"History is a wonderful thing, if only it was true"
-Tolstoy

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Houses vs Education

Invest in the future, not McMansions

Milken Institute Publications - Articles, Op-Eds - McMansion economics:

"Roads, railways and runways are important, but the real stimulus to sustainable economic growth is building human capital. If families downsize and redirect a greater portion of their income to education (or to cultural enrichment or to cover the cost of a healthier lifestyle), the benefits they realize can be lasting. If they're willing to forgo some of that expensive elbow room, parents might free up the resources to put themselves and especially their children on the path to more successful careers and higher quality lives in the future, minus the crushing burden of student loans that so many college graduates face today.

This shift could also go a long way toward making the U.S. workforce more competitive. Indeed, Nobel laureate James J. Heckman and Dimitriy V. Masterov of the University of Chicago have sounded an alarm that America is falling behind on this front, noting that 'both the quality and quantity of the labor force are not keeping pace with the demands of the skill-based economy.' That's an equation that has to change as innovation and knowledge workers become ever more prized in the global marketplace.

It's worth noting that China, which is on an upward trajectory, devotes a larger share of household expenditures to education and health than the United States."

No comments: