During the New Deal, the government left a legacy of buildings, parks,
and public spaces. Gray Brechin deserves great credit for documenting
this achievement.
http://livingnewdeal.berkeley.edu/
In contrast, the U.S. is engaged in wasteful spending on war and
bailouts that will leave a pitifully small legacy. What king of legacy
will Obama leave?
I remember when the United States was going to prosper as an information
economy, based on the premise that we are either the smartest or the
best educated in the world. To ensure success in achieving this vision,
the country is engaged in a massive defunding of education. California,
of course, is the leader in this respect.
Presumably, imposing requirements multiple choice tests and scripted
teaching in the poor neighborhoods will be all we need, once we can
break the teachers' unions.
In line with the steady undermining of information in the information
economy, the University of California is making some questionable
choices. Here is one that has not been widely publicized:
California is contemplating a $10 billion bond to finance a massive
statewide water project. One would assume that the state would want to
have access to as much information for guidance in such matters.
Yet the University of California is getting ready to mothball its
valuable Water Resources Center Archives, which a Sacramento Bee article
observed, "For decades it has served as a shrine for engineers, lawyers
and academics working to understand and improve the management of water,
California's most precious resource." The problem is that the school
cannot afford the $230,000 annual cost, probably equal to a couple of
superfluous vice presidents.
Weiser, Matt. 2009. "UC Archives on Water Imperiled." Sacramento Bee (26
October): p. B 1.
http://www.sacbee.com/378/story/2281137.html
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA
95929
530 898 5321
fax 530 898 5901
http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com
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