And, according to a report from the National Bureau of Economic Research, the lifetime income of high-school dropouts is directly associated with their scores on a battery of intelligence tests.

FORBES: Five Reasons To Skip College

The pessimism extends to the outlook for financial markets in general, especially after a report Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research confirmed what everyone suspected all along: The U.S. is in a recession and has been so since last December.

FORBES: Banking

The Foreign Office has commissioned a report on the impact of the immigration from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research.

BBC: UK Politics