Scandinavian Smarts

Liberals in this country have long touted Sweden as a model, so how about embracing this one? Reihan Salam, Forbes, The Education Revolution: How Sweden can save our children from a lifetime of misery. Salam looks at the possibility that our labor market may suffer from stagnant demand for a decade, and goes on to consider we may be facing a structural shift in skills needed in the future. We need to be able to adapt more quickly to achieve success:

In Sweden, the educational landscape has been transformed by the advent of a sweeping choice program that allows anyone–groups of parents, civil society groups, and, most important, for-profit enterprises–to establish their own schools that would then receive per-pupil funding at roughly the same rate as state-run schools. If this sounds like the familiar idea of universal school vouchers, championed by American libertarians and conservatives, you’re on the right track.

But it turns out that the solidarity-minded Scandinavians have gone far further in this direction than any American jurisdiction. The results have been a stunning success, one that has delighted students and parents alike. As Anders Hultin, one of the creators of Sweden’s system of “free schools,” has argued, the profit motive has encouraged successful schools to clone themselves, not unlike a fast-food franchise. One can easily imagine such schools touting their success in placing graduates in good jobs. The beauty of this approach is that it doesn’t demand that school administrators in some central office divine the one best way to encourage spontaneity; rather, it allows hundreds, if not thousands, of free-thinkers to experiment.

We've seen some free-thinking rumbling over there, with the youthful and irreverent Pirate Party winning a seat. The current government has cut taxes, and may cut more. Elections next year and the economy is an issue. Their competitors are watching.

P.S. And we face competition as never before, but let's unleash our own talents and enterprise. Thomas Donohue, Only American Free Enterprise Can Meet Our Nation's Job Challenge:

With the economy slowly returning to form, we must now focus on a new challenge--putting America back to work. It won't be easy--the economy has shed 7.2 million jobs since the beginning of the recession, and unemployment is at its highest level in more than 25 years. We must create 20 million new jobs over the next decade simply to put the unemployed back to work and to keep up with a growing population. There's only one system that's proven capable of meeting this goal--American free enterprise.

Dream Big.

HT Extreme Wisdom.