So let’s say we want to set up a system to help students choose a career that fits their aptitudes and interests. What would we do? How about: 1. Give them zero (or superficial) aptitude and career-related tests. 2. Provide a…
Two recent studies reflect the ongoing rapid transformation of the U.S. economy: The New Map of Economic Growth and Recovery (eig.org) The U.S. Labor Market Is Far More Stable Than People Think (itif.org) I’ve addressed the dynamic mix of technical…
America is in the opening stages of a massive surplus of over-credentialed workers. The default setting for 50 years has been: if you want a secure upper-middle class salary, get a law degree, MBA, PhD or other graduate-level professional degree.…
Short, intense directed apprenticeships that teach students how to learn on their own to mastery are the future of higher education. So it turns out sitting in a chair for four years doesn’t deliver mastery in anything but the acquisition…
A system that piles debt on students in exchange for a marginal or even zero-return on their investment is morally and financially bankrupt. Every once in a while you run across an insider’s narrative of a corrupt, morally bankrupt sector…
Everyone understands soaring student debt is a problem: burdened with $1.3 trillion in student loans, young people are unable to start businesses, buy homes and start families. The high cost of housing and meeting regulations to launch businesses add additional…
My recent conversation with Max Keiser on Summer Solutions (25:45) included three bits of advice: 1. Stop financializing the human experience 2. Acquire skills, not credentials 3. Vote with your feet Today’s topic is acquire skills, not credentials. I have…
It’s difficult to estimate the quantity of our work devoted to data-shuffling compliance with and enforcement of perverse regulations and neofeudal menial-servitude to the top 10%. A spate of recent articles have investigated the nature of today’s jobs: The Cult…
It’s difficult to estimate the quantity of our work devoted to data-shuffling compliance with and enforcement of perverse regulations and neofeudal menial-servitude to the top 10%. A spate of recent articles have investigated the nature of today’s jobs: The Cult…
Either join the disruptors or prepare to be disrupted. Disruptive technology is a tiresome cliche, as every Twitter/ AirBnB/ Uber/ Skype/etc. wannabe start-up declares itself disruptive. That the vast majority of self-congratulatory start-ups are over-hyped and derivative should not distract…
Either join the disruptors or prepare to be disrupted. Disruptive technology is a tiresome cliche, as every Twitter/ AirBnB/ Uber/ Skype/etc. wannabe start-up declares itself disruptive. That the vast majority of self-congratulatory start-ups are over-hyped and derivative should not distract…
A diploma by itself does not create value; only experiential skills create value. While it is impossible to summarize the job market in a vast, dynamic economy, we can say that the key to any job is creating value. That…
A diploma by itself does not create value; only experiential skills create value. While it is impossible to summarize the job market in a vast, dynamic economy, we can say that the key to any job is creating value. That…
An entire new feedback loop of accreditation is needed, and fortunately that feedback is within our control: it’s a process I call accredit yourself. Economist Michael Spence developed the job market signaling model of valuing employees based on their credentials…
An entire new feedback loop of accreditation is needed, and fortunately that feedback is within our control: it’s a process I call accredit yourself. Economist Michael Spence developed the job market signaling model of valuing employees based on their credentials…