The Great Stagnation of American Education

Robert J. Gordon, writing for the New York Times:

Even in today’s lackluster labor market, employers still complain that they cannot find workers with the needed skills to operate complex modern computer-driven machinery. Lacking in the American system is a well-organized funnel between community colleges and potential blue-collar employers, as in the renowned apprenticeship system in Germany.

Every time I read a complaint like this one, I’m reminded that the problem is not the lack of qualified workers: it’s the lack of qualified workers willing to work for the wages employers offer.

In other words, the problem is with your exploitative business model; it fails when you run out of poor saps to exploit.