Global Human Capital

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/the-once-but-no-longer-golden-age-of-human-capital/?emc=eta1

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"People must be taught how to think, not what to think." (Margaret Meade)

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According to Nancy Folbre, only slightly more than half of college presidents (54%) believe that a bachelor's degree is worth more than 5 years ago (based on a recent survey by the Chronicle of Higher Education).

And, again according to Folbre, a majority of Americans (57%) say the higher education system in the United States fails to provide students with good value for the money they spend (based on a recent survey by the Pew Research Center).

Folbre's perspective is that the problems are particularly conspicuous on the "supply side:" declining state support, higher tuition and fees, increased inequality of access and the growing burden of debt. To quote Folbre: "The investment costs more than it once did and remains beyond the reach of those who need it most."

Folbre goes into great depth about the economics of what is currently transpiring and notes that students are now being encouraged to think more strategically about their majors. But, as more and more students pile into science, technology, engineering and mathematics (the so-called STEM fields), the wage premiums for those fields could decline.

Interestingly, she also points out that Richard Vedder "...warns against both public and private over-investment in education, pointing to the growing tendency for college graduates to land in jobs that don't actually require the credential they hold."

By the same token, colleges ought to be working more to evaluate the "markets" for the degrees they confer (graduate school, business, etc.). Maybe history majors go to law school. Fine. Where do English majors go? Where do philosophy majors go?

Maybe our current lazy GDP growth will begin to accelerate again as we approach the end of this decade. Hopefully, "jobs" will follow.