On Education and the Economy

Abstract

Abstract I am rereading my two lectures "On Economy and Education," which I presented at the Hungarian Science Academy a quarter of a century ago (these were part of a five-lecture series I presented in 1978 under the heading "Accelerated Times" on economy and education). Today, that quarter-century seems even more distant, since history has taken a giant step in a new direction. During that time the world economy entered a new phase and the history of Hungary was drastically transformed. More surprising is the fact that the thoughts I expressed a quarter-century ago are applicable even today. I started out by comparing Hungary against the West during the 1970s. Specifically, I noted how the West was then undergoing a revolution in education, recognizing that education had a major impact on the development of the economy. In contrast, Hungary was lagging far behind the West in these processes. Today we are able to gain a more comprehensive picture of the educational revolution that took place in the West during the second half of the twentieth century.