percent. recent studies show that four years of college boost earnings about 65 percent. 1 clearly, economic achievement and educational achievement are intertwined. for that reason, education is at the heart of efforts to promote equal opportunity for all americans. we have made some progress in opening doors to education for african americans ; we must make more. as i reflect on the educational attainment of black americans, i would say that the news is still mixed. the percentage of african americans aged 25 to 29 who have completed high school or obtained a ged remains on an uptrend. but the improvements slowed over the 1990s, and in 2004 it remained, at close to 89 percent, short of the rate for non - hispanic white youth, which was just over 93 percent. 2 one important factor in the uptrend in high - school completion has been a corresponding downtrend in the high - school dropout rate for african americans. here again, however, the improvement has been slower recently than in the 1970s and 1980s. in 2003, 6. 3 percent of black students in grades 10 to 12 left school during the year - - down from the over - the - year dropout rate of 9. 7 percent in 1981 but little changed from the rate in 1991. 3 for white high schoolers, the dropout rate between 2000 and 2001 was 4. 1 percent. robert topel, " the private and social values of education ( 891 kb pdf ), " federal reserve bank of cleveland conference on education and economic development, november 19, 2004. mary ann fox, brooke a. connolly, and thomas d. snyder, trends in the well - being of american youth ( 592 kb pdf ), u. s. department of education, national center for educational statistics ( november 2005 ). philip kaufman, martha naomi alt, and christopher d. chapman, dropout rates in the united states : 2001 ( 369 kb pdf ), u. s. department of education, national center for educational statistics ( november 2004 ). economists have identified a number of reasons for the racial gap in dropout rates, including lower expected returns to education because of discrimination in the job market and the lower quality of schools attended by blacks. clearly, raising the quality of our elementary and secondary schools is a longstanding goal, and the potential economic and social payoffs seem likely to be high. research has shown that improving school conditions in the south from the early to the middle part of the twentieth century contributed significantly to

rundheersing bheenick : commitment to regional cooperation in africa – comesa address by mr rundheersing bheenick, governor of the bank of mauritius, at the opening ceremony of the 14th meeting of the comesa committee of governors of central banks, balaclava, 29 october 2009. * * * in the past year in this region of africa we have been the innocent bystanders in the maelstrom following a major upheaval in the western economic system. i said innocent bystanders, but it is perhaps more appropriate to say intelligent bystanders in the face of this western debacle. whilst the count of banking failures in the usa now reads like the death toll in afghanistan, we in comesa have had no banking failures, no collapse of confidence, no credit crunch, no gross excesses in risk taking, no gigantic bailouts and no government take - over of vast swathes of the financial services, creating an unprecedented moral hazard for the whole finance sector. in truth, banking in comesa is safe in our hands, fellow - governors, in this sane corner of a financial world, elsewhere gone mad. we have set an example to the west in thrift, in probity, in sound management, in transparency and in prudent regulation. there are of course some states in the wider region of africa which, it is alleged, often confuse swiss banking accounts with their own central bank reserves. but broadly speaking, in this bleakest of times, africa has come out rather well. so i am delighted that we are here together to spend some hours basking in the glories of our recent past and looking ahead to review our prospects for, what i believe is, an even brighter future for our region. some financial commentators in the west are heralding 2010 as the time for getting back to normal : others are more cautious. they are talking, not about “ business as usual ”, but rather about getting on to a “ new normal ”. let me then reflect on how i see this “ new normal ” from the perspective of our banking business in comesa and our opportunities for promoting greater economic and social prosperity in the region. but, first of all, let me say on behalf of the bank of mauritius, what a pleasure it is to welcome you all here this morning on the occasion of this opening ceremony. i wish to extend a very special welcome to my fellow - governors, central bankers and representatives of regional and