Nirmal Nair on a university challenge, free tertiary education in Germany, the story of 3D printing, global energy snapshot, electricity blackouts, Dilbert & more

The problem with universities is that they are cost plus organisations. They put the fees up by the maximum allowable every year. Each university is automonous and there is a reluctance for cross crediting from one to another. Why can't common courses at 100 level all be similar between universities for example? All courses are currently bespoke and many have very low numbers. Why can't statistics 101 be common to all universities and polytechnics? At the moment they are all different.

Universities, as they are, cannot cope with increasing demand. How are they going to educate a billion Chinese or a billion Indians for example? Not by fitting 100 students at a time in a lecture room. This pedagogy is thousands of years old. Many students don't even go to lectures. Cost and access shut many out of careers. 

Online is the way to go for lower level courses with research based higher level papers.  

How current is a lot of the research? Many papers I have seen presented have very old data. Lecturers are very good at recycling the same research year after year.

There is a lot of room to create efficiencies and cut costs. At the moment the poor student and taxpayer are paying for a very inefficient system. 

MOOCs are only the beginning. 

FREE universtiy in Germany ?

NZ Population 4,5 m with around 2,3 million employed and paying tax

German population 83 million of which 90% of working age people are emplyed

German GDP is $  3,730,261,000,000.

NZ GDP $185,788,000,000

Germany is a HUGE economy , they can afford to do just about anything ......

Back in 1989 Ergophobia (and others) advised Phil Goff (yes, NZ student loans were a Labour invention, they just did not get the time in office to implement them) to simply increase the top tax rate by 1% - a near perfect fit for tertiary education"user pays" (that was in the days before Haka and bone-carving degrees).   

I left engineering because the pay was poor and the job security low.  I was made redunadant 3 times in 20 years and threatended with it twice if I didnt go to hell holes in the third world, or south island (same thing).  Not once in IT has that happened. Sure ppl may want engineers as long as they are cheap and disposable, you cant make a living/life like that.

The only education you need today is how to play the game, be corrupt and make millions.

We used to call corruption by its real name "Corruption" now we just shrug and call it "Crony capitalism"

Crony capitalism is just legalised corruption.

Legalise the way you give taxpayer money to your mates and your businesses. Privatise the profit and socialise the losses. Thats croney capitalism (Corruption)

Yes the art of corruption is the best subject to study.

Lets all just learn how to rip off the system

Net wealth per capita is on average significantly higher in Greece than Germany. Greek ship owner billionaires are still fully tax exempt. Greece received 100 billion Euro in debt forgiveness in 2012 already. Greece practically did not reform anything since 2010. It is still as corrupt and unproductive and pathetic as ever. Great reasons for Germany and the rest of the EU to lend or gift the Greek tricksters yet more? I dont think so. Of course, generous, kind hearted Kiwis are free to donate. I get a Greek government account number, if there are any takers. Funny, isn't it?

Sad to see primitive anti-German sentiment still alive and kicking here, however, mostly by people who know bugger all about the place and probably watch too much trash tele in general. However, I do agree that the German government should have never meddled in Greek affairs. No bail-out, Greek bankruptcy, collapsing banks, new crisis, lower Auckland house prices. In that sense, yes, Germany, do us all a favor and stop bailing out the crooks of the world.

While I do not think much at all of German government policy esp. the highly overestimated former Communist cadre Merkel, free tertiary education is one of the very few good aspects. Everyone deserves a fair go in education and a country that does not want or is incapable of extending it is in my view not living up to its most basic responsibilities. I personally know Kiwis studying in Germany who enjoy the prospect of a debt-free start into life.

I also hear that the "Net Wealth Depleted Taxpayer Retirement Fund"  is not going to invest in the SKY protection income racket.

Some say it was going to be a gamble, putting all the poor savers other assets into a high rise, high risk project.

Some say that we must contribute to the deflationary market to take advantage of the losses we could offset against the inflationary rises in crap crack houses and poor farmer and Solid Energy expectations, derived and planned to take advantage of the liquid structures designed to migrate inflows and outflows of commodities between like minded speculatory and free market for some, tax beneficial and discountable transactions.

Using said savers and taxpayers dwindling returns, ad infinitum, ad nauseum and in the National interest of declining rates, inflated amalgamated rates and inflated Jaffa expectations. of increased migrant flow.

The HSBC is watching with bated breath as an opportunity may rise from the offsetting manipulation of an otherwise uncoroborated and uncorrupt loophole, however small and crony it may be, growth upon gross..

The odds have been calculated to the nth degree, Houses will rise, Council Houses will fall,

Real estate will never be real again, nor made to feel at home, it may be even be seen as  a tax deductible lurch to the right.

Whilst some will be left,,out. completely, though born here. No matter their savings, their deposits, their leverage, as the sky may be the limit for a flutter..