高等教育體系對于一個高福利國家來說是最為成功的的成就之一了。之前只是少數人的特權而如今中產階層也可以享受到這樣的待遇，這個主要是由于政府的資助而產生的。在這個夏天，大約有三百五十萬的美國人及五百萬的歐洲畢業生。在發展中國家大學教育也在快速發展：中國在近二十年之內增加了近二百所大學。然而這項業務與亞里士多德在雅典學會中并沒有什么不一樣：年輕的學生要在指定的時間，指定的地方聚集在一起來聆聽學者們的演說。

在這篇文章之中，改革會重新開始，我們認為有三個因素：日益增加的成本，變化的需求以及技術的革新。這些最終會影響教育革命。

高等教育得了鮑莫爾成本病。這種成本傾向于勞動力的密集性。由于生產力停滯不前，生產成本過高。汽車、電腦等許多物品的價格都在大幅度的下降。

HIGHE Reducation is one of the great successes of the welfare state. What was once the privilege of a few has become a middle-class entitlement, thanks mainly togovernment support. Some 3.5m Americans and 5m Europeans will graduate this summer. In the emerging world universities are booming: China has added nearly30m places in 20 years. Yet the business has changed little since Aristotletaught at the Athenian Lyceum: young students still gather at an appointed timeand place to listen to the wisdom of scholars.

Nowa revolution has begun (see article), thanks to three forces: rising costs, changingdemand and disruptive technology. The result will be the reinvention of theuniversity.

Highereducation suffers from Baumol’s disease—the tendency of costs to soar inlabour-intensive sectors with stagnant productivity. Whereas the prices ofcars, computers and much else have fallen dramatically, universities, protectedby public-sector funding and the premium employers place on degrees, have beenable to charge ever more for the same service. For two decades the cost ofgoing to college in America has risen by 1.6 percentage points more thaninflation every year.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics of the cultural industry pay attention to the connotation of the people-oriented and comprehensive, healthy and coordinated development.People-oriented as the ruling concept of our party in the new period, is the core of the cultural industry to realize the sustainable development concept, it should implement and carry out to all aspects of the cultural industry development and link.

First, adhere to the people-centered concept of the development of cultural industries, to maximize meet people's growing spiritual and cultural life need.Cultural industry is under the condition of socialist market economy the important way to meet the demand of people's spiritual life, is the other wing and cultural undertakings is neck and neck.Basic cultural needs and rights and interests of the main through the government leading, the cultural undertakings to meet;More personalized culture mainly through the market demand, the cultural industry to meet.Cultural development and prosperity will adhere to in order to satisfy people's spiritual and cultural needs as the starting point and the foothold, the populace, close to reality, close to life, produce more and better multi-level cultural products to solve the populace's desire "spirit" and the "culture poverty" problem.To change and eliminate the sort of "just me, only I alone is high, only I alone art" vision and the aristocratic, increase the intensity of all kinds of spiritual and cultural products.Is not only to "high culture", also want to have "the lowbrow," really popular and common, popular but not vulgar, and low but not vulgar, vulgar and not bad, comprehensive, multi-channel, multi-level to meet the spiritual and psychological needs of the masses.Let culture close to the life of the people, and even the original point, a little rough, simple, fresh, raw, for the broad masses of people, perhaps it is the hope and strength.Made some big "luxury drama", some high-quality goods of "awards show," some artificial engineering "culture", people may not like, do not necessarily welcome.Instead, close to their great big vulgar, like earlier, it can release people to the fast pace of life in today's society, high risk, strong competition and tense work under great pressure.Both the economization of culture industry, and the welfare of the public cultural undertakings, only meet people's spiritual life really need, become attractive, audience and prospects.Therefore, in the process of development of cultural industry, as long as it is beneficial to people's physical and mental health, will be allowed to exist, allowed to experiment and explore.The popular forms into dogma, in the form of lively content into rigid preach, the original irrelevant things hard into the original art and cultural life, inanimate, it is against the willingness and deviate from the people-oriented, is in violation of the culture and art production and the law of development.

Second, adhere to the people-centered concept development of cultural industry, is to maintain and realize the people's cultural interests.According to the nonprofit, fundamental, equivalence, the requirements of convenience, while speed up the construction of public cultural service system, to attach great importance to the cultural industry to provide personalized service.No people what consumption, consumption, can guide, but cannot be deprived of the rights of the people the freedom to choose.Do cultural industry must have a market vision, the people welcome and happy, is necessarily have market and vitality;On the other hand, with the rigid ideas and aristocratic view and the development of cultural industry, will inevitably lifeless, lose energy.At the same time, want to notice to maintain the cultural interests and rights and interests of the people in accordance with the law.Cultural market of fake and shoddy products, provide the inferior cultural consumption and services, is a violation of the interests of the mass culture;Cultural products of nobility is actually intended to exclude ordinary people outside the door of cultural consumption, it also constitutes a harm to the realization of the cultural rights and interests of the people.The cultural industry should serve for the mass, the people's livelihood.Busking in ancient China, such as hip-hop, crosstalk, ballad, acrobatics, etc., as well as popular culture that people willing to accept, also is the prototype of the cultural industry.The foundations of the cultural industry has its roots in people, its development depends largely on consumers.How to through various guide, stimulate people's spiritual and cultural consumption consciousness, improve the level of cultural consumption, not only relates to the development of cultural industry, also relates to the whole social cultural level and improve the quality of our spiritual life.By holding various cultural activities, improve citizen culture grade, forming a healthy culture consumption atmosphere.

Again, adhere to the people-centered concept development of cultural industry, the fundamental starting point is to improve people's quality, promote the all-round development of human beings.Regardless of cultural undertakings and cultural industries are essentially spiritual and cultural products, to meet the needs of the people's spiritual and cultural life, must adhere to the social benefit as the highest criterion.Although they have their respective characteristics and play a role in a different way, but their ultimate purpose is for the promotion of social and human development and ascend.Evaluation of cultural industry, on the premise of no bad social influence, no doubt to directly with economic standard to evaluate, basically see it to gross domestic product (GDP), and the fiscal revenue and contribution to the social employment, see it in adjusting industrial structure, change the pattern of economic development on the significant role.But the culture industry development and cultural construction is a person of construction, the key is to improve the quality of people, rich people the spirit world, enhance people's spiritual power.Development of cultural industry, must be beneficial to improve the quality of people, and not harmful, it is the touchstone for testing the development of cultural industry is the most fundamental.
Man's all-round and free development includes a person's personality show, art appreciation, entertainment, leisure, tourism and so on.Cultural products and services, as it were, production, sales and consumption of every link has very close connection with man's all-round development.Unlike public cultural undertakings and cultural industries pay more attention to cultural and recreational and recreational and recreational sex YiZhiXing, make people relax, return to nature, so as to promote people's physical and mental health, to meet the needs of the development of people free.

Visible, people-oriented, is to comply with the hearts and minds, embodies the human nature, humanities, with such a concept to operation and development of cultural industry, industry must strengthen;Instead, break the heart do the cultural industry, human nature, the humanities, to pursue some unrealistic "false, big and empty or" bad "eroticism, gambling, poison", it will only make the cultural industry in infancy or misguided.The cultural industry sustainable development must be fully reflect the scientific connotation of "people-oriented", in line with the requirements of the scientific outlook on development.

In the cultural life, all kinds of cultural products from production to consumption and there are a variety of chain link, to realize the sustainable development of cultural industry, must adhere to the following basic principles: first, the principle of market orientation.Development of cultural industries to the market requirements and guidance for the principle, should be in accordance with the law of cultural development and other must according to market laws.Since culture is a kind of industry, market orientation, must be taken to enter the market, to market to fight in the wind and waves.The power of the development of cultural industry continuously from the market.There is no doubt that the government's strong push on the start and development of cultural industry is indispensable, loose environment also must support and preferential policy, but the cultural industry can truly developed, ultimately depends on the market, depends on the market operation strength, competitiveness and self-development capacity.Market is the end-result of the product and value realization, no market, no industry.

The cultural industry is to create a kind of appeal, a kind of expectation, to satisfy people's pursuit and expectation.People are attracted by tightly, cultural products or services that have the market;The market and industry to support it.So, the cultural products and services must be from the market with a view to grasp the excitement of people, the resonance point.The success of the hunan TV's "super girl", the most fundamental is the success of the market, is the program to the success of market orientation and business operations, its effect on music, major in music aspects, but in the market operation.This shows us that culture is fundamentally different from the past development, to develop the cultural industry, cannot "pious covered face", and to the point of feebleness must bravely, boldly to the market.Research on cultural market demand and people's consumption psychology, development and production of popular cultural products for people, especially good at conducting market planning, marketing and operation.Can't go to the market in the wind and waves "frolic in the waves", the industry is grow up, and no vitality and competitiveness.Of course, the market orientation has its limitations.Social orientation, as a kind of non-market orientation is indispensable, it can promote the pursuit of the market orientation of 60, trajectory correction market operation, make up for the market orientation of value.The development of cultural industry is to socialism with Chinese characteristics through consolidation, achieve both social and market orientation.

Second, prominent characteristic principle.Sustainable development of the cultural industry and cultural enterprise vitality, is the core competitiveness of building;And build the core competitiveness lies in the character, outstanding characteristics.With the characteristics, there will be a brand personality, can form the advantage."Giant" in the world culture industry development, all with or specialized, or concentrated, or new, big or strong, or wait for a characteristic and has.In the face of the regional division of labor is more and more thin, cultural trend of the increasingly fierce competition in the market, for the sustainable development of cultural industry in China, and occupied a place in the pattern of the future, it is necessary to give full play to the advantages of around, show their own characteristics.This includes the regional cultural features, characteristics of folk customs, tourism, culture, history and culture characteristic, the red culture, innovation culture, etc.Characteristic is the competition, is the productivity, is comparative advantage.Based on its own resources, talent and first mover advantage, behavior, preferring to, in order to form their own advantage and leading industries, can be in an impregnable position in the fierce competition.Now there is a strange phenomenon, is the "characteristic", originally very distinctive things make no features.For example, some local tourist resources has distinguishing feature very much originally, have individual character, but determined to imitate others, make some of the same artificial landscape, the original natural, simple, beautiful landscape neither fish nor fowl.In fact, more modern tourism is leave the noisy city, reduce the pressure of the fast pace of life, let into the natural beauty of body and mind relax and edify.Some red tourism, this can let visitors to accept advanced ideas of education and the baptism of lofty spirit, determined to make up some mysterious stories to "apotheosis" baseless, thought that can attract tourists, but this is just the mask to its natural and bright color, also very responsible and serious on orientation.Road, imitation is the most easy to walk the road, but is also a most dead-end road;Road of the characteristic, is the pursuit of personality and the road of innovation, is the scientific development.In order to get sustainable development of cultural industry in China, and must adhere to the characteristics of road."Characteristic" the word is not gild the lily, but make the finishing point.

Resource conservation priority.Sustainable development is to promote the harmony of man and nature, to achieve coordinated economic development and resources and environment, guarantee the generation after generation of sustainable development.It requires the development and utilization of today, not only can't run out or destroy the resources and environment, and to provide better conditions for future development.With the development of cultural industry, develop the cultural resources and the protection of cultural resources becomes increasingly contradiction.Many cultural resources such as historical and cultural resources, cultural resources, natural landscape resources and so on all has certain scarcity and vulnerability, and often they are non-renewable or difficult to regeneration, not as people usually think inexhaustible, an inexhaustible.These cultural resources, once destroyed, will cause irreparable damage.This determines the must give top priority to conservation, protection priority, moderate development, the principle of sustainable use.Left the protection, the development of cultural industry will be unsustainable due to excessive utilization of resources.The protection of the cultural resources in general there are three ways: one is the protection principle, namely to certain fundamental laws and regulations and measures, to protect the continuity of cultural resources, unity and coordination, make it not be forgotten and annihilation.Such as the folk art in the form of "ecological" has been marginalized in the globalization and social upheaval, even tend to disappear, this is in urgent need of protection.Such as hunan protection of jiangyong women's script is belong to this kind of situation.Second, developmental protection, the produce market effect, has great development value of cultural resources into industry, and industry stronger and feedback to the protection of the cultural resources, realize the virtuous circle.Such as hunan phoenix for the protection of the ancient city of development, it realizes the benign interaction.3 it is strategic protection, is currently unable to development but has a characteristic, promising culture resources overall protection, as the development of cultural industry resource reserves, for development and utilization of later.Strategic protection is very necessary, all cultural resources cannot be developed by a generation of light, and should be left to our offspring of resources.As some ancient tombs, ancient ruins, ancient architectural structures, can not, had better not used, can the overall best preserved as a whole.Cultural heritage includes material cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage, they are a valuable non-renewable cultural resource.If destruction, disappear, or lost, we will become a culture of "sinners".Along with the advancement of economic boom, the cultural ecology of our country is undergoing great changes, cultural heritage and its threats to survival environment, we must take a long-term view, adhere to the principle of conservation priority.

Benefit maximization principle.Culture as an industry, must pursue the maximization of benefit, realize the economic, social and cultural ecological organic unification.The development of cultural industry, from the point of economic value, it is an important force to promote the sustainable development of economy;From the point of social value, is to improve the national quality, the effective ways to build a harmonious society.
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From the point of cultural ecological benefit, is the inheritance and innovation of culture form and content of basic means.Direct benefit of economic benefits is to increase national wealth.But the culture industry focused on economic benefits at the same time, must assume its social responsibility.Social benefit is the core of China's socialist culture pursues benefit.Cultural development can't only speak economic interests, the pursuit of profit maximization of social benefits, and give up national values and national interests.Develop and expand the cultural industry, should not only stare at the market, strengthen the cultural entity viability, maximum limit for cultural product value-added, but not only from the market, blindly cater to low level market demand, let the poor quality, the style is not high culture product is popular;Should be based on China's social reality, based on national cultural tradition, create and produce the products with the most distinctive features of the Chinese culture, but not conservative restoring ancient ways, stuck in the past, to simply repeat the traditional, low level;To expand the opening to the outside world in the field of culture, increase the introduction of foreign cultural products, and not to ignore the reality of culture "deficit", cheaply for other countries to foster cultural audience, damage to the nation's cultural security.Ecological benefits to follow cultural ecological equality, ecological benefit fair, 61 subject right to justice, the principle of ecological security order, guarantee the cultural ecology coordination, balance, and healthy development, so as to produce good comprehensive benefits.Must be in the macroscopic field of vision, system integration research cultural forms, cultural style, cultural symbols, cultural value, cultural spirit, interactivity, the correlation of integrity, systematic and comprehensive benefits of development to form a strong culture, make the cultural creativity, knowledge, skills, imagination really into realistic productivity.To study and formulate the cultural enterprise social benefit, economic benefit and ecological benefit, monitoring, appraisal and a comprehensive evaluation index system, to ensure the realization of the triple benefits, and strive to maximize the benefits of.

The concept of scientific development is marxist world outlook and methodology on development, it is pursuit of health, coordination, comprehensive and dialectical development of sustainable.On the issue of cultural industry, to achieve across and sustainable scientific development, must dialectical treatment and comprehensive plan as a whole the following several major relationships: one is the relationship between economic development and cultural development as a whole.Economy is the foundation for the development of the society, taking economic construction as the center, focus on promoting economic rapid and healthy development is any time we can't shake the basic strategy.But culture as an important part of the society, but also at any time can not be weakened.Culture is the country's "soft power", not "soft power" of the match, the hard power would lack toughness and broken;Follow up without culture, economic development will also lack of staying power and frustration.The development of "soft power" and supports, any country rise of a strong, prosperous and lasting is impossible.In the process of social and historical development, economy and culture has always been in the interwoven and interaction to achieve its development, culture is a derivative of the economy, the economy needs the support of culture.In the era of knowledge economy, increasingly fusion and integration of economy and culture, the culture of the economy, economic, cultural, economic and cultural integration of coordination, the mutual infiltration interaction, become the inevitable trend of modernization.Need cultural power to promote economic development, economic development, cultural development, it is difficult to realize the real development of a single aspect.Only the two together, the coordinated development to support each other, complement each other.

Cultural industry is the booster to promote the development of China's economy.Cultural industry not only itself can profit as cultural goods and services, but also for the national economic knock-on effect, can promote the development of many related industries.Not only can promote the development of the upstream industry, and promote the growth of the follow-up industry, will also spread to the network, financial, communications, transportation, commerce, diet and other complementary industry.Especially the cultural industry and the development of high and new technology complement each other, there is no support of new and high technology, cultural industry is difficult to rise quickly.Modern high technology has become promote the development of cultural industries, improve the cultural innovation ability and transmission ability of the new engine.In the process of speed up the transformation of economic development patterns, the cultural industry has optimum structure, expanding consumption, increase employment, promote sustainable unique advantages and characteristics of the cross, to ease the problems of China's economic development.The development of cultural industry also can enhance the international competitiveness of a country or a region, to expand its influence in the world.Japan, South Korea is due to the development of cultural industry reputation.And cultural development of the all-round development of people with a long-term role and significance.Short legs of culture, there is no such thing in modern times is a real strong competitiveness.In the national economy, therefore, we should establish the priority to the development of cultural industry in the industrial clusters of strategic thought.

The second is the relationship between cultural undertakings and cultural industries as a whole.Development of cultural industry is a key and the most common problem is to correctly handle the relationship between business and industry.Cultural industries and business first is the difference between each other.

To separate them, discrimination, not unlike industry, business is not like a business.Culture industry is in the development, production and marketing of cultural products and providing cultural services business industry.Cultural undertakings is to provide public products and services of public welfare cultural department.Production for the purpose of both is different, the enterprise to provide public cultural products, industrial production into the market in order to realize its value of the goods;The body of the main body of the nature of the both is different, the enterprise is undertaking cultural unit, the industry is a cultural enterprise legal representative;Funding both is different, the enterprise is mainly composed of national investment, the industry by the state-owned, private and foreign capital, multi-channel financing;The operating mechanism is different, cause mainly by government finance support to ensure the operation, the industry is fully into the market, financial self-sufficiency;The different control ways, the enterprise directly by the government administrative regulation, and industry relies mainly on the policies and regulations, use legal, administrative, economic and other means to indirect control.On the other hand, the cultural industry and career and contain each other, mutual infiltration and transformation.In the content of the cultural undertakings in some industries, such as the elegant art, cultural relics exhibition, sporting style also can do industry under certain conditions, to overcome the cultural institution cannot be completely operation concept.Cultural institutions some content, form and carrier of culture, project, can completely separate, operates the market mode of operation.Also, some of the content of nonprofit cultural operation can use carrier and form of the industry to achieve.Nonprofit cultural undertakings while mainly by the government to do, but also to encourage social participation and social capital are allowed.The mutual transformation between culture industry and career both also.Industry under certain conditions, can be converted into enterprise, constitute a part of my career.In fact, due to the material and cultural improvement of living standards and a powerful economic strength, in the industry with some content has spun off from the industry, public interest by the government, the welfare of the masses, such as open-air movies, sent to the countryside play, etc.Also, the enterprise through restructuring, development, stripping can also be converted into industry.Such as some high culture, folk art, due to the popularity and expansion of the audience from the public welfare undertakings into a profit-making industry, do not need to compensate for the road.

The relationship between overall balanced development and unbalanced development.Any business or industry, few are in accordance with the ideal model of balanced development, unbalanced development is the norm and law of things development.No one at home and abroad countries and regions in all cultural industries can is in the lead.Therefore, developing both to highlight the key, and be good at from the global eyes, overall consideration and rational culture and its industry overall development plan and measures to realize the coordinated development in the plan as a whole.The advantages and disadvantages of cultural industries in a certain condition can be mutual transformation and development process, a temporary advantage may become disadvantage in the future, temporary disadvantage also can become tomorrow's advantage.How to improve the occasion, it is important practical subject in the design of cultural industry development strategy.

China's economic development and social modernization process presents a gradually from east to west, from urban to rural gradient unbalanced development situation of points, and the same is true of the cultural industry development.Accordingly, in the cultural industry development, the eastern coastal developed areas, and should focus on the development of cultural creative industry, the globalization and the area of "standard";As the central and western regions, especially in the countryside, it should be under the government leading to strengthen the construction of public cultural service system construction and the cultural market, cultural resources, cultural industry development characteristics, to make culture industry as soon as possible, make industry.We should distinguish between where comparative advantage around, characteristic, making rational judgment.Only found its own characteristics, differences, strengths, to put the kung fu and focus on the main direction.Common, in general, common cultural projects go slow development, personality, special, strong 'cultural project to accelerate development.Is the development of cultural industries in yunnan province, which are characterized by the combination of tourism and theatrical performances and focus and work wonders.

As a sustainable development, however, the requirement is fully coordinated development, this is we should make great efforts to pursue and achieve.That is to say, the focus on developing the media industry, publishing distribution sector, performing arts entertainment, animation game industry, network industry, film and television industry, cultural industry at the same time, to pay attention to and surrounding the development of downstream industries, industry and related industry, the derivative industry, promote cultural industry chain extension, accelerate the development of new cultural forms, prevent "concentrate on one thing only.

On the strategic design, on the policy guidance, must want to consider the question of balanced development.Of course, we don't subjectively, artificially, wishful thinking to the pursuit of balanced development.The restriction of the market rule, the cultural industry development with a certain spontaneity and unpredictability, often is "interested in many things open, have a remarkable".Focused, create the characteristic, advantage, it is bound to produce imbalance.Around the "twelfth five-year" period, the main should not prematurely pursuit of balanced development, and should seize the key areas, "maintain qingshan not relax", constantly to the distinctive industry doing it.

Four is to plan as a whole to speed up the development and sustainable development.We need to speed up the development, but the development must have staying power, has a strong, able to maintain sustainable development.At the beginning of the cultural industry development, to speed up the development is very important, because if there is no speed in the initial period of development, can't form scale, fight for the initiative.And the development of the early to avoid a certain blindness, CuFangXing, number is larger, the quality is not high;Speed, low efficiency;Many varieties, less brand;Market, a disorderly phenomena.

Formost students university remains a great deal; by one count the boostto lifetime income from obtaining a college degree, innet-present-value terms, is as much as $590,000 (see article). But for an increasing number of students whohave gone deep into debt—especially the 47% in America and 28% in Britain whodo not complete their course—it is plainly not value for money. And the state’swillingness to pick up the slack is declining. In America government fundingper student fell by 27% between 2007 and 2012, while average tuition fees,adjusted for inflation, rose by 20%. In Britain tuition fees, close to zero twodecades ago, can reach £9,000 ($15,000 a year).

Thesecond driver of change is the labour market. In the standard model of highereducation, people go to university in their 20s: a degree is an entry ticket tothe professional classes. But automation is beginning to have the same effecton white-collar jobs as it has on blue-collar ones. According to a study fromOxford University, 47% of occupations are at risk of being automated in thenext few decades. As innovation wipes out some jobs and changes others, peoplewill need to top up their human capital throughout their lives.

Bythemselves, these two forces would be pushing change. A third—technology—ensuresit. The internet, which has turned businesses from newspapers through music tobook retailing upside down, will upend higher education. Now the MOOC, or“Massive Open Online Course”, is offering students the chance to listen to starlecturers and get a degree for a fraction of the cost of attending auniversity.
MOOCsstarted in 2008; and, as often happens with disruptive technologies, they haveso far failed to live up to their promise. Largely because there is no formalsystem of accreditation, drop-out rates have been high. But this is changing asprivate investors and existing universities are drawn in. One provider,Coursera, claims over 8m registered users. Though its courses are free, itbagged its first $1m in revenues last year after introducing theoption to pay a fee of between $30 and $100 to have course results certified.Another, Udacity, has teamed up with AT&T and Georgia Tech to offer anonline master’s degree in computing, at less than a third of the cost of thetraditional version. Harvard Business School will soon offer an online“pre-MBA” for $1,500. Starbucks has offered to help pay for its staff to takeonline degrees with Arizona State University.

MOOCswill disrupt different universities in different ways. Not all will suffer.Oxford and Harvard could benefit. Ambitious people will always want to go tothe best universities to meet each other, and the digital economy tends tofavour a few large operators. The big names will be able to sell their MOOCsaround the world. But mediocre universities may suffer the fate of manynewspapers. Were the market for higher education to perform in future as thatfor newspapers has done over the past decade or two, universities’ revenueswould fall by more than half, employment in the industry would drop by nearly30% and more than 700 institutions would shut their doors. The rest would needto reinvent themselves to survive.

Likeall revolutions, the one taking place in higher education will have victims.Many towns and cities rely on universities. In some ways MOOCs will reinforceinequality both among students (the talented will be much morecomfortable than the weaker outside the structured university environment) andamong teachers (superstar lecturers will earn a fortune, to the fury of their lesscharismatic colleagues).
Politicianswill inevitably come under pressure to halt this revolution. They shouldremember that state spending should benefit society as a whole, not protecttenured professors from competition. The reinvention of universities willbenefit many more people than it hurts. Students in the rich world will haveaccess to higher education at lower cost and greater convenience. MOOCs’flexibility appeals to older people who need retraining: edX,another provider, says that the median age of its online students in America is31. In the emerging world online courses also offer a way for countries likeBrazil to leap-frog Western ones and supply higher education much more cheaply(see article). And education has now become a global market:the Massachusetts Institute of Technology discovered Battushig Myanganbayar, aremarkably talented Mongolian teenager, through an online electronics course.

Ratherthan propping up the old model, governments should make the new one workbetter. They can do so by backing common standards for accreditation. InBrazil, for instance, students completing courses take a government-run exam.In most Western countries it would likewise make sense to have a single,independent organization that certifies exams.