You rightly point out that “the supply of medical staff reflects global movements of labour” (No 262, Databank, July 2007). But many of us might disagree with your upbeat headline: “Healthy immigration”. In a report published in 2005, the Royal African Society argues that while recruitment of African medical professionals has shored up western health services, it has left the health sector in sending countries facing permanent crisis or even complete collapse.

GDP grew at an above-trend pace of close to 3% through the first three quarters of 2007. However, growth is expected to be weaker in coming quarters, as both investment and consumer demand are likely to be damped by much weaker activity in the housing market, together with tighter credit conditions. Consumer price inflation has dropped sharply and is expected to remain close to the 2% target over the next two years.

A basic problem with delivering a better higher education system is funding. Since the Second World War higher education, just as secondary and primary schools, has been considered as a public good, and so in most OECD countries the service had to be delivered free of charge to students through taxation. However, tighter public budgets and stiffer global competition for talent have led to a renewed interest in student fees as a possible way of raising more funding. The issue poses several tricky challenges, about access, equity, student finance, debt, and so on. Little wonder the debate has become rather heated in several countries.

Graduate teaching courses are becoming more popular again in many countries, though ageing continues to affect the profession, and making the career more attractive for longer remains a challenge. For insight, we asked a retired teacher to explain why, despite the challenges, he stayed in the job.

David Lyscom took up his post as UK ambassador to the OECD on 14 January, succeeding Christopher Crabbie. Ambassador Lyscom is a career diplomat who served as UK ambassador to Slovakia from 1998 to 2001, and had previously held posts in Vienna, Ottawa, Bonn and Riyadh, as well as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London. He had served as a Special Project Manager at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office immediately before being named to the OECD post.

University funding is hitting the headlines across Europe. In January the UK government only narrowly won a parliamentary vote to reform funding of higher education, after the prime minister, Tony Blair, put his “authority on the line”. Other European leaders will have been watching closely, as they also plan to revamp their higher education systems.

Supermarket bills may seem to be getting ever higher, but OECD people devote a great deal less of their income to buying food, and a huge amount more to transport and communications, than your 17th century ancestors, a new historical look at statistics shows.