Do You Know What Would Fix The Economy? Forcing People To Major In STEM

Do You Know What Would Fix The Economy? Forcing People To Major In STEM

It’s quite obvious that Democrats dislike the GOP tax plan (which certainly needs some help, which is why it goes to committee, there are negotiations, reconciliation between the Senate and House, and so forth), but, then, if it recommended a tax increase on The Rich, Democrats would have a kneejerk reaction and denounce it. Especially if Trump said he liked the plan. Over at the Washington Post, hardcore Leftist Catherine Rampell thinks she’s found the solution

The GOP tax plan won’t grow the economy. Here’s what will.

Invest more in people, not stuff.

That’s not a tip for achieving personal happiness. It’s a statement about economic growth.

Right now, much of the Republican tax agenda is geared toward incentivizing investments in physical capital. But that’s not where the country’s real deficit lies. What’s sorely lacking is human capital.

She goes through this and that and the other, complaining about the GOP tax plan, before getting to

What, then, might actually help grow the economy, and help workers in the process?

Skills, skills, skills.

Employers say they can’t find workers with the right skills. The average job vacancy now takes 30 business days to fill, according to a metric based on Labor Department data. That’s close to a record high. The National Federation of Independent Business survey likewise found that in October, more than half (52 percent) of companies reported few or no qualified applicants for positions they’re trying to fill. That’s also nearly an all-time high.

She lets us know that the U.S. was top 5 worldwide in people 25-34 who had a post-secondary school education in 2000, but, now, the U.S. is 10th, and

We also don’t seem to be building up skills in the right things. Less than a quarter of Americans age 25 to 64 with a bachelor’s degree or higher studied in a STEM field. That places us in 19th place among the 28 developed countries for which the OECD publishes data.

That could have something to do with the push to make everyone go to college, take on major debt, and then not be able to pay for it because Liberals think that taking squishy courses in things that tend to end with “Studies” or similar fluff is a good idea. So many want the old “Basket Weaving” degree. But, at least with a basket weaving degree, someone has actual work skills. You could make awesome baskets, start a business, and sell them, later selling off the company to a big company for a nice profit. What does one do with a degree in Gender Studies? Companies want nothing to do with someone who is a threat to cause problems in the workplace nor the lawsuits.

So, what’s her idea?

The lesson here is that we need more Americans getting postsecondary education, not fewer. We need more Americans studying STEM, not fewer. And we need those Americans to go to high-quality postsecondary programs, not scammy ones.

How do we do this? There are three ways: first, you force kids to take STEM courses and graduate with a STEM degree. Catherine makes a big deal of the GOP tax plan removing a few tax breaks related to college loans (I thought Democrats hated “loopholes” in the tax code?). Perhaps the GOP could allow the tax breaks for those who take STEM? She doesn’t say that, but, perhaps a way to force compliance.

Second, there could be a push for people to attend a vocational college. Democrats have made this seem to be Low Class over the years, instead of noting that these are worthwhile skills.

Finally colleges could get rid of most of the squishy, worthless, SJW courses. And Democrats can stop their support for these types of worthless degrees, which just creates more whiny people who have no marketable skills and no value in the market.

Crossed at Pirate’s Cove. Follow me on Twitter @WilliamTeach.

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