Some of the most interesting commentary on the economic crisis of 2008 came from writers who referenced Karl Marx and his concerns about international banking. Now the Chinese government has completed a new 5-year plan and Premier Wen Jiabao has some interesting thoughts on government objectives and the role of government officials. His most interesting ideas are:
- There should be performance evaluation standards for governments at all levels based on the efficiency of economic growth and include environmental impact
- "Two figures are more important than GDP growth rate. They are the proportion of the expenditure on education in the national economy and the ratio of spending on research and development in the GDP,"
One could argue that this is just jaded rhetoric, but these ideas on government management are better than what I hear from the Washington rhetoric. I also like the idea of evaluation standards for government officials, especially when economic efficiency is included.
Maybe the teachers' unions could propose evaluation standards for U.S. government officials :)