Jeune Street

Fareed Zakaria has a fascinating take on trends in American innovation:

American culture is open and innovative. But it was powerfully shaped and enhanced by a series of government policies. Silicon Valley did not arise in a vacuum. It grew in the 1950s in a state that had created the world's best public-education system (from kindergarten through Ph.D. programs), a superb infrastructure, and a business-friendly environment that attracted defense and engineering industries. Today California builds prisons, but not college campuses. In 1976 it spent 18 percent of its budget on education; that figure now is about 10 percent. The state is permanently bankrupt, saved only by massive, continual borrowing. Are these the foundations for future scientific achievement?

At the heart of the argument is the understanding that innovation and economic growth are driven by the development and application of knowledge. Zakaria just takes this assumption for granted in his article, but it is a profound point. Education, open migration, and state-supported research are the best foundation for a dynamic economy and society. There is an increasing volume of work pointing to the importance of higher education in Africa for these reasons, but the same truths apply at home.