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Cato Institute Associate Director for Educational Freedom Neal McCluskey on how the educational system can be improved to help Americans’ career opp...
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Our nation's jobs crisis something we take very seriously.
It's why we devoted an entire shell on it next up the impact country's education system -- on jobs out starting jobs.
My next guest has the answer Neil McCarthy is an education expert for the Cato Institute.
-- welcome to the show -- -- a hi thanks remic our -- The numbers that we've looked out with this from -- Labor Department looking at the US unemployment rate by educational attainment.
Interest -- bachelor's degree and higher the unemployment rate is just four point 3% compared to nine point one for the entire country.
Some college eight point 3% high school diploma nine point 3%.
If you don't even have a high school diploma you're staring at 15% unemployment rate.
And yet you say these numbers are misleading how so.
Well.
If it's absolutely true that the more education you get the better you tend to do but those are just looking generally looking at the average.
If you look beyond the average you find that lots of people with just a high school education 14% actually make more than the median.
Person with a bachelor's degree what that tells us is we have -- horrendously.
Inefficient system of education for getting people the skills they need.
To become more remarkable and to do better economically.
-- -- -- I wanted to give me a quote from somebody out of corporate America and what they think the problem is listen to this is Brad Smith.
Microsoft General Counsel and He says guess what Americans are just too stupid to get a job the unemployment problem He says that He says in the United States is also.
-- skills problem are we just too -- -- it's not that we're we're too dumb if you look at our education system it is simply too rigid.
So the K through twelve system which is almost completely government schools -- government dominated.
Basically says everybody has to go to college.
But if you look at what other countries do they say of course all kids are different.
Some kids might not -- -- go study Shakespeare's some might be great engineers or something like that so we give them.
Or other countries give them -- opportunity to apprentice and other.
At companies to learn.
Great skills engineering skills computer science skills.
They let them do what they are good that and it's a system that allows the flexibility that as the demand the labor market change you can more easily.
Get the skills you need to change what that mark.
Look like here at talk about personal choice there when a concept.
When your target about the federal government.
Let me -- -- this something else here that I think is fundamental and critical a problem that has to be solved.
If you wanna get a hot at college in this country.
You're gonna pay a minimum of 121000 or four -- degree -- an in state college that a private college costs escalate 35000 dollars you can pay the sky's the limit really.
And these costs go up no matter what the economy is doing it seems to me that these costs are out of control what do we do to fix that problem.
You're absolutely right that there out of control.
And what we need to do will seem counterintuitive but what we've got to do is we've got to phase out student -- that comes the government now people say well that makes it less affordable but think about it.
If you're the college and you know that every year the government's gonna increasing amount of aid they're giving the students what are you gonna do raise your prices because you have lots of things you wanna do that might have nothing to do it better education.
So we've got to get rid of those subsidies those third party payments that completely distort the college system.
Well that would be so controversy -- I mean I can't even imagine getting the ball started but.
It's those some cities that actually make those costs go higher every single year.
Yeah.
It's the same as if I buy hot dog for dollar amount let's -- the government could you give me another dollar and if my hot dog vendor does it he's gonna charge me two dollars.
It sounds counter intuitive when you hear.
Get rid of the aid but it is the only solution because -- thing that makes logical sense economically.
Really gonna come back to the show great stuff really enjoyed speaking with you.
