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China Beats America in STEM Education
September 5, 2024 - Here is the hard truth. China is massively ahead of the U.S. in the number of schools, research centers, scientists and university graduates involved in the STEM disciplines. STEM include Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This did not happen overnight. This significant China advantage is the tangible outcome of an investment policy ordered years ago by President Xi Jinping.
September 5, 2024
Irrational America Will Fail
March 12th, 2021. Issue Brief by GPI President Paolo von Schirach. WASHINGTON – Americans love biographies. A classic sub-category of this popular genre is books about the lives and deeds of past US Presidents. It is surprising to see how so many different authors keep coming up with new angles and new material on Presidents Washington, Lincoln or Johnson.
March 17, 2021
When Education Is Valued
August 23rd, 2020. Issue Brief by GPI President Paolo von Schirach. Discussing Joe Biden’s pick for Vice President, it has been noted that Senator Kamala Harris’ mother came from the top placed Brahmin caste in Tamil, a state in south eastern India. While we know that the Indian caste system created hereditary privileges for those lucky enough to be born in the Brahmin caste, slated to become priests and academics, it is important to stress that the Tamil Brahmins, (colloquially known as Tambrams), were not just an entitled social class with hereditary power and prestige. They strongly cultivated education, for themselves and their offspring, as an extremely important value and key priority.
August 30, 2020
Good Values at the Root of Utah’s Success
December 12th, 2019- Issue brief by GPI President Paolo Von Schirach, A recent article pointed out how, year after year, Utah is on top of the national list of the best states to do business in America, not to mention that the state gets very high marks on good governance, while in Utah there is very low unemployment. And in Utah kids attending public schools on average do rather well compared to the rest of the U.S., notwithstanding the fact that in Utah spending per pupil is quite below the national average. Well, what is the secret of this success?
December 20, 2019
Yale Model Goes Whiffen-Poof
December 12th, 2019- Issue brief by GPI Fellow Martin Hutchinson, All 60 of the United States’ leading university endowments underperformed a cheap “tracker fund” over the past decade, according to a study reported in the Financial Times. The culprit is the “Yale Model” of university endowment investment, whereby they focus on private equity, hedge funds and unquoted investments rather than on ordinary stock markets. From this data, the Yale Model clearly has not worked, at least in the last decade. It is worth examining what went wrong.
December 16, 2019
Type Two Diabetes Is Preventable, But Nobody Says It
August 22, 2019- Issue Brief by GPI President Paolo Von Schirach, I recently read a very well researched article on the growing cost of treating millions of diabetics in the United States. It appeared in a major national newspaper and it was written by a well-known public policy scholar. The writer  provided up to date data on the alarmingly large dimension of this disease and how much it costs to the affected individuals, insures and the US Government. The scholar in the end provided his thoughtful policy recommendations.
August 22, 2019
The global tax system begins to resemble the French ancien regime 
August 9, 2019- Issue Brief by GPI Fellow Martin Hutchinson, Modern “big data” systems are allowing tax authorities to gain full knowledge of sales transactions in their jurisdiction, thus pushing VAT tax collection rates close to 100% on small businessmen and the middle class in general. Meanwhile, Western income tax systems collect steadily less tax from large corporations and the very rich. They use loopholes and tax havens to minimize their tax liability. We have seen this type of tax system before: namely in the pre-revolutionary French ancien regime, where the nobility benefited from tax exemptions and the poor paid through the nose. That didn’t end well, and nor will this.
August 9, 2019
Overcoming Racial Prejudice in America
August 5, 2019- Issue Brief by GPI President Paolo Von Schirach,  “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” This sentence spoken by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on August 28, 1963, during the much celebrated March on Washington, was and to this day remains the best guiding principle that should help the American society deal with and finally go beyond its legacy of racism.
August 5, 2019
Why America is a Unique Country – Part 2
August 2, 2019 Issue Brief By the President of the Global Policy Institute, Paolo von Schirach. Thomas Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers of America sincerely believed that “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness” were and are indeed self-evident and unalienable rights, given to each human being by a Supreme Being. These attributes, “attached” to each person from birth, were described as Natural Rights, and therefore something that no government could legitimately take away from any and all the individuals who collectively constitute The People.
August 2, 2019
Why America is a unique country – Part 1
August 1, 2019 Issue Brief By the President of the Global Policy Institute, Paolo von Schirach. America is a truly unique country. But not for the most commonly held reasons: “Come to America so that you will have a great chance to make money and be rich”. In truth, throughout the world America is viewed (sometimes with envy) mostly as a country of great economic opportunity for those who are willing to push forward with determination, grit, passion and sometimes heartless aggression. America is the Promised Land where making money, advancing one’s social position, and building a better future for oneself is easier than elsewhere.
Stinking City On a Garbage Dump
July 31, 2019- Issue Brief by GPI Fellow Martin Hutchinson, Harvard University last week rescinded its acceptance of Parkland-shooting survivor Kyle Kashuv on the grounds of offensive tweets made when he was 16. This resulted in considerable media criticism that, in imposing political correctness codes and denying free speech, Harvard was betraying its beliefs. But that is nonsense. Harvard was founded in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1636. Bigoted small-minded intolerance and persecution of dissidents are central to its founding traditions.
July 31, 2019
Can Charter Schools be used as a Tool for Diversity in Schools?
May 23, 2018 - Issue Brief by GPI Executive Director and Fellow Deniz Karatas: On May 15, 2018 the Century Foundation convened an event on diversity in U.S. public schools and how to use charter schools as a tool for creating more racially and economically integrated schools. We are in 2018, but unfortunately segregated schools remain a reality across the U.S.
May 24, 2018
The Achievement School District Model Supports Rigorous Public School Accountability
Testimony of Don Soifer, Before the Nevada Legislature, Assembly Committee on Education (via Lexington Institute)
April 19, 2017
On a Mission to Learn: My Trip to a Syrian IDP Camp (Part 6)
PART 6 // "What’s Next, in a Few Words" Issue Brief Series by Abdulrahman Y. Idlbi: "If you want to open a school, whether in a refugee camp or not, you don’t have to take a trip similar to the one I had. Just throw a bunch of kids in a room with an adult, a curriculum and a black board, and you’ll be probably fine. However, if you want to empower these kids as learners, that’s a totally different story."
April 5, 2017
On a Mission to Learn: My Trip to a Syrian IDP Camp (Part 5)
PART 5 // "Day 7 - Adding Colors" Issue Brief Series by Abdulrahman Y. Idlbi: "Recently, Raghad joined us. She lost her leg in an airstrike, and never came to school before. That day her friends invited her and helped her to join us. She looked sad and rarely spoke, but she seemed to enjoy the activity because she kept coming on the next days."
On a Mission to Learn: My Trip to a Syrian IDP Camp (Part 4)
Part 4 // "Elections" The Issue Brief Series by Abdulrahman Y. Idlbi: "We had many new experiences that day. It was snowing all night, and in the morning everything was in white. I was wandering around the camp and soon was engaged in a snow fight with the kids. I noticed some level of aggressiveness by a group of kids against others, including me) and they were telling the kids to go back to where they came from. That was harsh."
On a Mission to Learn: My Trip to a Syrian IDP Camp (Part 3)
Part 3 // "Day 3 - Rolling! Action! Cut!" Issue Brief Series by Abdulrahman Y. Idlbi: "By the of the second day, I met more girls than I started with. I asked them to come early next morning to find some activity to do. When we met in the morning there were ten girls, all new! I asked them how they liked the screening yesterday, and if they wanted to do something similar. They were excited about the idea, but we needed a place to do it. One girl said it was ok to go to her tent. That was lots of girls in a tiny tent"
On a Mission to Learn: My Trip to a Syrian IDP Camp (Part 2)
Part 2 // "Let the Hard Fun Begin" Issue Brief Series by Abdulrahman Idlbi: "Day 1 - Welcome to Qah Refugee Camp! January 5, 2013 afternoon was the time to cross the border back to Qah camp. I had my laptop, camera, two Scratch Sensor Boards, and a MakeyMakey. I wasn’t sure yet what activities I’d do with the kids or what materials to use, so I decided on my way to buy some paper, pencils and coloring pens.[2] Holding a Syrian passport, it was easy to cross the border.[3] I took a cab to Qah camp, and as I arrived I headed directly to the same tent I visited earlier. The kids were a bit surprised to see me again. It was usual to see strangers everyday visiting the camp, taking pictures, promising aid, then leaving, but they’d rarely come back. Refugees considered them somehow as tourists. They ran to their dad, Ahmad, telling him I was back."
On a Mission to Learn: My Trip to a Syrian IDP Camp (Part 1)
Part 1 //"Before You Start" Issue Brief Series by Abdulrahman Y. Idlbi: "This is my report for a trip I made to the Syrian-Turkish border in January 2013. I wanted to explore the refugee communities and know more about the kids there to help with designing learning environments for them. I was learning then, and still I am... I had to make many decisions on the spot, some were smart (I guess), some were not, and you’ll find me inferring and making conclusions throughout the text... "
April 4, 2017
Strategies for Improving Charter School Facilities Funding
Research Report by Kristen Nye Larson: "Costs associated with accessing and maintaining viable facilities can present an expensive hurdle for public charter schools. This paper discusses five strategies in use in different jurisdictions to support charter schools by reducing the cost and challenges related to facilities."
February 27, 2017
End state monopolies in education!
January 30, 2017 - By GPI Fellow Martin Hutchinson: "Donald Trump’s Education Secretary nominee Betsy DeVos is getting flak from both sides – from the left because she is not fully committed to unionized public education, from the right because she appears at least neutral on the “Common Core” national standards mandated by the Obama administration. Education is important – it is how we pass on our civilization to the next generation. Accordingly, we should fight monopolies, whether structural from the public sector or intellectual from the “treasonous clerks” of academia. It is to be hoped that Ms. DeVos both understands this and does something substantial about it."
January 30, 2017
US Public Education In Crisis
By GPI President Paolo von Schirach: "The international student proficiency scores gathered under the auspices of the Program for International Student Assessment, (also known as PISA), tell us a sad story about the state of U.S. public education. Simply stated, compared to the rest of the developed world, US kids do poorly in math and barely within average in other key subjects. How can America remain the world economic leader in this hyper competitive global knowledge economy, when U.S. school children do not know basic math?"
December 21, 2016
The Tragedy Of The Uneducated Poor in America
By GPI President Paolo von Schirach: "Much has been said about the “crisis” of American public education. Indeed, if we look at the ranking of American high school kids compared to their peers in other developed countries, they do rather poorly in terms of academic achievement. In fact their performance is so bad that one wonders how on earth can America be and stay a leader in sophisticated technologies, innovation and business creation since its young people seem to be chronic under achievers."
November 3, 2016
For Syrian Refugees Learning English is a Key to Survival
By GPI Senior Adviser Michael Binyon: "Can the English language save Syrian refugees from extremism? Across Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, thousands of young men and women, driven from their homeland by violence and fighting, are learning the language they hope will open the doors to jobs, money, opportunity and peace. And with every step achieved, every hope kindled, the chances for Islamic State to lure frustrated young refugees into its extremist ranks are reduced."
November 1, 2016