Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Why a College Education Matters

A recent study released by the Georgetown Center for Education and the Workforce starkly illustrates why getting at least some education after high school really, really matters.  Data from the study ( shows that during the Great Recession, 7.4 million jobs for people with high school diplomas or less education were lost.  During the recovery from the Great Recession, some 11.6 million jobs were created but 11.5 million of these were for people who had at least some postgraduate education.  Only about 80,000 of the new jobs were for people with high school educations or less.

In other words, people with high school educations or less who lost their jobs during the Great Recession are probably still unemployed, unless they managed to get some postgraduate education after being laid off.  And they are likely to stay unemployed unless they advance their educational level or President-elect Trump creates a remarkable jobs program that somehow includes a very large number of low skills jobs with wages high enough to be acceptable to Americans. The latter would be a tough, tough challenge.

We are now in a time of policy flux, with the election of a President whose policy toward postgraduate education seems to be a work in progress at best.  If you're planning for the future, don't wait for the government to decide what it's going to do.  Find a way yourself to get some postgraduate education or training.  Sure, there are ways to make a good living without a college degree.  But electricians and plumbers need a fair amount of training after high school before they can get a license.  It's virtually impossible to attain a middle-class standard of living with just a high school diploma.  Investing in yourself is the most obvious way to step up above flipping hamburgers for a living.  The data shows this to be true.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Donald Trump's Head Fakes

Donald Trump loves Twitter.  At least, so it would seem with his irrepressible use of the 140-character megaphone.  It grabs peoples' attention, particularly the attention of the press.  A 140-character message is usually easy to grasp and react to.  Not much work for a reader or a reporter.

But what's the purpose of his tweeting?  During the election, he tweeted or retweeted about a deceased Muslim veteran, a former Miss Universe, assertions by white supremacists, and other things that contravened the social values of the Democratic electorate, provoking vigorous and extended efforts by his opponent to argue that he was unfit for the Presidency.

Meanwhile, back on Main Street, Trump was holding rallies and talking about jobs, jobs and jobs.  He kept his eye on the ball (i.e., the economy, stupid), while diverting his opponent with social values head fakes.  She took the bait, and lost sight of the fact that economic distress drives elections more than the character flaws of candidates.  She paid for her mistakes.

Now, Trump has tweeted that flag burners should be imprisoned and lose their citizenship.  Surely he knows that flag burning is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution and cannot be punished with criminal prosecution or deprivation of citizenship. So why tweet?  Could it be that he wants to divert attention from other things he's doing?  His tax proposals look like they'll make the rich a lot richer, and maybe even increase taxes on some members of the middle class.  His possible changes to Medicaid might leave some folks less well-insured.  His infrastructure proposal seems to focus more on giving businesses tax breaks than fixing the roads and bridges that are in the worst shape.  He's promised to repeal Obamacare, and to roll back financial regulatory reforms of the Dodd-Frank Act.

If you're concerned about what soon-to-be President Trump is going to do, watch out for his head fakes.  Don't be diverted by transparent attempts to yank your chain.  Focus on the big stuff, the things that will change things fundamentally.  Keep your eye on the bottom line, because that's what our incoming businessman President will do.