Quantum Windbag
Gold Member
- May 9, 2010
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I came across a link to this blog today, and thought the guy made some really good points.
The basic assumption behind the value of an education is that economic growth has unlimited potential. That obviously does not apply in a recession or a period of extended slow growth. The problem is that, even when the economy was booming, the education bubble was ready to burst. We haven't seen it yet, but it is going to crash. We need to prepare for it now and accept that education is not going to fix our economy.
College, Politics, and Wagnerian Opera - The Conservative ReaderIf you pay any attention at all to the politics of our nation, you cannot escape the rhetoric. Every single elected official and candidate for office has to give the same perfunctory line about how our economy cannot be healed without greater emphasis on education at all levels.
This is because we became accustomed to having a massive, heavily capitalized economy with large markets for specific services. When the baby boom generation came of age, they were told to attend college and learn how to take advantage of the tertiary economy (service and retail sector).
To the baby boom generation, it was always assumed that there would be enough capital to support a highly productive economy, which would always be able to generate the wealth necessary to support the service and government sectors.
This led to a model of economic growth based on education as the source of employment opportunities. This shouldn’t be new to anybody; I don’t think you are allowed to leave the fourth grade without hearing the lecture about how education makes you more valuable to employers.
This all assumed the existence of a functional, rational economy, and therein lies the fatal flaw of the whole Education-Employment model of economic growth. You are probably still better off with a college degree than without, it is a personal achievement, but it isn’t the safe investment that it once was.
The basic assumption behind the value of an education is that economic growth has unlimited potential. That obviously does not apply in a recession or a period of extended slow growth. The problem is that, even when the economy was booming, the education bubble was ready to burst. We haven't seen it yet, but it is going to crash. We need to prepare for it now and accept that education is not going to fix our economy.
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