High school graduates equipped with skills, not just self-­‐esteem

From The Cone of Uncertainty of the 21st Century’s Economic Hurricane by Avinash Dixit. An economist emritus looks to the future with trepidation and optimis.

I have a dream that America’s public schools will recover the quality and purpose they had in the first half of the twentieth century, and will turn out high school graduates equipped with skills, not just self-­‐esteem. And these high school graduates will have affordable opportunities to go on to acquire college education in subjects that matter – mathematics, natural sciences, engineering, and, dare I say, a little basic economics, instead of the easier song-­and-dance majors that are popular among too many U.S. college students. In other words, I hope America will recognize that education is mostly an investment good, not a consumer good. Schoolteachers will be well paid and will have the respect of their communities, but they will be motivated and dedicated to their vocation, and not obsessed with preserving the jobs of everyone regardless of ability, enjoying short working days and short school years, and retiring early on handsome pensions. They will have good knowledge of the subjects they teach, and will come mostly from the top third, not the bottom, of their college classes.