6439,March 1998; Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz, 1995, “The Decline of Non-competing Groups: Changes in the Premium to Education, 1890 to 1940,” NBER Working Paper no. 5202, August 1995. 3  Claudia Goldin, “America’s Graduation from High School: The Evolution and Spread of Secondary Schooling in the Twentieth Century,” Journal of Economic History, June 1998, vol. 58, no. 2, pp. 345–374.
4  The 1980 Census reported the share of people who had completed at least four years of college. 5  Based on median weekly earnings as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2  BIS central bankers’ speeches  disparity in the acquisition of skills, often in the form of college education, appears to play a significant role.