Is Education The Answer? Trends in the Supply and Demand for Skills in the U.S. Workforce

Abstract

To treat a host of economic ailments—from reducing income inequality and unemployment to boosting productivity and innovation—the favorite prescription of policymakers across the world is more education. This was never more apparent than in the last of the 2004 U.S. presidential debates. First, President George Bush was asked whether he supported raising the minimum wage, which was at its lowest level in real terms since the 1930s. His response was that “the best way to increase earnings for this group was through more and better education.” Later, he was asked what he would do about the growth in the offshoring of U.S. jobs to India and other nations. To this he responded, “We need more and better education.”