EU Universities Could Lose Ground to Asia

It's a four year—or more—waste of time, author says

(NEWSER) - College is a must if you want to have a real career, right? Nope, it’s “a scam, a self-perpetuating Ponzi scheme that needs to stop right now,” writes James Altucher for DailyFinance.com . Here are his seven reasons you shouldn’t send your kids:

• It’ll cost more than you think: Thanks to the fact that more than 60% of college students will take more than 4 years to wear that cap and gown.
• It doesn’t matter, money-wise: Yes, the difference in income between a college grad and a non-grad is approximately $800,000 over a 45-year career. But if you invest the $200,000 likely college cost in bonds yielding 3%, over those 45 years plus the 4 spent in college, you’ll end up with $851,000.

China adds remarkable share of world's newly minted billionaires

(NEWSER) - Asian magnates are the huge scorers in the annual Forbes list of the world’s billionaires, with 234 making the cut this year, compared to 130 last year. That's 23% of the 1,011 people worldwide on the list, up from 16%. And Asia is minting new billionaires like mad: Last year, just 7 of 38 newcomers to the list were from Asia. This year, it’s 62 of 97. The combined wealth of the Asians on the list more than doubled over last year, while the Europeans' rose 50% and the Americans' 18%. More»

(NEWSER) - Americans may jaw about their grueling work weeks and meager vacations, but their kids? While European and Asian children are logging in long school days and pounding out homework, US students are taking time off, the Economist reports. With one of the world's shortest school weeks and longest summers—which inspired the term "summer learning loss"—Americans need not wonder why they're falling behind. More»

Beijing steps up as leaders craft plans to manage economies

(NEWSER) - Asian and European world leaders joined forces today to call for stricter regulation of world financial markets and a shakeup of the monetary system, the Washington Post reports. The declarations marked the close of a 2-day summit in Beijing attended by more than 40 heads of state. Bailouts in the West are "not enough given the current situation, and more needs to be done," said Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. More»

Developing markets faring better in current economic downturn

(NEWSER) - As the US and other developed economies feel the crunch of a housing collapse and credit crisis, emerging economies, especially those fueled by commodities, have yet to feel the pinch, the Washington Post reports. "We are overloaded with money, crazy amounts of money from the energy market," a professor says of oil-rich Russia. More»