Degrees And Dollars

Laura Kelty

Professor Andrew Ball

English 102

20 February 2014

A Critique of Paul Krugman's

"Degrees and Dollars"

In Paul Krugman's article, "Degrees and Dollars," he argues that what everyone perceives about education being pivotal to the economy's fruition is wrong. Paul Krugman, a Princeton Economics Professor, 2008 Nobel Prize winner, and New York columnist, often writes about economic orientation. Education has long been the topic of discussion in the last two Presidential elections and how education is America's answer to fix its economy. Obama believes that educational reforms will secure jobs for Americans. Krugman points out how cutting-edge technology displaces the scholarly artisan with software, and the recession of the once dominant middle class job market to low waged jobs, and the outsourcing of jobs related to globalization. He concludes with his interpretation of a solution for economic success and education is not the decisive resolution.

Paul Krugman's argument that education is not the key could bear some truth. Technological advances since 1990 have paved the way for the automation of professional jobs held by highly educated workers. He uses the examples of lawyers and engineers to drive his point home. He discusses how computer software wipes out the need for lawyers and paralegals. He then goes on to show displacement of chip design engineers by a simple use of software. Technology is the clear winner for the future, not the professional who spent years educating their brain.

Next, Krugman points out since 1990 America's bread and butter, middle class workers, are now on the verge of non-existence. The skilled worker won out over the college graduate prior to technology. He questions the belief that an education rewards those with greater job opportunities. Technology will always have a place for mind workers instead of manual handed workers. Economists Autor, Levy, and Murane argued that it would be the professional who uses mind who will be eliminated instead of the blue collar worker. The 6% of manual jobs left can't be automated by techonolgy, which saves the uneducated worker.

Krugman then moves on to globalization. He states that every job is up for outsourcing