School vs. the contrarian giggle

It’s always fun to turn conventional wisdom on its head. Economists who analyze things that way are known as “contrarians.” So why not take a contrarian approach to the almighty topic of education? It will be a fun exercise and will drive all the grouchy people bonkers.

So here we go. Conventional wisdom runs like so: without a good educational system, an economy can’t grow, therefore, you need to have a big, expensive school system.

I, for one, have seen no data that correlates changes in educational levels with changes in economic output in the CNMI. The relationship that everyone takes as a given sure hasn’t ever been proven, or even almost proven…or, for that matter, even studied, as far as I know. If the conventional wisdom is that the economy will improve if scholastic achievement improves, my point is this: Prove it. Show me the economics–not blabber, not hype, not pedantic platitudes– nope, just show me some valid economics behind the rationale.
Demonstrate to me how an “x” percent increase in test scores will induce “y” amount of increase in economic output. Or, easier yet, prove that the two are correlated at all here.

Heck, maybe the correlation works the other way around. Maybe increases in economic output induce an increase in test scores. Why not? It’s no crazier of a concept than looking at it the other way around.

Educations don’t drive economies. Private property rights, free markets, and entrepreneurial attitudes drive economies.
The average American is probably not up to intellectual par with the average Russian–those guys watch chess as a spectator sport, while Americans are television watching vegetables. If brains ran economies, Russia would rule. But Russia is dirt poor. I can find you a lot of similar examples.

Without efficient markets, all the education in the world won’t help defy economic gravity. I’ve known some brainiacs from the third world who did everything they could to remain in the United States after graduating because they realized the lousy economic structures back home were losing propositions.

I have, in fact, heard a novel theory about such things. One freethinking friend of mine opined that some heavy handed countries encourage the brainy ones to move overseas so they won’t be inclined to agitate at home.
Peasants, who lack the ability to conceptualize the abstraction of forsaken wealth, can be satisfied with bread and a circus. But smarter folks, who can calculate a sense of loss from lousy economic and political policies, are a potential threat.

So while the fur flies over educational issues…relax. The next time someone hands you a completed job application that is comically dunderheaded, or when you see a memo obviously written by a semi-literate stooge, don’t gnash your teeth in frustration.
Instead, put these things in a folder (I have a bright orange one for just such a purpose), and, once a month, when the world is grinding you down and you need a laugh, open the folder and review the little gems you’ve collected.

Anywhere on earth, crusading against stupidity is hopeless, but if you can laugh at it, the world will be your comedic stage. What a perfect deal for a contrarian. Education? Never mind…just send in the clowns, and hand me my orange folder.