This article considers 8 critical hypotheses that circumscribe the development of U.K. education in the 21st century. They all derive directly or indirectly from the "Great Recession" and have radical implications for any notion of a "knowledge economy" and the nature of educational professionalism. The authors conclude that neither a "scientific capitalism" nor its socialist equivalent provide a basis for future thinking and advocate a new beginning on the basis of critical qualitative thinking in relation to both education and the economy. (Contains 23 notes.)