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Trade school, not 4-year college, is a better bet to solve the US income gap

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Re: Trade school, not 4-year college, is a better bet to solve the US income gap

#12
post #5
post #2

Remove the social stigma of not going to college. Hardly any tv shows that show young non college grads as positive.

I dunno, I thought The Wire was good. And the only guy who went to college in Game of Thrones is sort of a dork. Seriously though, while this is part of the problem, I think the motivations behind this sort of thing are typically not really about what’s in the best interest of the working class. It has more to do with increasing political polarization of universities and a desire to reduce public spending on educatio…

I see Jobs that could be done with a high school diploma that now request a masters degree. This creates an insane hurdle for someone to get into the upper middle class.

Having people enter the workforce 4+ years sooner not only reduces debt it also allows them to be productive generating a lot of wealth.

Consider what it means if doctors skip an undergrad degree, it's not only less debt, but also more working years.

Re: Trade school, not 4-year college, is a better bet to solve the US income gap

#13

If people are going to make more money, where does the demand come from? Or is this about American manufacturers gaining market share from/in other countries? I don't know much about macroeconomics, so maybe this is a silly question.

If people make more money they will be able to demand more since they can buy more things. There's not much to it.

If you mean demand for labor, that's an entirely different beast.

Re: Trade school, not 4-year college, is a better bet to solve the US income gap

#14
post #2

Remove the social stigma of not going to college. Hardly any tv shows that show young non college grads as positive.

>Remove the social stigma of not going to college. Hardly any tv shows that show young non college grads as positive.

Or just make college useful and accessible. Give people the option of a European style undergrad where there is no liberal arts breadth, only technical courses. If we had accredited colleges doing 3 year bachelor degrees in STEM, the system would be much more efficient.

Re: Trade school, not 4-year college, is a better bet to solve the US income gap

#15

If people are going to make more money, where does the demand come from? Or is this about American manufacturers gaining market share from/in other countries? I don't know much about macroeconomics, so maybe this is a silly question.

There are five electricians in town, they each make $40/hour. They have a hard time finding qualified apprentices.

After education, there are 7 electricians. The same 5 electricians still make $40/hour, but the two new electricians make $25/hour. Turns out there's a previously unserved market for a cheaper and less experienced electrician.

Re: Trade school, not 4-year college, is a better bet to solve the US income gap

#16
post #12
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dunno, I thought The Wire was good. And the only guy who went to college in Game of Thrones is sort of a dork. Seriously though, while this is part of the problem, I think the motivations behind this sort of thing are typically not really about what’s in the best interest of the working class. It has more to do with increasing political polarization of universities and a desire to reduce public spending on educatio…

I see Jobs that could be done with a high school diploma that now request a masters degree. This creates an insane hurdle for someone to get into the upper middle class. Having people enter the workforce 4+ years sooner not only reduces debt it also allows them to be productive generating a lot of wealth. Consider what it means if doctors skip an undergrad degree, it's not only less debt, but also more working years.

My sister had to get a masters in library science to be a librarian. It is insane, and there's almost a Stockholm syndrome around it.

No one could possibly exercise literacy, problem solving, and rational thought without going for at least another $20k+ of student loan debt!

Re: Trade school, not 4-year college, is a better bet to solve the US income gap

#17
post #2

Remove the social stigma of not going to college. Hardly any tv shows that show young non college grads as positive.

>Remove the social stigma of not going to college. Hardly any tv shows that show young non college grads as positive. Or just make college useful and accessible. Give people the option of a European style undergrad where there is no liberal arts breadth, only technical courses. If we had accredited colleges doing 3 year bachelor degrees in STEM, the system would be much more efficient.

> Or just make college useful and accessible. Give people the option of a European style undergrad where there is no liberal arts breadth, only technical courses

So just turn college into a trade school? All that would do is make trade schools more expensive.

Re: Trade school, not 4-year college, is a better bet to solve the US income gap

#18

Isn't Germany, one of the more booming economies of Europe, a place that promotes the trades and provides educational tracks for interested students to easily get into apprenticeship programs? And where there isn't stigma against entering such a field?

Germany also has strong protections against international competition and public/private enterprises like Airbus to keep all of those trades-persons busy.

Do that in the US, and we'll just end up with blue collar wage slaves instead of white collar ones.

Re: Trade school, not 4-year college, is a better bet to solve the US income gap

#19

If people are going to make more money, where does the demand come from? Or is this about American manufacturers gaining market share from/in other countries? I don't know much about macroeconomics, so maybe this is a silly question.

There are five electricians in town, they each make $40/hour. They have a hard time finding qualified apprentices. After education, there are 7 electricians. The same 5 electricians still make $40/hour, but the two new electricians make $25/hour. Turns out there's a previously unserved market for a cheaper and less experienced electrician.

Exactly this. There is a lot of unmet demand in trade labor in even "low rent" places like Las Vegas.

Re: Trade school, not 4-year college, is a better bet to solve the US income gap

#20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Social stigma is not the problem. Employers requiring degrees for jobs that don’t require a degree are the problem. They force the cost on the student, and with demand for college education then bring inelastic, colleges have all of the pricing power to charge whatever they want.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Degree requirements are the last bastion of socially acceptable racism.

How is a degree requirement racist?
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