The Case against Education – Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money - Hardcover

Caplan, Bryan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0691174652 ISBN 13: 9780691174655

Publisher: Princeton University Press, 2018

Synopsis

Why we need to stop wasting public funds on education

Despite being immensely popular--and immensely lucrative―education is grossly overrated. In this explosive book, Bryan Caplan argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skill but to certify their intelligence, work ethic, and conformity―in other words, to signal the qualities of a good employee. Learn why students hunt for easy As and casually forget most of what they learn after the final exam, why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for the average worker but instead in runaway credential inflation, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely if ever use, and why cutting education spending is the best remedy.

Caplan draws on the latest social science to show how the labor market values grades over knowledge, and why the more education your rivals have, the more you need to impress employers. He explains why graduation is our society's top conformity signal, and why even the most useless degrees can certify employability. He advocates two major policy responses. The first is educational austerity. Government needs to sharply cut education funding to curb this wasteful rat race. The second is more vocational education, because practical skills are more socially valuable than teaching students how to outshine their peers.

Romantic notions about education being "good for the soul" must yield to careful research and common sense―The Case against Education points the way.

About this title

About the Author

Bryan Caplan is professor of economics at George Mason University and a blogger at EconLog. He is the author of Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Great Parent Is Less Work and More Fun than You Think and The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Choose Bad Policies (Princeton). He lives in Oakton, Virginia.

From the Back Cover

"Few would disagree that our education system needs reform. While most call for more--more government subsidies, more time in school, more students attending college--Caplan provocatively argues for less. The Case against Education urges a radical rethinking about why we've been unsuccessful to date--and why more of the same won't work."--Vicki Alger, Independent Institute

"Bryan Caplan has written what is sure to be one of the most intriguing and provocative books on education published this year. His boldly contrarian conclusion--that much schooling and public support for education is astonishingly wasteful, if not counterproductive--is compelling enough that it should be cause for serious reflection on the part of parents, students, educators, advocates, and policymakers."--Frederick Hess, American Enterprise Institute

"You doubtless asked many times in school, 'When am I going to use this?' Bryan Caplan asks the same question, about everything taught prekindergarten through graduate school, and has a disturbing answer: almost never. Indeed, we'd be better off with a lot less education. It's heresy that must be heard."--Neal McCluskey, Cato Institute

"The Case against Education is a riveting book. Bryan Caplan, the foremost whistle-blower in the academy, argues persuasively that learning about completely arbitrary subjects is attractive to employers because it signals students' intelligence, work ethic, desire to please, and conformity--even when such learning conveys no cognitive advantage or increase in human capital."--Stephen J. Ceci, Cornell University

"This book is hugely important. The Case against Education is the work of an idiosyncratic genius."--Lant Pritchett, author of The Rebirth of Education: Schooling Ain't Learning

"Caplan deals provocatively and even courageously with an important topic. Readers will be disturbed by his conclusions, maybe even angry. But I doubt they will ignore them."--Richard Vedder, author of Going Broke by Degree: Why College Costs Too Much

Edition details

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0691174652
• ISBN 13: 9780691174655
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416