tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post1487423836367351707..comments2024-03-06T06:34:42.881-05:00Comments on EconoSpeak: A Rationalization for Educational DownsizingUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4900303239154048192.post-60185402565990012572009-12-08T12:11:18.482-05:002009-12-08T12:11:18.482-05:00The Japanese economic miracle of the sixties was c...The Japanese economic miracle of the sixties was commonly attributed to the hand-in-glove direction of MITI. A contributing factor, I was told at the time, was a surplus of engineers. Rather than being unemployed, they were given 'jobs for life' at various industries who were still in the process of rebuilding following the Great Pacific War (WWII). As new equipment arrived from the US or Europe, a team of engineers descended on the machine to disassemble it. Before it was reassembled each engineer submitted as many changes as they saw possible. The best of these were incorporated during the reassembly. Thus the machine as installed was better than the factory specs. So much so that the original maker lusted to examine the machine for their own improvement.<br />An educated proletariat might have uses beyond the limited imaginations of such conservatives.<br />--mlMartin Langelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12214277415738344944noreply@blogger.com