From a recent New York Times article by Phillip Swagel titled Inequality and Opportunity:
"The main determinant of inequality is what the Harvard economics professors Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz call a 'race between technological change and educational attainment.' Technology has increased the demand for skilled workers but educational attainment has not kept up, leading to rising payoffs for those at the top. Widening inequality reflects the fact that too many Americans do not have the skills needed for today’s economy."
This left me wondering...what type of education or skills do the 5 million factory workers in Asia (working as contract manufacturers for American companies) have as compared to a typical American worker? And if all 12 million unemployed in America today had PhD's in computer science would they all find good-paying jobs? Would another 8 million part-time American workers find full-time work paying a living wage if they all had PhDs in mechanical engineering, and displace all 5 million factory workers in Asia?
What type of superior educations are the people in countries like Vietnam getting that are displacing American workers in the U.S.? And if American businesses are so starved for educated workers, how have they consistently, over the course of decades, managed to earn record profits while paying their executives record salaries? Were their employees smart enough to get the job done but not smart enough to get paid a decent salary?
I heard about a lot of smart people in the tech industry who weren't smart enough to keep their jobs. Just EXACTLY what type of educations to all these smart economists think the average American worker needs to have job security and a 40 hour work week paying a living wage? Do we all have to be economists?
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