Skills, Education, and the Rise of Earnings Inequality Among the “Other 99 Percent” (David H. Autor) from the journal, Science
"... the component of earnings inequality that is arguably most consequential for the “other 99 percent” of citizens: the dramatic growth in the wage premium associated with higher education and cognitive ability. This Review documents the central role of both the supply and demand for skills in shaping inequality, discusses why skill demands have persistently risen in industrialized countries, and considers the economic value of inequality alongside its potential social costs."
Here's a very interesting observation from reader Keith:
The eye-popping charts paint a bleak picture for the undereducated. But is not only the case that high school grads are unprepared for employment, it is that they lack the acumen required to simple comprehend this highly technical, knowledge based culture. Having material lives that are essentially centered around consumerism, the undereducated are dead meat for advertisers, predatory lenders, manipulators, and influencers of every species. The college educated are far better prepared for this complex society, yet they really only have a different life style with the same values, ie, BMW's vs. Big Shiny Trucks. Yet the educated are better prepared to survive the vicissitudes of life by dominating the lower classes with the technical skills and parasitic strategies they hone in college. Sadly, what never occurs to either is the distinction between the pursuit of a quality of life vs. the struggle for a standard of living.
Keith goes on to say:
A parasite is an organism that derives its sustenance solely from it's host. American business colleges instill in students an ethos that wealth creation is it's own justification. This is largely accomplished by strategies such as gutting pension funds, engineering highly profitable bankruptcies, cutting benefits, or shattering companies for their individual assets. And this is to say nothing of the arcane machinations of commercial banks. These are sophisticated financial and legal operations that would not be possible without the accumulated knowledge of university faculty.
3 comments:
The eye-popping charts paint a bleak picture for the undereducated. But is not only the case that high school grads are unprepared for employment, it is that they lack the acumen required to simple comprehend this highly technical, knowledge based culture. Having material lives that are essentially centered around consumerism, the undereducated are dead meat for advertisers, predatory lenders, manipulators, and influencers of every species. The college educated are far better prepared for this complex society, yet they really only have a different life style with the same values, i.e., BMW's vs. Big Shiny Trucks. Yet the educated are better prepared to survive the vicissitudes of life by dominating the lower classes with the technical skills and parasitic strategies they hone in college. Sadly, what never occurs to either is the distinction between the pursuit of a quality of life vs. the struggle for a standard of living.
When you say "parasitic strategies they hone in college" - say more about that? What do you mean?
A parasite is an organism that derives its sustenance solely from it's host. American business colleges instill in students an ethos that wealth creation is it's own justification. This is largely accomplished by strategies such as gutting pension funds, engineering highly profitable bankruptcies, cutting benefits, or shattering companies for their individual assets. And this is to say nothing of the arcane machinations of commercial banks. These are sophisticated financial and legal operations that would not be possible without the accumulated knowledge of university faculty.
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