Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Education = Prosperity



John Warner has it right:

If, as he writes:

"...average income in South Carolina was at the national average there would be $35 billion more personal income in South Carolina. What would we do to attract a company that had a $35 billion impact on South Carolina's economy? We threw more than half a billion dollars at Boeing, so it would be something considerably north of that. "

To put the number in perspective: in 2007 Exxon Mobil made a profit north of $40 billion.

I'm not known for quoting members of the Bush family but former Florida Governor Bush also has it right :
"I think we are in an education arms race with the rest of the world because knowledge will drive job creation. High wage jobs are only going to be created by people who can acquire knowledge."

The knowledge race is on. In the 21st century - like it or not - we will be in another global resource race, only this time it's not oil but talented people that we will be looking for.
And having research active global universities with operating budgets in the billions of dollars is an asset and a necessary but not sufficient condition to win this race.
And we focus on "out-of-state" students and buildings with space to fill ?? Of course all this only matters if you plan on being successful.



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