» EconomicsIn 1980, Brazil imported 77 percent of its oil. Now it imports 0.0 percent. During that same time period, America increased its oil imports from roughly 30 percent to 70 percent. If Brazil can become completely self-sufficient in oil, why can’t America start becoming more self-sufficient? Brazil is one of the BRICs, an acronym that refers [...] President Obama recently attributed China’s rise largely to its education system when he said: “Meanwhile, nations like China and India realized that with some changes of their own, they could compete in this new world. And so they started educating their children earlier and longer, with greater emphasis on math and science.” No, President Obama. That’s not [...] Paul Krugman, columnist for the New York Times, recently criticized those who “see taxes and regulation as tyrannical impositions on their liberty” and who believe “that people have a right to keep what they earn.” One branch of American politics shares Krugman’s view that the money you earn—the material manifestation of your mental and physical labor—is [...] The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg, a fable by Aesop, provides a moral lesson about greed. A couple owned a goose that laid a golden egg every day. Assuming there must be a big lump of gold inside the goose, the couple killed it. But they found no gold. By trying to get all [...] American students are lagging significantly behind their peers from several countries in Europe and Asia according to new results from a key international assessment. They are the furthest behind students from the Chinese city of Shanghai, who received the top international test scores in math, science, and reading. “We have to see this as a wake-up [...] The Ant and the Grasshopper, a fable by Aesop, provides a moral lesson about hard work and saving. During the warm months, the ant worked hard to store up food for the winter while the grasshopper sang and played. When winter arrived, the grasshopper asked the ant for food because it had none. In today’s [...] In American schools, boys are underachieving and girls are excelling. This gender gap in academic achievement is evident as early as kindergarten. The longer students are in school, the wider the gap becomes. Boys are more likely than girls to earn poor grades, be held back a grade, have a learning disability, get suspended or expelled, [...] The economic center of gravity is shifting from West to East as America faces economic problems and China remains the world’s fastest-growing major economy. Do these events signify the eventual end of American predominance? Since embracing market reforms in 1978, China’s economy has averaged over 9.5 percent growth annually. In the last three decades, it has [...] In America, the cost of higher education has been rising faster than inflation and health care costs for more than two decades. Money Magazine calculated that college tuition rose by 439 percent from 1982-2007. According to Mark C. Taylor, author of Crisis on Campus: A Bold Plan for Reforming Our Colleges and Universities, four years at a [...] The new documentary Waiting for Superman currently playing in theaters around the nation explores the failures of American public education: it serves adults instead of kids, teachers’ unions impede progress, and teachers need better training. However, the movie offers little in the way of solutions. Perhaps what’s needed is a sequel that offers solutions for fixing American [...] American spending on public education, adjusted for inflation, has more than doubled over the last three decades. What did taxpayers get for their money? The average math and reading scores of American 17-year-olds have not improved since the early 1970s according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Twice the money. Zero progress. Yet students in other countries have [...] According to a new report from the Federation for American Immigration Reform, the single largest cost of illegal immigration is educating the children of illegal aliens. Of the estimated $113 billion the U.S. spends on illegal immigration annually, roughly $52 billion goes toward educating the children of illegal aliens. The report, The Fiscal Burden of Illegal [...] The world has been turned upside down: socialism is on the rise in the U.S. and capitalism is on the rise in China. The former is a result of an uneducated electorate that fails to understand socialism’s history of producing poverty; the latter is a result of pragmatic leadership able to put aside communist ideology [...] According to a recent Newsweek article titled “The Creativity Crisis,” research shows that American creativity is declining for the first time. If this trend continues, the nation’s economic and national security will be at risk. The research is based on results of the Torrance Test of Creative Thinking, which has been used to test American creativity [...] What if Deng Xiaoping, the architect of China’s economic rise, was also secretly the architect of China’s quest for military dominance? It’s not a far-fetched theory. Two decades ago, Deng advised his colleagues to “hide your brightness, bide your time.” The way to move stealthily would be to focus on economics first. A strong economy is [...] The U.S. military needs to reinvent itself. If it continues to hold on to antiquated paradigms, U.S. national security could be at risk. Consider what’s happening in China. The nation’s rapidly growing economy has enabled it to significantly increase its military budget. Over the past decade, China’s military-related spending has roughly doubled. In a recent issue of [...] One significant way Asian cultures differ from Western cultures is that group identity is more important than individual identity. This factor limits the ability of Asians to “think outside the box.” I’ve had the opportunity to learn much about group identity in Asian cultures while living in Japan over the past year and a half and [...] I recently traveled to Cambodia to research their education system. During my visit, I stopped by the campus of the Royal University of Phnom Penh, the oldest and largest university in the nation, to talk to professors, administrators, and students. I also visited the Chroy Changvar Primary School in Phnom Penh where I observed students [...] During a recent visit to Malaysia, I had the opportunity to visit the University of Malaya (UM). Located in Kuala Lumpur, UM is the highest ranking and oldest university in Malaysia. According to the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings 2009, it’s ranked as the 180th best university in the world. Dr. Mahzan Arshad, associate professor of [...] I recently traveled to Singapore to research their national education system. During my visit, I stopped by the campuses of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the National Institute of Education (NIE)—Singapore’s only teacher-training institute—to talk to professors, administrators, and students. According to the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings 2009, both universities rank in [...] |
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