I finished Alan Greenspan‘s book The Age of Turbulence Adventures in a New World and learned it was more than I expected from the former Chairman of The Federal Reserve. And with the recession still in high gear it was also good timing.
Beyond his sheer volume of knowledge regarding the economy, global markets and international finance I was most impressed with Greenspan’s simple yet immense observation: America needs an overhauled K12 educational system for our country to have a strong economy in 2030.
The impact of Technology, Globalization & Innovation as he outlines should not be overlooked regarding educational reform. I must admit the real interest for most readers would be to jump the chapter that addresses the recession. Its worth taking the time to read the book in full.
Greenspan’s impact in Washington, the economy and Republican politics spans Presidential administrations from Nixon to W. Bush. Greenspan has enjoyed a pretty interesting life. I was most struck not by his interest in music but rather his high school music partner Stan Getz. His comments about his role in Y2K for the government and financial markets and the impact of fiber optic networks were welcoming for any geek or fanboy.
There is just a huge amount of economic learning you can pickup from his 25 chapters. My favorite chapters surprisingly fall in a row:
19. Globalization and Regulation
20. The “Conundrum”
21. Education and Income Inequality
22. The world retires. But can it afford to?
There are some amazing things you can learn from an economist. His view of W. Bush’s administration and their loss of focus on the economy was eye opening. Bush never changed any economic plans beyond what he promised during his election campaign. W. Bush repeatedly ignored The Fed’s view of the sliding economy and needed changes over the close of his Presidency and handed his successor an economy with financial, housing and automotive markets in crisis.
The Dysfunction that is K-12 Education
Suggestions regarding needed changes regarding the US education system made by the Chairman of the Fed are probably not where most educators look for their reform mojo. Greenspan proves they are wrong to ignore his office’s research and knowledge of the coming economy and the skills needed by future workers, the impact of globalization and the rising educational standards around the globe. I have yet to see any educational leader acknowledge the Fed’s economic indicates and metrics regarding needed educational reform.
Yet Greenspan addresses a 1995 study by the Lynch School of Education at Boston College that revealed US 4th graders scored above average in math and science against their equivalents around the world. However by grade 12 in high school those same students fell below many countries and far below leaders Singapore, Hong Kong, Sweden and The Netherlands.
Not convinced? Greenspan even lists the website at BC for the reader to explore more current data as late as 2008.
Education’s own axis of evil: Technology, Globalization & Innovation
What does Greenspan suggest? K12 AND colleges must radically change. His solution is to address two key levers: Education and Immigration. Beware however – these two are set against the backdrop that globalization has weakened the power of labor unions worldwide. And as Greenspan indicates markets are already addressing the forces of competition that shaped education in the US. Now we must allow the market to reshape our educational system again in order for our next generation of children to be competitive in 2030.
Predict my child’s economic future
To no surprise Greenspan shares one of the most often asked questions: What will the US economy be like in 2030? Although extremely difficult to forecast Greenspan listed five key elements necessary to be in place, to consider a 2030 hypothesis. It may raise an eyebrow to see how important Greenspan estimates our revamped education system:
1. The rule of Law
2. The necessary overhaul of the K12 educational system
Well I hope our country would indeed have the current rule of law in 2030. He actually focuses on privacy rights of citizens and property. But for Greenspan to list K12 Education second should be rather sobering for America. I believe teachers, curriculum development and technologists should be reading this book. Parents and students should be reading this book too.
Still not convinced? Then tell me how can you see the economic forest through the trees?
Tags: Alan Greenspan, The Age of Turbulence, economy, politics, federal reserve, education, values, reading, trends