Since the September issue, the U. S. has backed away from a strike on Syria in favor of the Russian proposal for the disposal of all of its chemical weapons. This in effect means no penalty of Bashar Asaad for his deliberate murder of civilians and he survives. Now Russia and Iran collaborate for hegemony […]
Archives for October 2013
Policy Uncertainty and Economic Growth
William A. Galston is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal editorial pages with whom I don’t always agree, for example, in his declaration in the headline to an article this summer that “government is a good venture capitalist”. But his recent essay on federal policy uncertainty and its impact on the growth of […]
The Coming Disruption from Competency-Based Education
A couple of articles this past summer by Paul Fain in Inside Higher Ed (www.insidehighered.com) brought to my attention with more clarity the promise and inevitable disruption of the trend toward competency-based higher education. He reports on pilot programs now underway at a growing number of for-profit institutions and at least 25 or so […]
The Humanities Wars
We are besieged by commentary in the battle over the humanities curriculum in higher education—do we need more emphasis?, do we need less?, is it all about jobs?, is it all about competency in a skill set?, what about critical thinking?, what about making good citizens?, what about the pursuit of meaning in life?, […]
An Abdication of Leadership
I will make no attempt to defend or justify certain elements of the tactics of the Republicans in the House and Senate in the run-up to the current government shutdown “crisis”, particularly the futile attempt to defund Obamacare, although I agree with most aspects of the underlying policy substance in their recent position–on Obamacare, […]