The Past is the Enemy of the Future -- as in, Our Future

Fred Wilson, the venture capitalist with a terrific track record and a great following as a blogger, wrote two posts that I read as being connected in critical ways.  In Sunday's post, "Hacking Education," he talks about the innovations that are reshaping the world of learning and teaching, and the many challenges we still face.  In today's post, "Delevering Our Balance Sheets," he talks about the challenges created by the draining-out of borrowed money from our markets, including the markets for technology.

I see these posts as related because, for me, the biggest risk in the "bailout" is that we'll spend all our time repairing the past while our global competitors (India and China) are busy building the future.  Of course we have to save the banking system from meltdown, but not at the expense of investing in the next wave of human capital.  The next cycle of economic growth will not come from banks and brokers (whether broken or fixed).  That wave of innovation is done, finished, kaput.  I don't know the sources of the next new things (I wish I did!) but I know that they will rely on educated, civic-minded citizens, and we have to keep making more of those, here at home and around the world.