We can all breathe a deep sigh since Bernie Sanders is not still in the running to be the next president of the United States. Economists all agree that the biggest challenge our economy is facing, is the wage growth. Mr. Sanders' policies would have driven wages downwards and not upwards as he claimed and intended.
Don't get me wrong, I would have loved to receive free education, I might be tempted to abuse the system and become a holder of multiple doctorates since it was free, and if you said to me what my mother always did, education is the most important thing I could do in my life! So the premise and intentions on the surface sounded and looked like it would be a good thing.
But the education that I have received makes me consider that not all things appear as they do at first and the consequences might be more devastating than initially intended. Most policies are put in place because of good intentions, but some policies should have received a little more thought before becoming law.
The reason that Bernie Sanders' free education policy would have been disastrous for the US economy, is the same reason why many of the young Europeans still live with their parents, and it is not because of the tightly knit family units or lack of housing, rather it is the lack of income to afford the house!
I heard an economist state the other day that only 23% of our economies jobs require a bachelor's degree or higher education. So in an economy where 98% of high school graduates go on to earning a college degree, like in Taiwan, all that you end up with is a bunch of over educated people packing shelves at the Walmart down the street earning, Minimum Wage! You do not create more high skilled jobs, you create an oversupply of educated people.
The other correlating issue that occurs, is that we drive people to study for longer, to obtain Masters degrees and doctorates, just to be ahead of the game in order to land the job, by standing out from the masses! This causes the education system to dumb down the education level to meet certain graduating levels.
I do believe in education, but I believe that not all education needs to prepare you for a white collared job! What makes this situation worse is that the government just shutdown ITT Tech, a company that taught the hands on skills needed by the 67% of the work force!
We already have an overcrowded, over educated workforce, all the students complaining about student debt should be told of other options to make a good income and rather not take on the debt, not only would this be better for our fiscal economy (less people drowning in debt), but it would be better for the economy overall, with less supply of an educated workforce out of work will drive the demand up for their skills and knowledge, increasing the rate of wage growth for those people with a college degree. This would compound into higher wages across the board!
It all comes back to the basic economic principals, Supply vs Demand!
But the education that I have received makes me consider that not all things appear as they do at first and the consequences might be more devastating than initially intended. Most policies are put in place because of good intentions, but some policies should have received a little more thought before becoming law.
The reason that Bernie Sanders' free education policy would have been disastrous for the US economy, is the same reason why many of the young Europeans still live with their parents, and it is not because of the tightly knit family units or lack of housing, rather it is the lack of income to afford the house!
I heard an economist state the other day that only 23% of our economies jobs require a bachelor's degree or higher education. So in an economy where 98% of high school graduates go on to earning a college degree, like in Taiwan, all that you end up with is a bunch of over educated people packing shelves at the Walmart down the street earning, Minimum Wage! You do not create more high skilled jobs, you create an oversupply of educated people.
The other correlating issue that occurs, is that we drive people to study for longer, to obtain Masters degrees and doctorates, just to be ahead of the game in order to land the job, by standing out from the masses! This causes the education system to dumb down the education level to meet certain graduating levels.
This is where the US employment market is today! We have too many educated people, too many people studying for their Masters etc.
I do believe in education, but I believe that not all education needs to prepare you for a white collared job! What makes this situation worse is that the government just shutdown ITT Tech, a company that taught the hands on skills needed by the 67% of the work force!
We already have an overcrowded, over educated workforce, all the students complaining about student debt should be told of other options to make a good income and rather not take on the debt, not only would this be better for our fiscal economy (less people drowning in debt), but it would be better for the economy overall, with less supply of an educated workforce out of work will drive the demand up for their skills and knowledge, increasing the rate of wage growth for those people with a college degree. This would compound into higher wages across the board!
