The bubble nobody talks about: Higher-Ed

Dustin
Beijing

Just saying we need a more educated populace isn't enough. We need a specific kind of educated populace -- mainly scientists and engineers. Unfortunately, elite institutions pump out legions of corporate lawyers and bankers. These parasitic professions don't do a whole lot for the nation as a whole. We need Bell Labs not Goldman Sachs.


choice
NH

The annual US defense budget is about $800 billion, before the upcoming Afghan escalation; speaking of penny-wise, pound-foolish, why not spend the fund at home, on education, healthcare, infrastructure, green tech?


LAS
Redmond, WA

American society is denying our gifted students the opportunity to develop the mathematical knowledge necessary to compete scientifically. American graduate schools are importing many of their science students because Americans students are at least five years behind the Europeans in math. Able students in France and Italy learn trigonometry in the sixth grade. They learn to prove theorems. Americans are taught watered down, applied math. High school students are often given abridged versions of advanced topics, which they learn by memorizing the computations without understanding the underlying meaning. Students are doing computations with the calculator instead of learning to estimate quantities in their heads. These problems have been known for more than 30 years and still nothing has changed. At the very least, gifted students should be allowed to leave the high school to take college courses, or colleges should send teachers to provide special instruction at the high schools. If this doesn't happen, then forget about Americans having the opportunity to succeed in physics, engineering or computational biology. A stimulus package that funded gifted education programs in math would pay for itself in the future, not to mention the advances in medicine that could eventually cure diseases and lower health care costs.


Morbius
St. Louis, MO

When I graduated from a state university in 1980, I had managed to accumulate around $1800 in student loan debt, over the course of 7 years of night school. I was able to repay this debt in a little over a year. Now, students must mortgage their future to get a college degree. I know personally of at least 4 people who have in excess of $80,000 each in student loan debt. The crisis in education that must first be addressed is the excessive cost, which has spiraled out of control in a manner reminiscent of healthcare cost inflation. Perhaps, as an economist, you could explain why, and suggest a remedy.


EtherNetzer
Oakland

How can one ignore the ignominious role that the NEA and the federal and state governments have already had in subverting the goals of public schools. Your solution is to throw more taxpayer dollars at it, blindly. Public schools have become parodies of didactic learning, just warehouses and temporary corrals for rambunctious youth; when teaching occurs, it's centered on politically correct cultural sensitivity and how to deal with bad feelings. Meanwhile, no learning of basic knowledge or useful skills occurs.


wt
east coast

Krugman wonders why American college students hold part-time jobs whereas their French counterparts don't. He concludes it's for lack of public funding.

Well, Mr. Krugman, take note: your employer, Princeton University, charges it's students $50k/year, whereas the Ecole normale superieure, Paris charges a few hundred dollars per semester. And...per student public funding of higher education in France is less than in the US--a lot less.

How do the French (and virtually all of Western Europe) provide world class education for pittance? Well, for starters, French faculty are civil servants paid on a national scale; they make a fraction of what you and your Princeton colleagues make. Professors are expected to teach first, and keep research and extracurricular activities second. Their athletics consist of intramural matches, not nationally televised games. Their facilities are spartan and crumbling, not country clubs. Every euro is stretched for the primary purpose of educating young students.

In short, our European friends do more for less. It's healthcare redux: Americans pay more, get less.

Obama and G-20 Summit world leaders gather for the official photo at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, Pa., Sept. 25, 2009

P092509SA-0265, originally uploaded by The Official White House Photostream.

Whodunit? Sneak attack on U.S. dollar
Eamon Javers Eamon Javers

It’s the biggest mystery in global finance right now: Who conducted a sneak attack on the U.S. dollar this week?

It began with a thinly sourced but highly explosive report Monday in a British newspaper: Arab oil sheiks are conspiring with the Russians and Chinese to quit using the dollar to set the value of oil trades — a direct threat to the global supremacy of the greenback.

Is it true? Everyone from the head of the Saudi central bank to U.S. officials scrambled to undercut the story, but no matter.

With the U.S. economy on the ropes and America by far the world’s biggest debtor, investors aren’t feeling as secure about the dollar as they used to. And the notion of second-tier economies ganging up on Uncle Sam didn’t sound so far-fetched.

For American officials, the possibility of the dollar losing its long-term dominance in global commerce is a nightmare scenario because it would likely mean sharply higher interest rates at home and a declining ability to finance the U.S. debt. No one believes it could really happen right now, but stories like the British report this week make it seem incrementally more likely.

So the piece by Robert Fisk of the Independent shocked currency traders around the world and almost instantly sent the value of the U.S. dollar spiraling downward and the price of gold skyrocketing to an all-time high, as a hedge against a weakened dollar.

The website drudgereport.com quickly amplified the impact of the story with a headline atop the site: ARAB STATES LAUNCH SECRET MOVES WITH CHINA, RUSSIA, FRANCE TO STOP USING DOLLAR FOR OIL TRADING ...

“You read that story, and you do two things: You sell the hell out of dollars and you buy gold,” said Les Alperstein, president of the financial research firm Washington Analysis. “The story has a lot of credibility, with some caveats.”

So who wanted dollars diving and gold rising? In other words, who is Fisk’s source, and why did he or she want to tank the dollar? It’s the global currency version of the old Washington parlor game of speculating on the real identity of Deep Throat.

No one knows.

But one thing is for certain: With the price of gold jumping to $1,048.20 per ounce, traders who moved early enough stood to make millions.

So in government circles in Washington, speculation immediately centered on gold traders: With the skyrocketing price of gold, they’d be the biggest beneficiaries of the article.

Fisk’s story itself isn’t much help in solving the mystery — it is sourced vaguely to “Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong,” and it included one blind quote, attributed to “a prominent Hong Kong broker.” That doesn’t narrow down the pool very much.

The story doesn’t name any officials who had allegedly participated in the secret meetings involving the Arab states. It didn’t say where the meetings occurred or when. Other than saying the plan is to stop using the dollar by 2018, there was precious little detail to the account.

Around the world, traders turned to Wikipedia to find out more about Fisk himself. There, they learned that Fisk is a legendary British foreign correspondent who has been based in Beirut for more than 30 years and has won a slew of journalism awards. They also learned that he is one of only a few journalists to have interviewed Osama bin Laden (three times) and that he has expressed doubts that the United States has told the full story about the Sept. 11 attacks.

An analyst’s report from the Royal Bank of Scotland concluded, “Fisk is a veteran of the Middle East. ... he is also increasingly associated with more radical theories thus weakening the credibility of the story.”

Beyond the specifics of the story, the geopolitical implications of the report sent shudders from Riyadh to London to Washington: Has the long-dominant American economy been so humbled by the economic crisis that these nations would mount a frontal attack on the dollar, the underpinning of the world’s biggest economy?

That question is on the minds of global investors, who are keeping a skittish eye on the weakening dollar. And over the past several months there has been a steady drumbeat of Chinese, Russian and other officials who have talked openly about finding a replacement for the dollar as the global economy’s default currency. Any effort to do that would be fraught with difficulty. But however unlikely, the possibility represents a threat to the American economy, which has come to depend on the significant advantages it reaps from minting the currency most used around the world.

In another era, the dollar could shrug off such a vaguely sourced, thinly detailed story.

But not anymore.

The dollar is weak and vulnerable to rumor-mongering because many traders believe it will only get weaker. “The fundamental reason why this occurred is that after 9.8 percent unemployment on Friday, nobody can say with certainty that the recovery is sustainable,” said one analyst familiar with the situation.

“In years past, when the U.S. economic dominance was more pronounced and emerging markets were marginal players in the global economy,” noted an analyst’s report from HSBC, “the debate on pricing commodities in currencies other than the [U.S. dollar] typically came down to the lack of practicality. ... Today, emerging markets are clearly wielding much more influence in the global economy, and they want more, as will be borne out in this week’s IMF meetings.”

And that means U.S. officials whose job it is to defend the dollar may have their work cut out for them in the months to come.

General McChrystal speaking out

I am reminded of the extraordinary influence on the white house such as occurred after Reagan was shot and general Haig said he was in control. The President has to remember he is the President far above being a military commander. The military influence over the American population is so pervasive, I call it a false religion. I fear political leaders are influenced in their decisions because of this. We Americans are weary and leery of warfare and voted for ending the war in Iraq and perhaps most want a deescalation of what is happening in Afghanistan. The will of the people was realized in the election of Obama and we expected action along those lines, so why hasn't it happened? Specifically in regard to General McChrystal speaking out, it showed the modern lack of political control over the military OR the latent fact thereof. The General should not have spoken publicly, but through the chain of command. Robert Gates desire to keep it PRIVATE however, is wrong and is contrary to the ideals of a true democracy we claim to be. I hope he didn't mean secret. Actually, I believe it is imperative the military and the political people be frank and public in their deliberations comparing same to parliamentary process. It is very important that the debate be public as the entire countries population is affected in psychy and in actual life and death. Everyone must know their place but treat each others views equally. The civilian control of the military must be vigorously protected and preserved. The political people must have the last word.
— Patrick



Gen. McChrystal should not appear to present Mr. Obama with only one option …it smacks of the all to public dispute between Truman and MacArthur during the Korean War…

McChrystal is on to one important issue that goes unreported… The Islamic Republic of Iran and the Taliban are bitter enemies due to the centuries old animus between the Sunni and Shi’a branches of Islam…

Further, a major debilitating problem in Iran, especially Tehran, is IV drug use and it is easy to figure out where the drugs come from …I’ve seen it first hand…

All in, Iran could be a very important natural ally to the U.S. and NATO forces in dealing with the Taliban in Afghanistan…
— Obama Voter


This is the wrong war as it is no longer “The War on Terror” which practically expired when the Taleban Government fell.

What the NATO forces are dealing with is the wishes of the Pashtun tribes to do away with the British imposed “Durand Line” that was drawn up in 1893 to protect “British India” which included present day Pakistan from the threats by Imperial Russia (as it stands now there are about 15 million Pashtuns in Afghanistan and 30 million in Pakistan).

Pashtuns in Pakistan command and enjoy substantial economic, political and military power and are determined to absorb the Pashtun provinces in Afghanistan into greater Pakistan.

Karzai Government on the other hand is trying to accomplish the opposite and the NATO forces are caught in the middle of this vicious power play….

This issue will NOT be resolved till both Pakistan and Afghanistan Governments agree to a settlement and deal with the wishes and aspirations of the Pashtuns!

It is with great sadness to witness the loss of life both of the Pashtuns and the NATO forces day in and day out.

The UN needs to take charge here, bring Afghan and Pakistan leaders along-with the Pashtun Elders to the table and arrange for a transition period either way….

This needs a political solution as NATO nor any Army for that matter will have sufficient resources to fight 45 million Pashtuns, the corrupt Afghan Government dedicated to milking the sponsors of the War on Terror and a Pakistan Government bent on destabilizing Afghanistan.
— Hassan Azarm



Failure to listen very carefully, and with an open mind, to the General’s recommendations would in my opinion be Presidential malpractice. Does anyone really believe that we can just ignore the Taliban and defeat al Qaeda? Or, is the President just looking for an excuse to mollify the left wing of his party. I hope there is no truth to the notion that Obama is “giving” them Afghanistan in return for abandoning single payer and government option in health care.
— Jake


I’m a heck of a lot more interested in McChrystal’s comments than I am in most of the idiots in the present administration or anyone from the Washington Post.
— Bill


The general is correct on one thing: either turning Afghanistan into a clone of East Texas is a goal to which we should be fully devoted regardless of any future cost in American lives and fortune, or we should get out. Personally I would vote for getting out. Those who profit from the war itself or who have a financial stake in future possible pipeline routes from Turkmenistan quite understandably might feel differently.
— Donald Surr


I want generals to tell the American public what they think. If they do, then the American public can decide whether or not the political leaders are acting wisely. I remember General Shinseki (I hope I am spelling his name correctly) explaining to congress why the plan to pacify Iraq was doomed to failure. He was right which one one reason I did not support the last administration’s Iraq policy. I want generals, who are after all the people who know how to fight a war, to explain to me what is and what is not. Then and only then can I form a sound view of the reality in any theater of war.
— Jeff



Yes, Gen. McChrystal is being treated like Gen. Shinseki, and Obama should not make the same mistake Bush made of attempting to muzzle a general who brings inconvenient news. Biden’s Rumsfeld2.0 plan would be a disaster, just as his harebrained plan to divide Iraq up into 3 countries would have been a disaster if implemented. Both McChrystal and Petraeus are apolitical and supporters of civilian control of the military, in spite some suggestions from the right that Petraeus should eventually enter politics. McChrystal is to be thanked for stimulating public debate on the options in Afghanistan. These need to be discussed vigorously before a decision on troop strength is made, and demonizing McChrystal is a mistake.

My major criticism of McChrystal’s speech was that it did not adequately deal with a huge military problem that is just as serious as political corruption in Afghanistan. This problem is that the Afghan army is overwhelmingly controlled by leftovers from the old “Northern Alliance.” These are largely Turkic people who have long competed with the non-Turkic Pashtun, who support or at least tolerate the Taliban. If this northern-alliance-led Afghan Army does not expand into a national army subject to significant Pashtun control and leadership, the Afghan army will never gain the trust of Pashtun tribespeople, who will continue to actively or passively support the Taliban. And if the Afghan army is not viewed as a friendly force by Pashtuns, then no amount of US power will be effective. Reform — not simply training — of the Afghan army is the most urgent problem of all from a military point of view. To Pashtun villagers, it is probably even more important than the voting fraud in the recent election.
— C.C.



It’s time to get the hell out of there, period. what is it about END OF EMPIRE our nation cannot accept?

all of a sudden, once again, everyone is becoming an expert on an ancient nation thousands of miles away that poses no threat to us.

once again the military is talking up spending our blood and treasure in a place it absolutely does not understand.

once again we are defending a claque of drug dealers in the name of national security.

only one thing is certain: there will be a definitive defeat for the US in Afghanistan. the only question is when, how much will be squandered along the way, and will it destroy obama as it did lbj.
— harvey wasserman