One vital function of universities is to question received wisdom - of precisely the type expounded by Baroness Blackstone that the chief task of universities is to serve the needs of the economy and ensure courses are relevant to the world of work ("Degrees are not enough", THES, June 9). Like the Sabbath, the economy was made for (wo)man, not (wo)man for the economy. Both government and university chiefs seem to be in danger of forgetting this.
Judith Purver. Manchester