There is something so exciting about multinational alliances and treaties like NATO, the UN, and the EU. Some (NATO) have fulfilled their mission to some extent. Others (the UN) have failed miserably time and time again. I think the jury is still out the EU. Certainly the Euro is extremely strong. But the job of the central bank is almost impossible. How do you make economic policy that works for so many different economies? One interest rate might be great for one country while killing the economy in another region. For instance, Britain wants rates to stay relatively high to control inflation. However, such a strong Euro is hurting tourism. (That’s why Disney is doing so well in the US while the rest of the US economy is tanking.) So countries like Italy and Greece that depend on a lot of tourism dollars would actually like to see a weaker Euro and lower interest rates.
On the political side, Europe currently has a rotating presidency. While it may sound great to share the power, there is a price to be paid. A recent article in The Economist describes the political quagmire that has resulted in trying to choose the president of the European Union.
KING SOLOMON, relates the Bible, acted wisely and decisively when faced with two women claiming the same baby: his threat to cut it in half swiftly revealed the real mother. The European Union is different. Faced with two rival plans, its approach is to say yes to both, delay a reckoning for years and then throw money at the compromise. If EU leaders were running Solomon’s court they would award both women custody, build parallel nurseries with public funds and review progress in 2014.
Many things look like great ideas on the surface (see my recent blog entry on the ridiculous gas tax holiday proposal) until you take the time and effort to actually understand the entire situation.
I came across an interesting article on the universal applicability of a college education. The argument here is not against any post-high school education; rather against using a blanket approach for every individual. I think it is worth a read.
Here is an excerpt.
Unbelievably, according to the Spellings Report, which was released in 2006 by a federal commission that examined the future of American higher education, things are getting even worse: “Over the past decade, literacy among college graduates has actually declined. … According to the most recent National Assessment of Adult Literacy, for instance, the percentage of college graduates deemed proficient in prose literacy has actually declined from 40 to 31 percent in the past decade. … Employers report repeatedly that many new graduates they hire are not prepared to work, lacking the critical thinking, writing and problem-solving skills needed in today’s workplaces.”
What must be done to improve undergraduate education? Colleges should be held at least as accountable as tire companies are. When some Firestone tires were believed to be defective, government investigations, combined with news-media scrutiny, led to higher tire-safety standards. Yet year after year, colleges and universities turn out millions of defective products: students who drop out or graduate with far too little benefit for the time and money spent. Not only do colleges escape punishment, but they are rewarded with taxpayer-financed student grants and loans, which allow them to raise their tuitions even more.
Click here to read the entire article.
I graduated from college back in 2000 with an engineering degree. During my several years of active duty service in the US Navy submarine force I met many enlisted guys who had spent multiple years at college only to waste thousands (of their parents’ usually) dollars and not graduate. (Too much beer or something.) To each his (or her) own. I think the Navy was an outstanding place for them to make a positive contribution, learn a valuable skill, gain some true patriotism, and grow up somewhat. The Navy also provided them with a great way to pay for college if that turned out to be a goal for them in the future.
I welcome any comments.
Much is often made of the poor opinion that foreigners have of the USA. The US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs is reaching out to youth and their parents of Middle Eastern countries through an interesting and innovative student exchange program called Youth Exchange and Study (YES) program.
This public diplomacy initiative’s goal is build bridges of understanding and respect between Americans and students from countries with significant Muslim populations. The following is part of an article about the program. Click here for the entire story.
“The Yes programme basically takes young high school students, majority of whom are from Muslim countries coming to the US and live with their host family. They get transformed by that experience and they transform the family in the community that they leave in,” said Ameri. Young people, aged 16-18 from these mostly Muslim countries live as a member in an American family and attend high school for an academic year or semester.
They share their host families’ everyday lives, engage in school activities and volunteer in their communities. They learn about American society and value while helping to educate others about the customs and culture of their homelands.
In the summer of 1993, between my junior and senior years in high school, I spent one month living with a German family in former East Germany. Only a few months earlier, the young man had spent a month with us in Idaho. Even though these people had technically been our “enemies” just a few short years before, I and the other American students in the program learned firsthand that they were really the same as us. They had the same types of worries and dreams.
Yesterday a US Navy report stated that a former Guantanamo prisoner carried out a suicide bombing attack in Baghdad. There are many people around the world that hate the US and our way of life. However, one can hope that initiatives like this can help these same people gain a better understanding of us.
