Schools, Skills, and Economic Growth

IMF Blog, March 10, 2017

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Publication: iMFdirect, March 10, 2017
Author/Interviewee: Eric Hanushek, Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University
Central premise: "the only thing that matters for a country is the skills of its people."

International testing framework: "What we’ve had for the last 50 years is a set of international tests of skills in math and science."
Methodology described: standardized math and science problems administered across countries to compare performance.

Relationship between skills and growth: "Countries that have lots of skills grow faster than countries that have low skills."
Regional illustration: "that’s an easy way to explain what’s going on in Africa and Latin America, where the skills are very low, and the countries are just not growing in the long run."
U.S. position in international tests: "The US comes in about 30th in the world of those countries taking these tests," placing it "in the lower half of developed countries."

Decline of traditional middle-class pathways: People who used to have a good middle-class income with a high school education are in trouble.
Structural change in employment: "The manufacturing industries that offered good jobs for those who could use a wrench or swing a hammer are long gone."
Risk for poorly prepared workers: "the future is bleak for anyone who is not well prepared for the changing job market."

Primary solution endorsed: "we deal with it by improving the quality of our schools, and giving skills to people, and allowing them to be ready for a changing world in the future."

Source: Schools, Skills, and Economic Growth — iMFdirect, March 10, 2017