Global Strategy - blog

Universities are (certainly) not isolated from societies. The links are, at least, two kinds. First, the number and breadth of universities (e.g. as measured by teacher per potential student ratio) is primarily a function of the size of suitable population (i.e. how many literate inhabitants between ages 18-25 exist), wealth of the society (as measured by GDP per capita), and a number of more fuzzy factors such as policy decisions and international competition. Second, university education and research have certain functions in economic growth (which is needed for a larger number of professorships, for instance). Most noteworthy, universities educate a large number of individuals for different tasks in the society. What kind of education is given / needed is mostly a random process: as the future needs can not (logically) be forecasted it makes sense to produce excess capacity which may be needed in some future situation. For example, the investment to maintain certain humanistic areas such as languages is relative low vis-à-vis a situation in which those skills would be needed but no process would exist (I guess the CIA faced this problem after the September 11th 2001). In any case, individuals with a university education percolate into various tasks in administration, business, educational sector etc.; then, somewhat mystically, higher education emerges as an antecedent for economic growth. Similarly, the research conducted at universities may result in concrete improvements of knowledge and technology; at least most research is not harmful for societal development (yet see this: Reflections on a Crisis). And if we believe in Lucas, in a century or so, all economies would be equally rich with a large-scale university system (or similar) in each.