Despite the success and popularity of programs like ERASMUS, citizens don t perceive the EU s contribution to superior education or training. Indeed, the last Eurobarometer survey on the Lisbon Strategy found that the European public sees little relation between EU policies and economic competitiveness.

Great intellectuals like Abelard, Erasmus, Galileo, Voltaire, Zola, and Russell each challenged the pieties of his era, and we now regard their success as a good thing. But most of us are likely to recoil at the methods they used in their work as intellectuals caricature, deception, and even fabrication.

For example, the Erasmus program, which enables university students to study or work abroad as part of their degree, broadens participants outlook while enhancing their willingness and ability to go where the jobs are. Such programs also enrich local students and offer valuable insights to professors about other traditions of higher education.