The Economic Geography of Higher Education

The Diane Rehm Show aired a broadcast this morning about the cost of Higher Education (HE). I struggled to listen as the guests seemed woefully inadequate to address the complete picture of the costs of Higher Education. The editor of the Chronicle of Higher Education (Jeffrey Selingo), Claudia Dreifus, an author and instructor from Columbia University, and three other guests, aired their perspectives. One would think that these educated people would have a better grasp of the problems associated with obtaining a Higher Education. After listening to them, I can make no other conclusion other than their knowledge of HE costs is incomplete and short-sighted.

I have to agree with some of the comments. Higher education costs have increased pretty dramatically over the last decade or so. Also, I must agree that students are taking on considerable debt, too.

Placing all of the blame on colleges and universities is fallacious and disingenuous. Blaming costs uniquely upon colleges and universities creates a dangerous atmosphere of contempt for HE, displacing blame onto institutions that are the recipients of students who appear to have left their brains at home before traveling to college. One might as well blame farmers because Twinkies taste wierd.

Here is what I mean.

At the National Level, the USA lacks a true employment policy. The Bureau of the Census gathers statistics, as does the Department of the Commerce. We gather knowledge about education and income, occupations and trades. These federal agencies then publish reports about employment outlooks, what jobs are going to be necessary, how much they pay, responsibilities, a wealth of knowledge. Reports are published and made available via the media. These notices usually come in the form of this WKMS article, outlining the lack of technology workers. The Federal Government tells people what they should study. The Federal Government does not make people study what is needed, though. With the Employment Outlook Handbook, people have the ability to inform themselves. The Government essentially says, every year, "Hey, this is what we need people to do; if you want a job, and want to make money, check out these fields." And, a few Americans will listen, but most will just wander around willy-nilly doing whatever they want. Which is fine; that is the society we have built for ourselves. We cannot complain later that we studied the wrong field, though. And, no American can claim ignorance of any job field. The information is there; all one has to do is obtain and read.

Without a National Structure of Education, for lack of a better term, students are left to their own counsel to decide how to educate themselves. Our educational system does a poor job of placing students into "tracks." In Germany, at the onset of Secondary Education, students are given choices based on aptitudes. Students then proceed into an educational track throughout high school.Having designated tracks satisfies the job market and the student. The tracks are pretty regimented, meaning a student cannot leap from track to track, racking up debt, and then wander off to the unemployment office.

At the State Level, every state has at least one system of state universities. Yes, they may vary by quality. Programs many vary with quality. State universities are nearly obligated to accept all residents. Funding for state schools is based on Full-time Enrollment (FTE.) The higher the FTE the more funding a school receives. If FTE drops, then funding drops, and universities never want to lose funding. Admission standards are lowered, and yes, students that are functionally illiterate are admitted. The state government pretty much says a school receiving state funding cannot turn away a resident without a good reason. Education funding is dependent on state and national economies. During down times, tuition goes up to account for the lack of state funding. During good economies, tuition remains flat.

Tuition rarely goes down. Universities are constantly pushed by accreditation organizations to stay modern. Universities are pushed by public and private sector to stay current with technology, methods, and building people who can be trained and taught. Universities are pushed by students looking for modern buildings, equipment, faculty, accreditation, and research. Universities are then compelled to update, spend money, hire faculty, provide raises and benefits in order to stay competitive. Most universities try to engage public and private sector entities to help share costs, to keep minimize increases while showing former, current, and potential students that the university is current and evolving.

State colleges and universities provide the best value for the expense. Beginning at a community college, perhaps working a part-time job, living at home, is a good way to begin. Leverage good grades in high school for tuition waivers later. Work summers to pay for fall tuition. Then, if needed, engage a student loan to cover expenses not covered by working.

Students use their student loans for purchasing motorcycles, big-screen televisions, going on cruises, throwing huge parties, and generally throwing the money away. Little time is engaged in budgeting. Often I hear, "I don't care, I'll pay it all back when I get a job." And, then, they can't find a job.

Which brings me to high school. At the Local Level, the high school level, guidance counselors exist for helping students select occupations based on interest and aptitude. Hypothetically, anyway. In reality, I honestly have no idea what these people do. I run across so many people who never knew their high guidance counselor, or who used notes from their guidance counselor to get of school. The guidance students should be getting in high school appears to be non-existent, in the aggregate. Parents are little better at providing guidance.

The population of the USA seems to be suffering the mass hallucination that we can do whatever we want, without having to think anything through, fly by the seat of our pants, and never plan for future's eventual arrival.

A Potential College Student (PCS) thinks about what would be fun to have as a job. The PCS decides he likes art, and decides to pursue a degree in Art History. After spending 4 years in college, the time arrives to find a job. Wow, guess what? The job market for Art Historians with a Bachelor's Degree is a desert; nothing. He then begins a highly critical assessment of the college, his department, his faculty, for leading him down a path where everyone around him is to blame. Totally wrong. All he had to do was ask a faculty person, or Google, “what am I going to do with this degree?”

The student has a responsibility to himself/herself to engage in research to uncover the likelihood of finding employment 4 years down the road. Don't blame others for your own lack of research. While there is nothing wrong with the pursuit of an Art History degree, per se, knowing what to do with it is far more important. That takes foresight and planning. Foresight and planning should take place in Year 1, not Year 4. Taking out $50,000 worth of student loans without a plan again is not smart. Planning on how to pay back $50,000 post-Year 4 is not a good idea. In fact, if I ran my own university I would revoke your degree for having learned nothing in 4 years.

High schools, parents, and potential college students should use the documents provided by the Bureau of the Census and the Department of Commerce to help select occupations that the student finds interesting, and also have been identified as being "in need" or have a positive growth outlook. Then, an academic and financial plan is established to finance education. Local conditions should also apply, as well, as some occupations might be highly in demand in one geographic region, while low in demand somewhere else.

In conclusion, a few comments to distill these thoughts. Blaming colleges and universities for forces out of their control is foolish. Blaming colleges and universities for the peccadilloes of young, naive, immature teenagers is inherently flawed. The National Education Policy of the USA needs to be scrutinized. High schools need to provide better occupation counseling to all students and families. Potential college students need to take responsibility for their chosen degree path, their own success in that path, and their own financial expenses while engaged in pursuing their education.

Technorati Tags: education,budget,tuition,college,university,student loans

Can the U.S. Ego Handle Being #3?

Willem Buiter, chief economist at Citigroup, says that the United States needs to get ready to be Number 3 in the world, economically speaking.

Don't come after me, email him.

It is inevitable, though. Let's run some numbers.

Population of the United States: .... 310,000,000 people
Population of China: ..................1,400,000,000 people
Population of India: ...................1,100,000,000 people

A Rule of Thumb that I use is that 50% of a country's population is essentially the Labor Force.

Labor Force of The United States: ... 150,000,000 (Actual = 153 million; CIA World Factbook; 2010)
Labor Force of China: ......................700,000,000 (Actual = 819.5 million; CIA World Factbook; 2010)
Labor Force of India ........................650,000,000 (Actual = 478.3 million; CIA World Factbook; 2010)

Now, let's look at a measure of Economic Productivity, the GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

GDP of The United States: .... $14,700,000,000,000 (in PPP; CIA World Factbook; 2010 )
GDP of China: .......................  $9,872,000,000,000 (in PPP; CIA World Factbook; 2010)
GDP of India: ........................  $4,046,000,000,000 (in PPP; CIA World Factbook; 2010)

From: TradingEconomics.com

Judging from these numbers, The United State's economy is about equal to the combined economies of China and India.

However, economic growth for the last 5 years or so has not been promising. The U.S. has been hindered economically by two wars, stagnating domestic economic policy.

Economic growth in China and India is promising. For the last 10 years, China has experienced economic growth of at least 9% annual growth. In the years between 2003 - 2008, economic growth was in excess of 10%.

For India, the story is more measured, by the trend is mostly the same, expansive economic growth. Outside of a few quarters between 2004 - 2010, economic growth in India has been in excess of 7%.

In comparison, the best year between 2001 - 2010 for the United States occurred in 2004. After growing from about 0.5% in the first quarter of January 2002, the economy improved to an annual growth rate of 4% in the first quarter of 2004.

Not that I want to portray a bleak picture; the numbers essentially speak for themselves.

China and India both have much larger populations, individually, than does the United States. Both China and India have much economic growth left; in fact, many would argue that the true economic potential of both countries is 20 - 40 years away, given that China / U.S. relations remain congenial, and that Pakistan / India relations do not run the world to the brink of annihilation (again). Likewise that China / India relations remain congenial, and that India does not find China's attempt to become the de facto leader in Asia a threat.

We've had a good run at being the world leader.

As our educational systems falter, as American continue to be distracted from STEM education, as parents and educators argue about how to manage classrooms, as children lose discipline, as entitlement programs create in-fighting and bickering among political rivals and as Americans, born into entitlements, fight to keep them, and as the United States presses "democracy" within the Middle East and Central Asia, our economic competitors will continue to mature and evolve. China and India, seeking to make theirs lives better, will look at consumer markets domestically and abroad, and build new relationships. Chinese and India will (and do) focus on training, education, science, and math.

That the United States will lose its economic position and status is not really a knock against us, but merely an illustration of how far behind us, economically, both India and China are. Each has come along way in educating populations, and bringing citizens out of poverty.

Each has a long way to go, however, and as India and China cover that distance, the United States will have to evaluate, and continue to re-evaluate its global role.

Technorati Tags: news,china,india,economic growth,willem buiter,citibank

Social Media v. The World

Did Social Media cause the demise of the Tunisian government?

Did Social Media cause the demise of the reign of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt?

No; and Social Media is not causing the demise the reign of Mohammar Qaddafi in Libya, for that matter, either.

Protests in these countries were not caused by Social Media. The protests were created and caused by the existential conditions that exist within these countries by the actions of the leaders within those countries. If Tunisian President Ben-Ali had worked to establish suitable economic conditions in Tunisia, he would still be in power. If Hosni Mubarak had worked to create a suitable economic condition for jobs and employment in Egypt, he would still be in power. Likewise for Mohammar Qaddafi.

Facebook, Twitter, and SMS (simple messaging system - cellphone text messages) did help people organize. Social media did help expose circumstances and conditions that allowed people to see that throughout the region, people are being treated poorly. Not only are people being treated poorly but those in power are living lavish lives at the expense of millions of people.

While Social Media did not create the economic conditions, Social Media did help people organize and promote their discontent.

While thinking about this topic and the effects of social media & cellphone technology, my suspicious mind began to work out the details of how Social Media could be compromised for more nefarious actions.

What if, I thought, Twitter or Facebook were to be "spoofed." Spoofing occurs when Internet traffic is directed away from a legitimate Web site to a less legitimate or illegal Web site, usually to infect computers with spyware or adware, or to gather sensitive information, like bank accounts or credit card numbers.

Could that happen?

Could a group of hackers configure a system that would direct Internet traffic towards a site. This Web site would then infect a computer with a Trojan. The trojan would then broadcast fictitious Twitter updates, or Facebook updates, or SMS messages to people. These fictitious messages would appear to be from real people, real friends, real "links," and would encourage people to act, or meet, or to do "something." Perhaps the "flash" mob behavior that attracts hundreds of people to sing a song, or dance, and then they all go their separate ways afterwards.

Perhaps a government could not be brought down in this way, but could technology be used in a nefarious way, such as this, to aggregate people for a task?

I wonder.

Geography Lesson: Bahrain

View Larger Map

As the Bahraini Government attacks its own population, I thought maybe I would copy an idea set forth by Time and conduct a little geography lesson on Bahrain.

Bahrain's government answers to one person, Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifa ("Hamad, son of Isa; the King") the literal translation. King Hamad is the monarch, and Bahrain is an Absolute Monarchy, with about 1.23 million people.

Bahrain, as the map above illustrates, is a very small island in the Persian Gulf, just north of the country of Qater (pronounced "Cutter"), and just off the east coast of Saudi Arabia. In fact, there is a causeway, a long two-lane bridge that connects Bahrain to the Mainland.

A little larger than the city of Chicago, Illinois, Bahrain was once a world-leader in petroleum exports. But being the first to exploit their oil, they were also the first to run out. Today, they are a leading regional finance center. And, other than financial institutions, tourism is their other economy. Most their 8 million tourists arrive from regional Arab countries, though other countries are discovering Bahraini hospitality. Bahrain has a World Heritage Site, the castle Qalat al-Bahrain, which is a popular destination.

As for the military, the United States government is probably wringing its hands. The Bahraini military was provisioned with U.S. armament, F-16s, M60As, and Blackhawks, plus a couple decommissioned frigates they bought from the United States. Bahrain is the home of the U.S. 5th Fleet, as well.

Islam is the most popular religion, which should come as no surprise. Bahrain is more liberal Muslim country, promoting women's rights, allowing them to vote, and recently promoted a women as their country's representative to the United Nations. One Christian and one Jew have positions within the Shura, the upper "house" of one of Bahrain's legislative bodies.

Summer time temperatures commonly are higher than 100F, while winters are a balmy 70F. Most of the summer, Bahrain receives 0" of rain, and probably no more than 3 inches the entire year.

Bahrain loves fast cars and has hosted Formula One racing for a few years. The Grand Prix is popular, as is drag racing.

As Filthy As We Want To Be

Regulation.

To many people, "regulation" is a dirty word. Regulation can be, when used appropriately, actually a good thing, and a necessary thing. But, Why? Why do I need the government to tell me what to do, or, what not to do?

Good question.

As individuals, we typically try to do what is best for ourselves. Companies or businesses try to do what is best for their business. What I mean by "best" is that these entities act to maximize their utility, and minimize their costs.

In a truly "Free Market," the true costs of our choices will NOT be manifest in the prices we pay for products or services. For example, the cost of a Dell computer does not represent the true cost of that computer. There are hidden costs. Several components of computers are produced from toxic substances. The production of some components may result in the creation of toxic substances. The disposal of those products is probably not reflected in the overall cost of the computer. Our computers would cost more if the cost of the proper disposal was figured into the cost of the computer.

Gasoline prices do not reflect the true cost of the environmental impact of the carbon monoxide entering into the atmosphere from cars and trucks burning gasoline.

Regulation steps in because people and industry have proven unable or unwilling to take steps to protect other people or industries from bad choices.

Regulation is not about harming a particular industrial sector. Regulation is about protecting people and industries in that sector or in other sectors.

If businesses and industries (essentially, people, because people make the decisions) made choices to protect the interests of others in adequate ways, regulation would not be necessary.

From an economic stand-point, two ways exist to manage corporate behaviors. First, a tax. Taxes are increased or levied against activities in order to dissuade behavior, or to provide monies to aid in clean-up should damage occur. Taxes have the distinction of occurring before any event occurs. The drawback of taxes is that the corporation may feel that since taxes are paid for clean-up, they can continue to act irresponsibly.

The other option is a Fine. Fines work on the back-end. A corporation may choose to manage their risk better because they know that a fine could cost them millions of dollars, or, as has happened in a few cases, completely put them out of operation. However, some companies will leverage the risk of fines versus the cost of doing business, and may act to continue to make bad choices. Fines resulting from risky behaviors maybe seen as affordable compared to the loss of revenues.

In an industry as dangerous and environmentally damaging as Coal, regulation is not only a good thing, but should be mandatory. Safety and health is paramount, for the workers, the workers families, and the communities that exist in and around coal mines. To remove regulation essentially provides coal mine operators Carte Blanche to "soil the nest" of everyone in proximity to a coal mine. Removal of regulation is both short-sighted and dangerous.

Finally, perhaps Chairman Jim Gooch was not correctly quoted. The management of Interstate Commerce is a mandate of our Federal Government. That a coal mine only provides coal to a local community is a disingenuous argument, knowing full well that coal from eastern Kentucky travels throughout the region, the United States, and potentially globally. The Federal Government, under a few different Constitutional paragraphs, has the right to manage national energy policy. 

Companies Can Make A Difference

Change the manufacturing culture - that is what Apple, Inc. has opted to do with its foreign contractors. Force these manufacturing facilities to police themselves better, or risk losing Apple's business.

Pay the local wage. Improve the ventilation systems. Make sure underage workers are in school. Reduce or eliminate worker abuse.

The Apple team was confronted with a bribery attempt, and ran across episodes of managers coaching workers prior to the arrival of the Apple Team.

Apple, when they toured the manufacturing facilities, brought suicide prevent teams, counselors, along. This action to address concerns, particularly at Foxconn, where suicides have been problematic.

Apple took this action of its own accord, with great attention to detail. Apple then published a list of its findings and methods taken to correct behaviors.

Other companies could do the same thing, and hold foreign factories accountable. Most U.S. corporation do not own the means of production abroad, but we can opt to take our business elsewhere. Thus, we can influence others to make good choices.

Thoughts: Tea Party v. Federal Reserve Banking System

The Tea Party has some good ideas. Eliminating the Federal Reserve is not one of them.

People blame the Federal Reserve Banking System (FRBS) for such things as devaluing the dollar and causing the Great Depression. People actually do those things, through their misguided notions of trying to help - not the FRBS. That is like blaming the gun for killing people, not the people holding the weapon.

Americans have a dangerous form of myopic ignorance. First, we don't really understand governing processes very well. To compensate, we listen to allegedly smart people to tell us how we should think. These politicians, or WannaBe Politicians, get people worked into a lather, based some some truth, half-truths, and lies. The Tea Party is fomenting ignorance about the FRBS and advocating for its abolition. Second, not only do we not understand our own governing processes well, we do not understand the relevance of these processes to the Global Economy. I call these the Downstream Effects. Dump your garbage in the stream and who cares about the effects of your actions downstream.

Besides controlling monetary policy within the United States, the FRBS also engages with other countries. The FRBS is how countries pay each other for services or products rendered. Yes, that's right, that is how the United States buys and sells things on the global market. I'm not talking about Wal-mart, or IBM, I am talking about the money that the U.S. borrows from other nations to meet our own budget needs. Elimination of the FRBS throws uncertainty into the balance of payment equation as countries no longer understand the value of American currency.

People also need to understand this, too. Most all other developed nations, Japan, China, Russia, Germany, all have their own Central Banking System (CBS). These CBSs pretty much work the same way our FRBS works; controlling the money supply, interest rates, etc. Thus, not only does the United States have Fiscal Management Policies centered on a CBS, but all of our trading partners do, as well. Again, by going our own way, other countries now no longer have a basis of valuing American currency. Our trading partners expect and anticipate that everyone essentially operates in fundamentally the same ways, by the same set of predictable rules.

Consider this allegory for a moment. Imagine that each of our 50 States has its own currency. As long as each state operates by the same rules for circulating currency, each state understands the value of its own currency, and the currency of surrounding states. That is not to say that the values are equal. A California dollar may be of higher value than an Idaho dollar, or a Kentuckiana dollar may be more valuable than a Tennessean dollar. Exchange rates would be tabulated each day so people and businesses would know the differences in value. But, the market rules would be the same across the board. Now consider what happens when Kansas decides to eliminate Corn-backed monetary policy and instead impose a value based on Faith and the amount of Kansas dollars in circulation. People, being familiar with currency backed by some commodity, would have no idea what the value of the Kansas dollar might be. The Kansas dollar could become worthless, making life miserable for Kansans. The Kansas Government could peg the value of their dollar to the California wine-backed dollar, thereby saving the value of their currency. Kansas changed the rules for its currency. Our American lives are much better off that the individual state currencies alive before the Civil War did not survive after. Change the rules of our National currency has the potential of ruining the Global Value of our currency.

Another caveat to toss out: in order for the dissolution of FRBS to work, ALL OTHER COUNTRIES WITH CBS MUST DO THE SAME. Ron Paul-R (TX) states this in his book, "End the Fed," but states it in passing. All countries must agree to allow their currencies to float in the same way U.S. currency would float, or the process immediately fails, the American currency then becomes worthless. Now, what is the likelihood of all countries trashing their CBS in favor of free-floating currency. About the same as Satan converting to Catholicism, I'd wager.

Next, for our currency to have any value whatsoever, our money must be backed by something other than Faith (which it is essentially backed by now). That means returning to a precious metal supported monetary framework, like Gold. Again, another problem arises. In order to maintain the value of Gold, that means control of the Gold Supply. All Gold mines in the United States must then become wholly-owned, nationalized, by the government. Private ownership of Gold would also be severely restricted. In 1933 & 1934, in order to control the Gold supply, Executive Order 6102 required all people to sell their gold to the United States Treasury at a fixed price. Only since 1975 have Americans been able to legally own gold beyond a wedding ring.

Allowing U.S. to be backed by a precious metal and managed by market forces may seem like a good idea.
Actually, to me, this is a horrible idea. I should say, to the inattentive it may sound like a good idea. Or to those that are frustrated by current events, the removal of the FRSB may seem like a good idea.

The problem is that proponents, the Tea Party, especially Ron and Rand Paul, do not adequately describe the pitfalls of FRBS dissolution. I can only assume these proponents fall victim to Downstream Ignorance. They only see current events through a very small "lens" lack perspective regarding the repercussions of their ideas, and either have not fully explored all effects or simply do not care.

U.S. Budget Observations 1981-2007

I have the permission to use the chart at the right, because I created using data from the Budget of the United States Government, Government Printing Office (GPO).

American citizens are pretty blind when it comes to political parties, government spending, who spends more, etc. I am not immune to ignorance myself, but I try to make myself less ignorant when I can.

I spent some time over the weekend looking at budget numbers, overall revenues and spending, not on any special items. In my own life, I try to spend less than the revenue I bring in. In our political life, people think that is the basis of the Republican Party, think that is what sets apart Republicans from Democrats. I happen to think that both parties are fiscally liberal. That is, they both spend more money than the country takes in, they spend the money differently. My hypothesis is that while they are both identical in terms of spending habits, Democrats favor Social Spending and Welfare; Republicans favor subsidies for Business and Military Spending. The two parties differ only in their approach to social issues. Republicans are socially conservative, against Same-Sex Marriage, pro-Life, pro-Religion; while Democrats are socially liberal, pro-SS Marriage, pro-Choice, pro-Diversity.

The Tea Party seems to offer an option for those that are Fiscally Conservative and Socially Conservative. The Tea Party is currently causing turmoil within the Republican Party as they take issue with Republican spending habits. In essence, the Tea Party is illuminating the lack of spending discipline that exists within the Republican Party. Of note, controversy manifests through Tea Party members, such as Rand Raul-R (KY) supporting cuts of the military budget, and militarized welfare programs, such as commissaries, PXs, and the Morale, Welfare, and Family (MWF) Command.

Out of curiosity, I downloaded the Excel (XLS) file that contains data for all the budget receipts and spending for years between 1950s-2008. The graph represents the revenues versus spending over a 16-yr time period from the Reagan Administration through the 3rd year of Bush II's final term. I have noted terms of office. I have not altered or changed in any way the data. The link provided in the Title allows anyone access to the same data.

Presidents get the credit or take the blame for events or circumstances out of their control. People denigrate Pres. Carter for his apparent economic lapses. These people seem to forget that Nixon was the father of the problem, with his policy of instituting price controls that created the havoc. Carter got the blame because the bulk of the problems didn't arrive until after Nixon left office. Carter tried to gradually remove these price controls. His days were numbered as Americans blamed him rather than the true culprit, Nixon.

But the table is telling. Red is Spending, Blue is Revenue. When the Red Bar is higher than the Blue Bar, obviously we are over-spending. Republican Presidencies tend to be less budget-friendly, while Democratic Presidencies tend to be more budget-friendly. The trend is probably due to negotiations between the party in the White House and the party in power in Congress. Also, the trend indicates that a Democrat in the White House with a Republican Congress is better than the reverse.

Reviewing data from 1959 forward through visual inspection, only 5 years resulted in actual budget surpluses. Three of those years were essentially Clinton years, as they were the result of budget decisions during his term in office. The 2001 BY can be attributed to Bush II. However, Bush II would then go on to expand Deficit Spending more than any other president in history, and completely blow away the old record-holders of Deficit Spending, Reagan-Bush.

Sudan Leader to Accept Secession of South - NYTimes.com

Sudan, from CIA World Factbook

Sudan Leader to Accept Secession of South

This July, 2011, the continent of Africa, and the world, will gain a new state.

Barring any further controversy, conflict, civil war, the country of Sudan will divide into two separate countries.

I have no idea what these countries will be named. Perhaps, "Sudan" will refer to the northern portion, with a capital at Khartoum. The southern portion of Sudan will tentatively be name "South(ern) Sudan." The capital of Southern Sudan will reside at Juba.

It is not particularly rare that new countries enter onto the global arena. Recently, we saw the independence of Kosovo (2008), and Montenegro (2006). Both of these countries arose from the fracture of the former state of Yugoslavia.

In the future, we could see Scotland become an independent state, in the British Isles. On the European Mainland, Belgium is very close to splitting into a French-speaking state, and a Dutch-speaking state.

Young Americans Increasingly Diverse, Census Finds - NYTimes.com

Young Americans Increasingly Diverse, Census Finds

Actually, the title of this article should read, "America is Less White Than 10 Years Ago." Something like that.

That American is less White than in the past should come as no surprise. White America reflects the same lack of population growth that Europe is experiencing. White America is generally more affluent, more wealthy, than other ethnic groups. I say, "generally," as there are numerically more White poor in the United States than of any other ethnic group, but represent a smaller portion of the White population.

With that affluence comes a different set of economic decisions. White people tend to achieve higher levels of education. They make choices regarding their incomes; rather than having children, they travel. They save for retirement. They buy a nicer car, a larger house, a nicer house, a second house.

In choosing to have fewer children, the White population no longer represents the same proportion of the overall U.S. population from 10 years ago.

Mississippi, Virginia, New Jersey, and Louisiana all experienced drops in the "under 18" White population .

In fact, according to demography Kenneth Johnson at the University of New Hampshire, Blacks, Asians, and Hispanics accounted for 79% of national population growth in the 10 years between 2000 and 2009.

Due to the disparity in growth rates among ethnic groups, young Whites are now the minority populations in 10 states.

That translates this way - with a large, older White population, will U.S. residents be willing to educate a population that looks less like themselves?

If you read "Comments" on Yahoo News, or other media sources, people broadcast their ignorance about these cultural changes.

These cultural changes have little to do with immigration. These cultural changes have far more to do with the center of wealth being in White America, and those members doing something other than having children.

Blacks, and Hispanics have larger families than White families. In some ways, these larger families act as the financial support system that Whites do not need, as again, Whites are much better off financially than other ethnic groups.

And, we are not talking strictly about discrete ethnic groups, either. People mingle, date, and marry people from other ethnic groups. The numbers of mixed-race children is also on the rise.

Lots of demographic changes have taken place over the last decade.

However, those changes are simply the tip of the proverbial iceberg as what is in store for America over the next 10 years.

China's lock on market for rare earth elements: Why it matters - CSMonitor.com

China's lock on market for rare earth elements: Why it matters - CSMonitor.com: "

This article is from October 2010, Christian Science Monitor.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) also has a good, albiet not-free, article on rare earth metals.

See, nearly everything fun and good in the world, from your iPod, iPhone, iPad, laptop, Droid smartphone, those cool nighttime lights that line your walkway and are powered by solar cells, have some kind of rare earth metal involved in the product.

And most of those important rare earth metals are in China.

Or, conveniently enough, along the Congo River. Another great, easily accessible place, with no trace of corrupt governments or dangerous paramilitary groups for miles.

Sarcasm is hard to broadcast in a blog.

China currently has a lock on these materials. Can turn their supply on/off like tap water. Or, can manipulate their supply, and thus their cost, on a whim.

Therefore, finding alternate resources for these rare earth metals is crucial to future technologies.

Stateless Children

What happens when you are Chinese and your spouse is Canadian and your child is born in Belgium?

Answer: you have a child without a country, without a nationality. 

Seem impossible?

Many countries do not allow children born within their political boundaries automatic citizenship.  The home countries of the parents often do not grant automatic citizenship to babies of parents with mixed nationalities.

Imagine not being able to get a National ID card, no passport, no drivers license.  Imagine having to trace your ancestry back generations to find a relative from a country who does not have residency requirements for citizenship?

AT&T and RIM caught the smartphone industry somewhat off-guard today. Three important announcements bellowed from the smartphone giant, RIM, today as the new Blackberry 9800, the Torch, was carried forth unto the world. RIM also released Blackberry 6 and a Blackberry 6 SDK for Java today, too.

Please hold your applause until the end...

While the Torch is something your current Blackberry friend might not hold so high as to make it difficult to talk into, or see, will it be enough to stave off the up-and-coming iPhone?

Weighing in at almost 6 ounces, the "Torch" may feel like you are holding one. The torch is packing a lot, though. Like a 624Mhz processor with 512MB of memory, a 3.2" (360x480) touch sensitive screen, a slide-out backlit QWERTY keyboard, and a 5MP camera, capable of shooting 640x480 video. Like most other smartphones, the Torch has a GPS on-board, offers free AT&T Wi-Fi, where available, and comes standard with 4GB of built-in storage. You will probably want to add more, so a microSD/SDHD slot is available for an additional 32GB of storage.

But does the Torch offer enough to keep current customers happy, attract new customers, and hold off the iPhone dogs? RIM is betting Blackberry 6 will handle all three concerns.

Blackberry 6, supposedly, has been geared for the social networker. The Torch and Blackberry 6 will handle Facebook, Twitter, MySpace (does anyone still use that?), plus support for the Blackberry Messaging Service, and RSS feeds. AT&T users will continue to enjoy (?) SMS and MMS support, too. A couple of additional features might come in handy, like the ability to embed location information in a text message. In other words, you could send someone information about where you want to meet, or where something is located, and tuck that info into your text message. Blackberry 6 also connects users to over 50 web-based video feed services, like youTube. Users can record, upload, and download video content directly to their Blackberry.

While AT&T execs and RIM execs are excited, or at least act that way - after all, three major U.S. smartphone makers have now outted products - I honestly do not see much to get excited about.

For example, no support for tethering, being able to bind your laptop to your Blackberry to get a network connection. In rural areas, or primitive areas, that is a nice feature to have. At least, none of the reviews nor RIM's own press release mention tethering. The screen is still small, a common complaint among current Blackberry users. The new 9800 uses the Webkit browser, however on the small screen, at that resolution, I fail to see the convenience. Finally, other smartphones, such as the Droid and iPhone, offer faster processors.

In the end, while the 9800 might be known as the "Torch," I don't see it igniting anything.

Source: RIM Media Release

Copyright (C) Michael Busby

Yahoo NewsGlobe

Is this the twilight of Geographic Illiteracy?

Eventually, perhaps not with my generation; some of them still go kicking and screaming to the fountain of knowledge and refuse to drink.

Perhaps the day is coming, though, when the omnipresence of technology will be so great that one must actually live in a cave not to be aware of the world around them.

What if we could view television not by selecting a channel but by selecting choices based on geography? Select on North America and view possible feeds, and if we are bored with that, we tap into Europe, or South Asia, or East Asia.