Queen causes rumpus at London School of Economics

I hear that the Queen has caused quite a bust up among academics at the London School of Economics.

Her Majesty was visiting the school a few months ago when she asked one of its faculty a pointed question about the financial crisis of 2008. "Why didn't you see it coming?" she said.

"We thought the macro guys had it covered," said the academic, somewhat meekly.

The criticism didn't end there. When one of the LSE staff subsequently visited Buckingham Palace he had to suffer a jibe from the Duke of Edinburgh that he was a member of the "institution that knows nothing about anything."

The LSE was so concerned that it convened a meeting of its six most senior economists in February. They concluded that the coming recession would be the "weakest since 1945."

Social sciences staff have now turned on their economist colleagues, questioning their ability to make accurate predictions and siding with the Queen and Prince Philip. What next? Fisticuffs in the street?