NBC & PBS (2007-10) (STORY 7)

[charliek]

NBC NIGHTLY                                  OCTOBER, 2007                          INSTRUCTOR KIM SOO-YEON

Topic 8: Fast Track

All of which, somehow brings us back to our last look-ahead, what it might be like a decade from now. The toddlers of today will be starting high school in 2017, and we have all heard stories about nervous competitive parents here at home, trying to give their little ones that competitive edge for the future. But as NBC’s Mark Mullen tells us tonight, in China, they are taking that behavior to a whole new level.

This is how Yo Hee Tan spends her Sunday mornings. 8 o’clock, piano lessons, 9 o’clock, roller blading practice, 10:15, teamwork in confidence building excercises. Yo Hee is just four years old.

But her father, a Shanghai automotive executive who spends $160 every month for this so-called “Early MBA Lessons“ says it’s never too soon to get a head-start.

“Talking about future, the biggest concern is about competition. “

He’s not alone in his thinking.

Like Yo Hee, a whole generation of Chinese children is being grown for success. At kiddy Latin dance classes or at golf school, where 5 year-old Ronna Sun works on her handicap, encouraged by affluent middle class parents, who didn’t have the same opportunities when they grew up.

“I think we have provided her a lot of chances for her growing.“

At this learning center, boys as young as three line up to have their fingerprints scanned into a computer. Parents pay up to $60 to get their prints and brain waves analyzed, trying to figure out what subjects their child should specialize in.

(translated) “Society demands a whole new range of talents. It’s more fierce than any time in the past 20 years, with the market for jobs that never existed in the past. “

Parents know around 10 million Chinese are born every year, who will one day join others competing for positions in society and the  workforce.

Striking the balance is the challenge.

“All I am trying to do now is, number one, to make her happy, number two, to make sure she’s prepared.“

Keeping their children one step ahead in China, too.

Mark Mullen, NBC news, Beijing.

NEWS EXPRESSION‎ PRACTICE (7)                              OCTOBER, 2007                          INSTRUCTOR KIM SOO-YEON

1. 죽은 것을 되살릴 수는 없다. 지금부터 앞으로 아무리 많은 세월이 지나도 그것은 불가능할 것이다.

(All of which, somehow brings us back to our last look-ahead, what it might be like a decade from now.)

2. 이스라엘과 일본, 중국 등 아시아의 다른 나라들도 부모의 교육열이 높다는 말을 듣기는 했지만 그 중에서도 우리나라 부모들의 교육열은 당연 최고이다. 자신의 자녀들이 앞으로 다른 사람을 앞서갈 수 있도록 최선을 다한다.

(The toddlers of today will be starting high school in 2017, and we have all heard stories about nervous competitive parents here at home, trying to give their little ones that competitive edge for the future.)

3. 스티브 잡스는 i-Phone을 출시함으로써 휴대폰 기기를 한 차원 끌어올렸다는 평가를 받는다. 

(But as NBC’s Mark Mullen tells us tonight, in China, they are taking that behavior to a whole new level.)

4. 한국 부모들은 무조건 남보다 빨리 시작하는 것이 좋다는 생각하에 초등학교에 들어가기 전부터 각종 학습을 조기교육하는데 혈안이 되어 있다.

(But her father, a Shanghai automotive executive who spends $160 every month for this so-called “Early MBA Lessons“ says it’s never too soon to get a head-start.)

5. 요즘 세대의 우리 나라 아이들은, 하나같이, 삶의 행복이나 사랑을 위해서가 아닌 오로지 성공과 출세를 위해서 자라고 있다. 

(Like Yo Hee, a whole generation of Chinese children is being grown for success.)

6. 앞으로 몇 년 후면 정부는 전 국민의 지문과 얼굴 특징을 컴퓨터에 입력해 데이터베이스화 하는 작업을 통해 용의자 대조 검색 작업 등에 사용할 것으로 생각된다.

(At this learning center, boys as young as three line up to have their fingerprints scanned into a computer.)

7. 요즘은 개인별 혹은 가구 단위로 소정의 수수료를 얼마까지 내면 재정 상황을 분석받고 앞으로 재정 운용을 어떻게 진행해 나가는 것이 좋을지 자문받는 것이 인기를 끌고 있다.

(Parents pay up to $60 to get their prints and brain waves analyzed, trying to figure out what subjects their child should specialize in.)

8. 정규 교육은 사회에서의 경쟁을 위한 준비 단계이기도 하지만 평생 동안 스스로의 삶을 지탱시켜 줄 정신의 양식을 쌓는 곳이기도 하다. 따라서 그 두 가지의 균형을 맞추는 것이 중요하다.

(Parents know around 10 million Chinese are born every year, who will one day join others competing for positions in society and the workforce. Striking the balance is the challenge.)

NEWS EXPRESSION‎ PRACTICE (7)                              OCTOBER, 2007                          INSTRUCTOR KIM SOO-YEON

1. 죽은 것을 되살릴 수는 없다. 지금부터 앞으로 아무리 많은 세월이 지나도 그것은 불가능할 것이다.

(All of which, somehow brings us back to our last look-ahead, what it might be like a decade from now.)

1. We can’t bring something back to life. It will be impossible by any time from now.

2. 이스라엘과 일본, 중국 등 아시아의 다른 나라들도 부모의 교육열이 높다는 말을 듣기는 했지만 그 중에서도 우리나라 부모들의 교육열은 당연 최고이다. 자신의 자녀들이 앞으로 다른 사람을 앞서갈 수 있도록 최선을 다한다.

(The toddlers of today will be starting high school in 2017, and we have all heard stories about nervous competitive parents here at home, trying to give their little ones that competitive edge for the future.)

2. We have heard stories about nervous competitive parents. However, when it comes to child education, Korea can’t be second to any country. They try to give their little ones competitive edge for the future.

3. 스티브 잡스는 i-Phone을 출시함으로써 휴대폰 기기를 한 차원 끌어올렸다는 평가를 받는다. 

(But as NBC’s Mark Mullen tells us tonight, in China, they are taking that behavior to a whole new level.)

3. Steve Jobs is considered to have taken handsets to a whole new level by launching i-Phone on the market.

4. 한국 부모들은 무조건 남보다 빨리 시작하는 것이 좋다는 생각하에 초등학교에 들어가기 전부터 각종 학습을 조기교육하는데 혈안이 되어 있다.

(But her father, a Shanghai automotive executive who spends $160 every month for this so-called “Early MBA Lessons“ says it’s never too soon to get a head-start.)

4. Korean parents are keen to give early education of academic subjects for their children even before they start elementary school, on the grounds that it’s never too soon to get a head-start

5. 요즘 세대의 우리 나라 아이들은, 하나같이, 삶의 행복이나 사랑을 위해서가 아닌 오로지 성공과 출세를 위해서 자라고 있다. 

(Like Yo Hee, a whole generation of Chinese children is being grown for success.)

5. The current generation of children in this country is being grown only for wordly success, not for happiness in life or love for others. 

6. 앞으로 몇 년 후면 정부는 전 국민의 지문과 얼굴 특징을 컴퓨터에 입력해 데이터베이스화 하는 작업을 통해 용의자 대조 검색 작업 등에 사용할 것으로 생각된다.

(At this learning center, boys as young as three line up to have their fingerprints scanned into a computer.)

6. Years from now, the government is expected to have fingerprints and facial contours of each and every person of this country scanned into a computer to create a database, against which suspects can be compared.

7. 요즘은 개인별 혹은 가구 단위로 소정의 수수료를 얼마까지 내면 재정 상황을 분석받고 앞으로 재정 운용을 어떻게 진행해 나가는 것이 좋을지 자문받는 것이 인기를 끌고 있다.

(Parents pay up to $60 to get their prints and brain waves analyzed, trying to figure out what subjects their child should specialize in.)

7. Recently it is getting popular that individuals or households pay up to a specific amount of money to get their finances analyzed and advised for the best way they should take in managing their assets. 

8. 정규 교육은 사회에서의 경쟁을 위한 준비 단계이기도 하지만 평생 동안 스스로의 삶을 지탱시켜 줄 정신의 양식을 쌓는 곳이기도 하다. 따라서 그 두 가지의 균형을 맞추는 것이 중요하다.

(Parents know around 10 million Chinese are born every year, who will one day join others competing for positions in society and the workforce. Striking the balance is the challenge.)

8. Formal schooling is not only a preliminary stage in preparing oneself for joining others competing for positions in society, but also a phase where you should store up spiritual nutrients you have to feed on for the rest of your life. Therefore, it is very important to strike the balance. 

7. Greenspan's Book Explores U.S. Economy, His Time as Fed Chairman 

In the second of a two-part conversation, Jim Lehrer talks with former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan about the impact of the Federal Reserve and his recently published book, "The Age of Turbulence."

GWEN IFILL: Finally, the conclusion of Jim Lehrer's conversation with Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve chairman. His new book, "The Age of Turbulence," covers his tenure at the Fed, his own personal history, and some of the presidents he worked with, which is also the starting point for tonight's discussion. The conversation was recorded last week.

JIM LEHRER: You wrote in your book very clearly that the two smartest presidents you ever dealt with were Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. Explain the smartness of Richard Nixon.

ALAN GREENSPAN, Former Federal Reserve Chairman: He had an incredible ability to think on his feet very quickly. I would, for example, prior to a press conference when I was working for him during the 1968 campaign, brief him on an important economic event which had just occurred...

JIM LEHRER: Now, you were just a campaign aide at that point?

ALAN GREENSPAN: I was a voluntary...

JIM LEHRER: Voluntary adviser, right, right.

ALAN GREENSPAN: ... adviser. And I would give him five minutes, a quick review of a number of technical issues about which he knew nothing. He'd get out in front of the press corps and, for 20 minutes, hold forth as though he was the world's greatest expert on it.

JIM LEHRER: Based on what you just told him?

ALAN GREENSPAN: Because he was an extraordinarily good Wall Street lawyer. I mean, the man was -- I was really impressed. But he had another side to him.

JIM LEHRER: Yes, I was going to add, you say he had a dark side. He had a scary side.

ALAN GREENSPAN: It was very frightening to spend a few months watching this staid Wall Street lawyer, former vice president, all of a sudden turn into a different person. And when they let me in on the inside, so to speak, my first exposure to that, I came away shaken. And...

JIM LEHRER: Was he attacking people and profanities?

ALAN GREENSPAN: Yes, it's what you heard on the tapes, because when they originally didn't want to let the tapes out, I said, "I know exactly why they don't want to let the tapes out."

JIM LEHRER: You knew what everybody was going to hear?

ALAN GREENSPAN: It was, I mean -- I mean, I was in the music business. I shouldn't be shocked by profanity, but you know something? I was.

Working with President Bill Clinton

JIM LEHRER: Wow. Wow.

All right, now define smart in Bill Clinton's terms.

ALAN GREENSPAN: Well, let me give you an example which tells you an awful lot about Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton is giving a State of the Union message, and somebody puts the wrong speech in the teleprompter.

JIM LEHRER: I remember that, yes.

ALAN GREENSPAN: And he was up there and nobody knew he was adlibbing. Now, I don't know anybody who could do that.

JIM LEHRER: Yes.

ALAN GREENSPAN: But more importantly...

JIM LEHRER: Your dealings with him, with your dealings with him.

ALAN GREENSPAN: Yes, my dealings with him on every issue, he understood all the technical aspects of various problems, and he got it. In other words, you could actually have a fairly abstract, complex discussion with him, and he would find mistakes in your logic, which is, in my case, very unusual.

JIM LEHRER: Yes.

ALAN GREENSPAN: And that was very impressive to me.

Greenspan's personal interests

JIM LEHRER: You mentioned music, a lot of personal -- a lot of your personal life is in this book.

ALAN GREENSPAN: Yes.

JIM LEHRER: And music played a big part in your life. Baseball played a big part in your life. And math played a big part. Connect them. Can you connect them? Are they all related?

ALAN GREENSPAN: Yes, in one way or another. The math was a big deal when I was very young and my mother used to parade me out...

JIM LEHRER: You grew up in New York City.

ALAN GREENSPAN: I grew up in New York City. And she would have me add 45 and 162 in my head, and I'm a kid, and so...

JIM LEHRER: You were just being kind of there as show-off boy.

ALAN GREENSPAN: I was a prop for parties.

JIM LEHRER: Yes, yes.

Turning to music and baseball

ALAN GREENSPAN: Then, I decided that baseball was my thing. And I was actually getting very good, but at the age of 14, I hit a plateau and I never improved.

JIM LEHRER: You were a left-hander, first baseman, right?

ALAN GREENSPAN: I was a left-handed first baseman. I hit the ball pretty well. Then, I got into music, and I became a professional musician for a couple of years.

JIM LEHRER: Played the clarinet...

ALAN GREENSPAN: Clarinet, saxophone, flute, bass clarinet.

JIM LEHRER: Which one did you enjoy the most?

ALAN GREENSPAN: I actually enjoyed the clarinet the best, but I was a fairly good amateur, but a moderate professional. But what really did me in is I had, as an amateur, had to play next to Stan Getz. I was 16; he was 15. I decided, "Do I really want to be in this business?"

JIM LEHRER: Why, because he was so good?

ALAN GREENSPAN: Oh, my god.

JIM LEHRER: Was he really good?

ALAN GREENSPAN: And he was one of the really historic famous sax players. And the best economic decision I ever made in my life was to decide to leave the music business and go into economics.

Maintaining privacy

JIM LEHRER: Go into math, stick with math and economics. Finally, let me ask you this. You spent -- you were chairman of the Fed for 19 years, and you...

ALAN GREENSPAN: Almost.

JIM LEHRER: ... almost 19 years, and you never talked in public except for a congressional committee. You didn't do what you're doing right now.

ALAN GREENSPAN: I did not.

JIM LEHRER: You didn't answer questions of interviewers and all of that. And you've always said -- well, you tell me why you didn't talk, and why you're talking now.

ALAN GREENSPAN: One of the problems that surprised me when I got into public life was that open, clear talk often creates problems in this sense. I mean, let me give you an example, and you can see what the general principle is.

When at the Federal Reserve we would, in our meetings, for example, think in terms of, "Well, we're not going to change the interest rate this meeting, but there's a one chance in 10 we may want to do it in the next meeting." If we actually said exactly that, the markets would respond as though we actually had changed the rates, because, apparently, public officials are always presumed never to quite tell the truth and, as a consequence, market participants extrapolate.

And I quickly learned that I had to be very careful about what I said. And coming into public life, where every word I'm uttering has a market effect, you tend to be very cautious. And I found that I had better stay out of being constantly on television or something like that, because I will create far more problems than I would imagine.

JIM LEHRER: Are you still concerned that you, even now that you're no longer chairman of the Fed, your words still do matter to folks? Are you very careful even now what you say?

ALAN GREENSPAN: I have endeavored to be as insulated as I can get. In other words, in all of my meetings with people who are clients of mine, it's very clearly stated that these are all off-the-record, never to leave the room, and I'm successful 98 percent of the time. The 2 percent is very disturbing to me, but I don't know what to do about it.

JIM LEHRER: Yes, because you want to talk. You just want to make sure -- I understand.

ALAN GREENSPAN: Yes, in other words, I've been an economist since the latter part of the 1940s, and that's my profession. I love it. And I'm enjoying it, and I've been doing it with different employers for two or three generations, it seems like now.

And, you know, people say, "Well, you know, you just ought to keep quiet." And I say, "Why?" And they say, "Because your words mean something." I said, "You mean, if I was a lousy Federal Reserve chairman, nobody would care what I said? So I'm being punished because I'm supposed to be saying something people are interested in?"

Look, I'm fully aware of the fact that, in the early months of when I left office, that anything I would say could create a problem for my successor, Ben Bernanke. But, fortunately, he is now so ensconced now and his reputation is unquestioned -- I think he's doing an excellent job -- that I'm feeling a little more relaxed on the issue.

But I still try to keep as low a profile as I know how and, frankly, would prefer, after this book, which I have no choice but to come in and lay out what I'm saying in public, but I'm going to try to see if I can manage to work my way back to some degree of anonymity and privacy, although people tell me I'm insane.

JIM LEHRER: OK. Mr. Chairman, thank you very much and, again, congratulations on your book.

ALAN GREENSPAN: Thank you very much.