Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
In my rarely humble opinion Galbraith totally blew Friedman away. I am not saying that I completely agree with Galbraith but that he was informative, providing the reader with stuff to think about while Friedman came across as a propagandist providing only the information supporting his side.
I do find it curious that I have never heard any economist suggest mandatory accounting for our schools though nearly everyone must deal with money and double-entry accounting is 700 years old. So it was 500 years old when Karl Marx was born. So please excuse me if I am inclined to be skeptical about anything that Friedman said about education.
Shouldn't a good National Recommended Reading List classified by age and with short explanations for inclusion of each book be very useful and relatively inexpensive? So what do we get from educators? Might it be too useful and inexpensive?
psik
Hi psik,
Among economists, Galbraith's contributions had a short-half life, whilst Friedman's work remains on the required lists. However, I will suspend commenting on your reply until I watch the Galbraith link, for which I am grateful. Give me some time to indulge. Thanks! S.
Hi psik,
Among economists, Galbraith's contributions had a short-half life, whilst Friedman's work remains on the required lists. However, I will suspend commenting on your reply until I watch the Galbraith link, for which I am grateful. Give me some time to indulge. Thanks! S.
Call me paranoid but often lasting ideas that get promoted are those that serve the interests of the "experts". Who hires economists?
Economics is not like physics.
Education has the same problem. Will the best possible use of technology for education best serve the interests of educators?
The way to measure the performance of computers is with benchmarks. I worked for IBM. I never saw any mention of benchmarks. This was when microcomputers were about to kick the asses of minicomputers.
Call me paranoid but often lasting ideas that get promoted are those that serve the interests of the "experts". Who hires economists?
Economics is not like physics.
Education has the same problem. Will the best possible use of technology for education best serve the interests of educators?
The way to measure the performance of computers is with benchmarks. I worked for IBM. I never saw any mention of benchmarks. This was when microcomputers were about to kick the asses of minicomputers.
I enjoyed the first episode. Thank you for the link. It will be some time before I finish all 15 episodes! How delightful!
To reply to the comments above.
The ideas that drive evolution in economics are a combination of technical innovations and events in the world that offer chances at rethinks and re-exploration. Yes, there are the well-placed economists that drive some of the technical debate, but their control is minimal unless they produce the results that drive the conversation. It is unlike many other social science and humanities fields which are more likely to be driven by personality and fad.
Who hires? Universities, think tanks, government, financial firms, logistics firms, etc.
Econ is econ and physics is physics. However, econ does use quite a bit of the tools of math and physics in articulating economic ideas and deriving results.
Econ can get too technology driven. But while publications are filled with overuse of mathematics, the most interesting ideas that set the agenda are about solving particular problems in economics.
As for education and technology, that is a huge topic worthy of careful dissection. A quick comment: I personally think technology is both overused and underutilized and we are worse off for both.
Benchmarks in education: Another huge topic. A quick comment. They exist, are often abused by those who seek simplicity instead of embrace the complexity of child development, and are highly political.
I am looking for a good primer on American Education (K-12). One that isn't pro one way or the other, but deals with history, methods, issues, debates, current trends etc.... in a non-biased format.
Something like American Education 101 or Education for Dummies...
As you can see, you can scan thousands of books, view new and used prices, and see reviews on each book. I'm sure you can find something reasonably priced that meets your needs.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
