How to make jobs programmes work

Breakthrough will come from what we teach and how

Strolling down Madison Avenue at midday the other day, I was struck by the number of vacant storefronts, their shelves empty and "For Rent" banners prominently displayed. It was no different along the other previously booming retail corridors such as Fifth Avenue and Broadway. Some parts of New York like the erstwhile capital of hip culture, Bleecker Street, have started looking like ghost towns. A report from Douglas Elliman, a major real estate information source, the percentage of retail stores vacant in Manhattan is now 20 per cent compared to 6 per cent a couple of years ago. Will the