Education

Student debt may land double whammy on US growth

20 Mar 2012

Graduates are forking over far more in loan repayments than a decade ago, easily outstripping salary growth. Over time, that’ll dent GDP. Defaults are rising, too. With Uncle Sam now holding $450 bln of student debt and rising, that puts taxpayers on the hook - again.

Greedy law schools taught jobless grads too well

16 Mar 2012

Disgruntled lawyers are suing their alma maters for exaggerating employment prospects. That seems fitting for a litigious lot with buyers’ remorse over a $120,000 education. A lousy job market isn’t the schools’ fault, but training these cheeky legal eagles may be.

Chilean Winter tests the country’s economic model

28 Sep 2011

Mass protests over education mask a deeper divide over the post-Pinochet preference for market-based, rather than state, solutions. The Chicago Boys got it mostly right, but not on education. Resolving the current dilemma may require fundamental philosophical reform - and money.

IMF’s education remedy won’t cure rich world ills

20 Sep 2011

The fund’s flagship yearly outlook laments a jobs crisis and rising inequality in wealthy nations. But its prescription of more education spending is unlikely to do the trick. Though desirable in many ways, such outlays aren’t the golden ticket economists often claim.