Dr. Simeon Djankov:

I thank the Senator for his question. In our report, which covers nearly 200 countries, we document on average the human capital of every country. Ireland is doing quite well. It is among the top three countries in Europe, for example. The report is embargoed, by the way, which is why I am not giving the exact numbers. It is among the top countries in the world.

Human capital refers to what students must know about the current economy. As mentioned during the line of inquiry followed by the Senator's colleague, though, that may be different in the technological economy, given that the recent wave of technological innovation, mostly through the Internet, allows companies to become truly global leaders within five or seven years in terms of sales, technology and so on. As such, every country in Europe needs a different structure so that it can reach new markets. That is where broadband helps. A company in a small country can reach many other markets. Broadband technology is essential for that. It is not a luxury. Rather, it is needed if a company is to be competitive globally.

Our report adds to this the issue of social inclusion from a very early age. The best investment that policymakers can make is in the first three to six years of a child's life. That is when technology comes most naturally, as do most languages. The brain is developing. A nice figure we have - it is nice for someone who is young, but not so nice for someone who is old - suggests that the brain operates best between three and six years of age and that, by 29 years of age, the cost of learning more is greater than the benefit. Someone should learn more-----