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=187418Like all of these russian oligarchs, he is a JEW who literally stole his wealth from post soviet russia.
Utterly disgusting.
>>254458How nice of him to give some of it back, then.
>>254460charity by the wealthy is a tax scam.
>>254474Tax evasion is a moral good.
>>254479Sure, reap all the benefits from civilization then scourge for ways to avoid giving back.
>>254481Reap the benefits of what? Unemployment benefits for bums? Child support handouts to dysgenic subhumans who breed at astronomical rates? Do a good deed and kill a leftist.
rich person gives money to open new school for rich people>>254484The school, which will be launched with a message of support from the former US president Bill Clinton, aims to train outstanding graduates from around the world in the skills and responsibilities of government.>bill clinton>governmentAthens, perhaps you should read the article before stating a position on its contents.but at least he's only helping train a new generation of tyrants as opposed to feeding some dirty poors, right?
>>254481But ploughing money into philanthropic work does far more good than handing that money over to the tax inspectors would. Not only is govt notoriously wasteful (only 30 cents out of every dollar taken in taxation is returned as services) its also a very wide hose scattering the money it takes in a haphazard and careless manner over thousands of causes. By giving directly, a mil/billionaire circumvents the political lobbying industry and can make real and lasting contributions.
>>254484
>>254488 Ha, that guy sure got scammed
>>254486Yep, I smelled the jew-shit from a mile off. Still, I'm not going to object. I'm sure he obtained the state owned assets illegally though, many jews did with the aid of the 'Russian' (read: Jewish) mafia. So they should just be forced to put their stock up for sale to other more honest private investors. >>254488LOL leftists.I don't object to charity, but I think its mostly stupid even if its voluntary. Most poor people deserve to die.
>>254487>By giving directly, a mil/billionaire circumvents the political lobbying industry and can make real and lasting contributions.>circumvents the political lobbying industrywhy would they want to circumvent the very lobbying that helps them buy undue control and influence over what is supposed to be a democracy
>>254491The only people with undue control over the political process are poors with votes they never worked for.
>>254491Because why wouldn't they? Lobbying is expensive and not particularly effective (due to the very large number of competing lobbying groups).
Why is the guy in the top left of the OPs pic playing the air guitar?More info behind pic please
>>254508http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fabian_Windowhttp://www.channels.com/episodes/show/8042817/THE-FABIANS-AND-THEIR-NOT-SO-SECRET-AGENDA-FLV-file
http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=Clinton+Global+Initiative
click for other parts:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKqHkcCXMD0