The Economist magazine has launched a series of online debates in a style they’ve dubbed “Oxford 2.0″ in which the proposition and opposition are represented by experts, and in between the rounds anyone is allowed to add input, from which the moderator can choose points of merit for consideration in the next round.

I was once quite heavily involved in “traditional” Oxford-style debating, and this sounds like an engaging new format.

It’s a great fusion of the “social media” promise of “Web 2.0″ and classic debating style, brought to the world by a source I find consistently intelligent and thought-provoking. I look forward to seeing how it works in practice, and, as with all things labeled 2.0, ultimately evolves!

Found this via Richard MacManus at ReadWriteWeb who I had the pleasure of meeting at Mix07 last year.