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Showing posts from January, 2012

Steve Jobs on benefits of competition in education (Korea Herald)

I have the following article in today's Korea Herald: Steve Jobs on benefits of competition in education There seem to be as many political solutions to education problems in South Korea as there are people thinking about them. Thus, there is endless controversy about which policies should be implemented. A major reason for the controversy is the biggest difference between political and market-based polices: In politics, a situation that captures public attention is seen a problem or crisis; in the market, such situations are seen as opportunities. Some of the world’s greatest, boldest and most aggressive entrepreneurs have avoided tackling education problems. Instead of being “innovative disrupters” in the education world, entrepreneurs have been relegated to being surrogate parents tutoring kids. Wealthy people are welcomed ― as money trees who donate money, expected to celebrate wildly like cheerleaders regardless of the results. Is there any doubt that e

"Intellectual Shock" in Seoul

‘Intellectual shock’ in Seoul By Casey Lartigue, Jr. Dearest Casey, You did it. You left America again to return to Korea, where you lived and worked during part of the 1990s. Because this is your second journey abroad (12 years apart), people often ask you what has changed about Korea. You first mention the obvious things ― the country has developed; Koreans seem more globalized and your fellow expats seem more educated. But there is the less obvious one that is more important: You’re different. Casey, you enjoyed some moments in the sun as an education researcher in America. As you began to approach the age of 40 you began to tell family and friends that you felt free to do as you pleased because you realized you would never be Martin Luther King Jr. (assassinated at age 39) or presi

Quoted in today's Korea Herald

I am quoted in today's Korea Herald about the prospect of South Korea adopting a welfare state. ... Kim’s colleague at the CFE, international relations director Casey Lartigue argues that helping the less well-off is a matter of government doing not more, but less. “Instead of focusing on social welfare spending, why shouldn’t Korea, for example, follow Sweden’s historical model of having free markets, free trade, and its policy of universal school choice?” ... But whether a program or system is fiscally sound or not, Lartigue says the principle off hands-off government is important in itself. “The right not to have the government take half of your money to set up programs gets ignored in the rush for welfare policies. So focusing on the big government scheme is a distraction from the relationship of the individual with the state. In the age of globalization, it may not make sense to be creating a Swedish model, thereby giving citizens less control over the