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A scary thought is really all this is. Yes, we have our problems, but India and China do too. We have Iraq, they have Pakistan and Tibet. We have a falling dol
by jfornear 19y ago
A scary thought is really all this is.
Yes, we have our problems, but India and China do too. We have Iraq, they have Pakistan and Tibet. We have a falling dollar and a mortgage crisis. They have overcrowding issues, a transportation crisis, and environmental problems (to say the least)... I don't know about you, but the emerging middle class in Asia and the Middle East just screams instability to me.
The US on the other hand, will continue to provide a low risk and relatively stable environment for investing, especially if we can figure out a way to strengthen the dollar. (Though we've heard interesting theories on how it could rise naturally as exports become less expensive to foreigners and imports become more expensive to us. Domestic savings would rise, economic growth, etc.)
On a sidenote, I don't understand how Philip can truly believe universities in the US are inferior. I thought everyone was in general agreement that we had the best universities? I even personally hang out with a Saudi student who comes from Middle Eastern oil money. He could afford any school in the world, and he chose little SMU in Dallas... Would Philip consider MIT or Harvard inferior? I wish I could go to MIT or Harvard...
Overall, the article brought an interesting idea to the table. I just have trouble seeing growing economies in India and China as a bad thing for the US. I don't like how some Economist's love to bring India and China into the mix only to instill fear.
- jules 19y agoI think the best universities in the US are better than the best universities here (Netherlands), but the worst in your country are worse than the worst here. All universities in the Netherlands are good, but we don't have any exceptional universities. This may be my limited judgement, but I've not even considered stuying computer science because of the curricula here. People are buying more in the US because of the low dollar. I buy more cheap books on amazon. You are probaly importing less because it's expensive.
- timr 19y agoHe didn't say anything about US universities. Here's what he wrote: "Our college graduates are roughly equivalent in ability to other nations’ high school graduates, and a lot of our high school graduates could not compete on the world market for any jobs other than manual labor." You'll also note that he cites an article to support the premise. That said, having taught a few senior-level courses at a top-tier university, I think he's right. The quality of undergraduate education at most schools is abysmal, especially large public schools. Top US universities are best known for their research programs, not their teaching. (Thanks to drastic cutbacks at the NIH and NSF, even that lead is threatened, but that's another story....)
- jfornear 19y agoThat makes more sense... and apparently I am living support for that assertion. Reading comprehension FTL.