Education won’t solve our trade-induced wage crisis

Alan Tonelson

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

U.S. WORKFORCE TRENDS

“Time and again, when we placed our bet for the future on education, we have prospered as a result....that’s why, at the start of my administration, I set a goal for America: By 2020, this nation will once again have the highest proportion of college graduates in the world.”
–President Barack Obama, July 14, 2009

“[N]o matter what you want to do with your life, I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it....You cannot drop out of school and just drop into a good job.”
–President Barack Obama, September 8, 2009

“You’ve got to realize that education is your ticket.”
–President Barack Obama, September 8, 2009

Inflation adjusted earnings for young college grads* working full time, 2000-2008: –11%

*Bachelor’s degree-only

Sources: “Remarks by the President on the American Graduation Initiative,” Macomb Community College, Warren, Mich., Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, July 14, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-on-the-American-Graduation-Initiative-in-Warren-MI/; “Remarks by the President in a National Address to America’s Schoolchildren,” Wakefield High School, Arlington, Va., Office of the Press Secretary, The White House, September 8, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-in-a-National-Address-to-Americas-Schoolchildren/; “Remarks by the President in Discussion with 9th Graders,” Wakefield High School, Arlington, Va., September 8, 2009, http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-the-President-in-Discussion-with-9th-Graders-Wakefield-High-School/; “College: Rising Costs, Diminishing Returns,” by Michael Mandel, BusinessWeek, September 28, 2009, p. 20

Alan Tonelson is a Research Fellow at the U.S. Business & Industry Educational Foundation and the author of The Race to the Bottom: Why a Worldwide Worker Surplus and Uncontrolled Free Trade are Sinking American Living Standards (Westview Press).