Tough times, resilient people
Written by Steven Schwartz on September 30th, 2008
“Cognitive dissonance” is a phrase used by psychologists to describe the discomfort you feel when new information challenges long held beliefs. The American historian Gertrude Himmelfarb has a slightly different take, describing it as “the discrepancy between reality and ideology that only truly learned and clever people can achieve”. (‘A dark and bloody crossroads’, The […]
Macquarie writing competition: the winners
Written by Steven Schwartz on September 25th, 2008
I am pleased to announce today the winners in the various categories of the Vice-Chancellor’s Writing Competition. Congratulations to all of you – I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your essays.
There were around 160 entries into the competition, more or less evenly spread across the four categories, with the lowest number being received in the English […]
Cost may hinder innovation recommendations
Written by Steven Schwartz on September 24th, 2008
To make Australia more innovative and prosperous, Dr Terry Cutler’s review of Australia’s “innovation system” calls for a vast array of new programs, boards and committees.
For example, Cutler recommends that the government establish a “Knowledge Connections” program within the “Enterprise Connect Program” to work with “Industry Innovation Councils”. The report also foresees the appointment […]
Universities need a research environment
Written by Steven Schwartz on September 23rd, 2008
Sir David King, former UK chief scientist and now director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University, is well known for his concern over the challenges posed by climate change. For example, he has said that while terrorism poses a serious threat “I don’t think it is even comparable to […]
Nightmare on Wall Street: opportunity to innovate?
Written by Steven Schwartz on September 17th, 2008
The ‘Nightmare on Wall Street’ headline has been getting a good workout over the past few days as share markets take a hammering in the wake of the US financial crisis.
Among other developments US investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy, Merrill Lynch has been forced to accept a Bank of America takeover, and there […]
The alpha and omega of education
Written by Steven Schwartz on September 11th, 2008
At first blush two stories that made the news this week appear alpha and omega apart. But if we dig deep enough, we find there is a real and relevant connection.
The first story concerns a National Church Life Survey which found a decline in the number of people who read the Bible.
The Bible Society chief […]
World Suicide Prevention Day
Written by Steven Schwartz on September 10th, 2008
Today is World Suicide Prevention Day, an initiative of the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP), and co-sponsored by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Its theme is “Think Globally. Plan Nationally. Act Locally”, a phrase well known to environmental activists and a concept of great value in suicide prevention.
In an article in The Sydney Morning […]
When central planning turns to farce …
Written by Steven Schwartz on September 10th, 2008
Nobel prize-winner Friedrich Hayek called the belief in the power of government central planning the “fatal conceit”. Today in an article in The Australian I highlight how that conceit led to a farce in medical training.
In short, I describe how federal government planners decided Australian universities were graduating too many doctors. Then a few years […]
Newspapers: why the Hanrahans are wrong
Written by Steven Schwartz on September 8th, 2008
Hello, David Myton here and I’m standing in as guest blogger for Steven Schwartz, who is otherwise engaged today. I help to look after Steven’s web site and perform some other media-related duties here in his office.
Attentive readers (and I’m sure that’s all of you) will recall that a few weeks ago Steven blogged about […]
Teach for Australia: an education revolution
Written by Steven Schwartz on September 4th, 2008
In today’s Australian newspaper Noel Pearson and I discuss a plan for an exciting new direction for education in Australia.
The Teach for Australia project, a collaboration between Noel’s Cape York Institute, Macquarie University and the Boston Consulting Group, aims to revive the idea of public service among young people by encouraging the brightest Australian graduates […]