From the Economist

But I suspect that today's league tables say as much about
the motives behind those who compile them (and, indeed, those who laud their
findings) as they do about the true global standing of the institutions
concerned. Britain is poised to slash its public services, and the axe hangs
over its universities just as surely as it does over almost all other area of
public life (only the National Health Service and the overseas aid budget have
won reprieves). Other countries with rickety public finances are nevertheless
splurging on universities, including America, Canada, France and Germany. Even
Australia and China, which avoided recession, have big plans.

In such circumstances, it makes sense for British universities to present themselves as a national treasure whose crown is slipping for want of investment. Universities
UK, which represents vice-chancellors, issued a statement from Steve Smith, its
president, saying, "The tables may show that the UK remains the second-strongest
university system in the world, but the most unmistakable conclusion is that
this position is genuinely under threat. The higher education sector is one of
the UK's international success stories, but it faces unprecedented competition.
Our competitors are investing significant sums in their universities, just when
the UK is contemplating massive cuts in its expenditure on universities and
science."

He may be right, but the evidence he uses to support his
conclusion is far from objective.

And a comment on the article

deanquill wrote: Sep 20th 2010 7:31 GMT .It's notable that Israel, which had two
universities just outside The Times' top 100 last year, had none in the list at
all this year. The universities apparently failed to return statistical data and
were excluded; they say they never received the request from The Times' new
survey organizers. Incompetence is more likely than conspiracy but it doesn't
say much about the list's accuracy.

Good point, but the magazine in question is not The Times and the data was collected by Thomson Reuters.