Trade dispute likely to harm not help the US

Letter to the Financial Times (April 11, 2018) From Kai L. Chan, Montreal, Canada Sir, Standing up for American interests and actually improving the lives of Americans are different things. The heterodox economics espoused by Peter Navarro (Opinion, April 9) are reminiscent of the mercantilism that held sway in the 16th century. The “help” that Mr Navarro and Donald Trump are pushing forth in the trade dispute with China are more likely than not to be welfare decreasing for the whole world. A similar kind of help, likewise from another Asian rival in the 1980s, came when the US government pressured Japan to impose voluntary export restraints on their car manufacturers. That led to unambiguous welfare gains to Japan at the cost of Americans, even as politicians thought they had done a favour for the American people. Kai L. Chan Montreal, Canada Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2018. All rights reserved. Letter as it appeared in the FT.

Quels pays proposent le meilleur enseignement supérieur ?

[caption id="attachment_3437" align="aligncenter" width="1008"] Image: REUTERS/Cris Toala Olivares[/caption] 11 Oct 2017 Kai Chan Distinguished Fellow, INSEAD Innovation & Policy Initiative Les universités sont vitales si l’on veut mettre en valeur le capital humain. Ce sont des rouages essentiels dans l’économie mondiale du savoir. Si, autrefois, les études supérieures étaient réservées à une minorité, elles constituent aujourd’hui un pré requis pour entrer dans les classes moyennes, et plus encore pour appartenir à l’élite. La compétition entre les universités a donné lieu à la création de classements visant à déterminer les plus compétitives sur le plan international. Ces listes se fondent en général sur des indicateurs comme le nombre de publications de recherches, le prestige et la réussite des anciens étudiants. Bien que les diverses mesures produisent des classements différents, les meilleurs établissements universitaires sur le plan international sont souvent les mêmes d’un classement à l’autre. Le nombre d’établissements classés au niveau mondial d’un pays est donc invariablement utilisé pour évaluer la qualité de son enseignement supérieur. Cependant, cela ne prend pas en compte l’inégalité croissante au sein de l’enseignement supérieur. L’enjeu actuel : l'inégalité L’inégalité est l’un des plus grands enjeux de notre société. Mais le débat se focalise sur l’inégalité…

The Nordics are among the world’s 10 smartest countries – most likely to ‘produce the next Google’

Tom Turula 17 Aug 2017 10:48 AM [caption id="attachment_3510" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Spotify Press Photo[/caption] Sweden, Finland and Denmark are very well-positioned to foster the big ideas of tomorrow. This according to the Intelligence Capital Index (ICI), compiled by Distinguished Fellow at INSEAD, Kai L. Chan, who gauged four parameters – education, creativity, cognitive skills and attractiveness for skilled immigrants – to determine the smartest countries in the world with the best innovation potential. The ICI was published by INSEAD Innovation & Policy Initiative Sweden tops the Nordic countries at sixth place, tightly followed by Finland and Denmark on 9th and 10th spots. The top ten is otherwise populated by European and North American countries, with the exception of Australia and Singapore. Chan notes that the Nordics have “typically high scores on the aspects of attractiveness for immigrants and creativity.” The ranking pins Sweden as the world’s most creative country, followed by Finland and the U.S. “Creativity should be part and parcel of any measure of human capital. Rote learning and memorisation are fast losing value in an era increasingly relying on computers and robots,” writes Chan, who used the Global Creativity Index and countries’ ratio of R&D expenditure-to-GDP as creativity proxies. Denmark excelled with the quantity and quality of its elite education (5thand 9th in…

Най-умните държави в света

Кои са страните, които могат да родят следващия Google Когато Сергей Брин е на 16 години, а семейството му вече живее в САЩ от 10 години, баща му го взима със себе си на кратко посещение в Русия. Годината е 1990, а Съветският съюз е пред разпад. На втория ден от пътуването тийнейджърът вече е наясно какъв живот е можел да има при други обстоятелства. Бъдещият съосновател на Google дърпа баща си настрани и откровено му казва: "Благодаря ти, че ни изведе от Русия." Макар от тогава да мина много време и Русия да се възстанови, младият Брин спечели лотарията с гражданството си. С израстването си в САЩ той получи достъп до страхотно образование и среда, която подхранва начина му на мислене. Като дете учи в Montessori, което стимулира креативността. По-късно е в "Станфорд", където се среща с Лари Пейдж и заедно двамата основават един от най-скъпите брандове в света. Историята на Брин показва как при правилната среда образованието и креативността може да доведат до трансформативни иновации в глобалната икономика на знанието. Блестящият му ум щеше да се представи добре навсякъде, но интелектуалната и предприемаческата среда в "Станфорд" позволява разгръщането на пълните умения на Брин. Така, около тези параметри беше…

Lebanon ranks 100th in Intelligence Capital Index

Countries capitalise on the knowledge economy to advance Published: 16:59 July 14, 2017 Joseph A. Kechichian, Senior Writer Beirut: Lebanon, which frequently boasts of its unique education capabilities ranked 100th with a low score of 16.9 [or simply a D] in the Intelligence Capital Index. The first Arab country on the list, the UAE, closed in at the 49th spot, followed by Qatar (60), Saudi Arabia (62), Kuwait (63), Bahrain (65), Oman (76), Jordan (80), Tunisia (85), Morocco (94), Egypt (98), and Algeria (103). Kai L. Chan, a distinguished fellow at the French-led INSEAD global business school, published the unique Intelligence Capital Index for 128 countries that aimed to gauge the ability of countries to capitalise on the knowledge economy by assessing their environments for education, creativity and talent attraction. The first five countries in the INSEAD roster were the US, UK, Germany, Australia and Singapore. Israel came in at 25, Turkey at 54 and Iran at 82. Most of issues that motivated rankings were related to education creativity and talent attraction, and while Lebanon certainly enjoyed the talent, most of its gifted innovators succeeded abroad instead of thriving in their native land. The INSEAD barometer focused on each country’s…