A good piece by my former Editor-in-Chief Nick Schulz on the relationship between education, entrepreneurship and greater income inequality. If inequality is a problem, what do we do about it?
The sensible response to concerns about rising inequality, then, is not to focus on leveling incomes to minimize inequality. It is instead to increase the number of people building their human capital; and the degree to which they build up that capital through education and learning of new skills. From a political standpoint, this is tougher to sell than bash-the-rich class warfare. But it does no one any favors to offer quick fixes that ignore the underlying dynamic at work.
I agree that politicians should focus on the requisite moves to encourage skill building and specialization. But a lot of this process is organic — requiring that government simply get out of the way. A good place to start might be a radical change in our concept of education in this country, one that will begin with the toppling of the public education monolith. (Nevermind that people’s concerns about income inequality may just be an emotional biproduct of our human past.)
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