Intellectual Capital

The Thai Government has been lamenting recently on the embarrassingly poor status of the Thai education system. A recent article in The Economist pointed to some serious problems in the American education system which, IMHO, are also applicable to Thailand.

Click here to read the complete article, but the main points are:

"Thomas Jefferson drew a distinction between a natural aristocracy of the virtuous and talented, which was a blessing to a nation, and an artificial aristocracy founded on wealth and birth, which would slowly strangle it. When [American] robber barons accumulated fortunes that made European princes envious, the combination of their own philanthropy, their children’s extravagance and federal trust-busting meant that Americans never discovered what it would be like to live in a country where the elite could reliably reproduce themselves."

"Now [Americans] are beginning to find out because today’s rich increasingly pass on to their children an asset that cannot be frittered away in a few nights at a casino. It is far more useful than wealth, and invulnerable to inheritance tax. It is brains."

"Intellectual capital drives the knowledge economy, so those who have lots of it get a fat slice of the pie. And it is increasingly heritable. Clever, successful men tend to marry clever, successful women. Such “assortative mating” increases inequality by 25%, by one estimate, since two-degree households typically enjoy two large incomes. Power couples conceive bright children and bring them up in stable homes. They stimulate them relentlessly: children of professionals hear substantially more words by the age of four than those of the less educated. They move to pricey neighborhoods with good schools, spend a packet on flute lessons and pull strings to get junior into a top-notch college."

"Loosening the link between birth and success would make America richer—far too much talent is currently wasted. It might also make the nation more cohesive. If Americans suspect that the game is rigged, they may be tempted to vote for demagogues of the right or left—especially if the alternative is another Clinton or Bush."

Sounds a lot like Thailand, doesn't it!