The Stone City

Words Made to Last

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Individuals

Percentage of U.S. population who are non-Asian minorities: 28%

Percentage by which GDP is decreased due to an "education gap", as estimated by McKinsey and Company: 9-16%

Ratio of those numbers: 32-57%

That's an indicator of the cost per individual, as a fraction of everything they earn or own. Do you think the people affected somehow do not notice this, or do not care? Of course not. But the argument that parents need not be given more choices in education, because they are not skilled at rationally pursuing their children's best interests, is at heart an argument that they can't be expected to avert something as minor as a 40% decrease in lifetime earnings.