U.S. News On the Great Education Myth

David Sirota's picture

I've written a lot about what I have called The Great Education Myth - the fallacy put forward by people like billionaire Tom Friedman that says all workers have to do is get more education and their economic problems are solved. U.S. News and World Report is the latest to debunk this myth:

"Even college grads might want to consider blue-collar careers. Last year, because U.S. News readers tend to be college educated, we included only careers that typically require at least a bachelor's degree. This year we've added four careers that don't. Why? More and more students are graduating from college at the same time that employers are offshoring more professional jobs. So, many holders of a bachelor's degree are having trouble finding jobs that require college-graduate skills."

What U.S. News and World Report doesn't say is the effect of all this on wages. The offshoring of professional jobs is one of the factors driving wages down. So while education is certainly a good thing, we see that it is not a panacea in an economy rigged by "free trade" policies that create an economic race to the bottom.

(h/t Atrios)





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