Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Unemployment Numbers

The Big Picture [thebigpicture@optonline.net] "The Unenemployment Dilemma"

The underlying issue is similar to our last several recesssions (1991 & 2001), but much worse. The economy continues to be transformed by technology and new knowledge, rapidly erasing the staus quo through the capitalist process of "creative destruction" (Joseph Schumpeter). This is an intellectual machination and construct and is what is actually happening in the trenches (another reason our government should not have bailed out the banks or auto companies)---it cannot be stopped by political chicanery, just delayed. In this new capitalist world, the winners will be those who continually learn, and adapt to changing market circumstances.

This "new world order worker" must be a perpetual learner, constantly training and re-training herself. The old ways of doing things will not work with rote learners having the most difficulty. For decades, many of us have argued that k-12 education is a remnant of the industrial age that needs to be modernized, focusing on outcomes rather than inputs. It seems time has run out.

9 comments:

  1. Curious as you what your thoughts are on the current education system. A few weeks ago, I was engaged in a spirited happy hour debate with a couple of teachers about the current state of education in Minnesota. I was arguing that every high school graduate of a Minnesota school should know how to start and run a business; more simply that we should be teaching kids to be employers, not employees. Corporate Law, business plans, HR etc. should all be part of the curriculum. I believe that every citizen having a firm understanding of those concepts is fundamental to a robust economy.

    They were aghast...understandably so, I was being a bit critical of their trade. By the end though, they were seeing a bit of the logic. They even shared some success stories of magnet schools in the inner city where upon graduation kids immediately started their own successful movie production companies

    What are your thoughts on education, how would you change it?

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