Archive for September, 2008
The Third Horseman of the Apocalypse
Thursday, September 18th, 2008
Regular readers of this blog know that I have been increasingly concerned about the credit crisis, and have maintained for some time that this crisis has the potential to bring down the global financial system. I have also stressed that there has been a very low probability of this happening. More recent posts, though, have been picking out specific indicators of rising risks, and, much to my dismay, I must say that the risks have risen once again.
Protected: Handout for CCTFA
Wednesday, September 17th, 2008A Matter of Survival: The Future of Education
Tuesday, September 2nd, 2008I recently spoke about the future of education to the faculty of an elite, K-12 private boys school. Money had clearly been lavished on the campus, which looked like a small private university. And it was clear that only people with deep pockets could afford to send their boys there. During the Q&A after my presentation, one teacher commented that I seemed to be talking about survival. On reflection, I agreed with him – I had indeed spoken about survival, and on many levels: the survival of our country as an affluent society; the survival of our school systems; the survival (or success) of today’s students; and the professional survival of teachers. All of these are at risk because of the changes ahead of us. And although that wasn’t the only thing I spoke about, I would like to summarize some of those thoughts here. (more…)