Joseph Stiglitz was quoted in the article as saying all our bailouts are focusing on the past, not the future.  Will throwing money at corporations for innovation work?  or should the government be investing in small businesses?  I am not sure either will work effectively.  This is a little farfetched, but what about making all college graduates publish at least 1 academic paper before graduating?  This would show them the power of creating new ideas and the validity of peer review.  I am not sure it would create jobs, but it would certainly make our society one of thinkers and creators, two ingredients for innovation.

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As Brooks points out, Obama’s early childhood education proposals are a good start.  But I think that we need to start with the parents and teach them how to instill the value of education into each of their kids.  Most children never surpass their parents’ education levels, so we need to educate the adults.  So the real question is what can we do to stimulate growth within the adult population?  Are there training seminars that keep people yearning for more and trying to innovate?  

Someone at my client recently attended One Day University, a one day program where lecturers from the best universities across the country talk about their fields.  Is this the right idea?  Should the state and government entice people to attend one day programs like this?  Should they sponsor them?  How else do we get people motivated?  

This topic leaves me asking more questions than anything else.  I wish there were some simple answer to it all.

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