* Introduction Part I: Economic Growth and Distribution * The Human Capital Century * Inequality across the Twentieth Century * Skill-biased Technological Change Part II: Education for the Masses in Three Transformations * The Origins of the Virtues * Economic Foundations of the High School Movement * America's Graduation from High School * Mass Higher Education in the Twentieth Century Part III. The Race * The Race between Education and Technology * How America Once Led and Can Win the Race for Tomorrow * Appendix A * Appendix B * Appendix C * Appendix D * Notes * References * A Note on Sources * Acknowledgments * Index
This book represents the best of what economics has to offer, combining a broad theoretical perspective, careful consideration of data, detailed lessons from economic history, and a close look at the present. -- Alan Krueger, Princeton University A masterful work by two leading economists on some of the biggest issues in economics: economic growth, human capital, and inequality. There are fundamental insights in the book, not just about our past but also our future. Rigorous but not overly technical, this beautifully written book will appeal to educated lay people and economists alike. -- Steven D. Levitt, University of Chicago, co-author of Freakonomics The Race Between Education and Technology will stand as the definitive treatment of changes in income distribution and their causes, as well as of possible countervailing policies towards rising inequality. This is empirical economic scholarship at its finest. -- Lawrence Summers, Harvard University A staggering achievement of historical research and analysis and required reading for anyone who's tired of glib, ideologically-inspired, trendy prescriptions for how to fix America's education system. -- Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind An impressive combination of extensive historical research, careful empirical analysis, and thoughtful commentary on one of the most important questions of the day: to what extent does increasing inequality in incomes stem from our failure to increase educational attainment? -- William G. Bowen, President Emeritus, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Race Between Education and Technology is a most important study, both for what it teaches us about the past and also in presenting policies for the future if America is to regain its world leadership in education. -- Stanley Engerman, University of Rochester
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, Claudia Goldin is the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University. Lawrence Katz is Elisabeth Allison Professor of Economics at Harvard University.
One of the most important books of the year.
*New York Times*
Essential reading...Goldin and Katz give a broad historical view of
the role of education in economic growth in the U.S. They make the
case that, after a century of leading the world in supplying the
educated workers needed to serve technology, the U.S. has fallen
behind in education.
*Forbes*
Goldin and Katz's book is excellent.
*New Republic*
This is the most important book on modern U.S. inequality to
date.
*marginalrevolution.com*
If you want to understand the causes of the innovation deficit, I’d
recommend adding one serious book to your summer reading list: The
Race Between Education and Technology.
*New York Times*
[Goldin and Katz] tackle the most important U.S. economic trend,
and, hence, most critical domestic issue--growing income
inequality...[America] now has the most unequal income and wage
distributions of any high-income nation...Goldin and Katz's careful
documentation of the changes in income distribution is an important
public service. This alone would make their book essential reading.
Yet they also offer a powerful explanation for what has driven
changes in income inequality and point to solutions for addressing
it...The good news is that if Goldin and Katz are right, the cure
for income inequality is one most Americans would intuitively
support: improving mass education. Mr Obama's spin-doctors should
start translating Goldin and Katz's book into a campaign slogan at
once.
*Financial Times*
Masterful...As the book's title suggests, whether inequality
increases or not is best thought of as an ongoing race between
education and technology. Combining this simple but appealing idea
with a deep knowledge of the histories of the U.S. labor market and
educational institutions, Goldin and Katz conclude that whereas
education was winning the race for most of the 20th century,
technology caught up in the 1970s and has since prevailed. The
authors' most insightful point is that the root cause of the recent
growth in inequality is not faster technological progress during
the past three decades but rather the surprising stagnation in the
level of education of young Americans.
*Science*
A staggering achievement of historical research and analysis and
required reading for anyone who's tired of glib,
ideologically-inspired, trendy prescriptions for how to fix
America's education system.
*Sylvia Nasar, author of A Beautiful Mind*
Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz have produced a definitive
economic history of American education...[It's] tightly reasoned
and easy to grasp by anyone who cares about the country's
educational history.
*eh.net*
This book represents the best of what economics has to offer,
combining a broad theoretical perspective, careful consideration of
data, detailed lessons from economic history, and a close look at
the present.
*Alan Krueger, Princeton University*
A masterful work by two leading economists on some of the biggest
issues in economics: economic growth, human capital, and
inequality. There are fundamental insights in the book, not just
about our past but also our future. Rigorous but not overly
technical, this beautifully written book will appeal to educated
lay people and economists alike.
*Steven D. Levitt, University of Chicago, co-author of
Freakonomics*
The Race Between Education and Technology will stand as the
definitive treatment of changes in income distribution and their
causes, as well as of possible countervailing policies towards
rising inequality. This is empirical economic scholarship at its
finest.
*Lawrence Summers, Harvard University*
An impressive combination of extensive historical research, careful
empirical analysis, and thoughtful commentary on one of the most
important questions of the day: to what extent does increasing
inequality in incomes stem from our failure to increase educational
attainment?
*William G. Bowen, President Emeritus, The Andrew W. Mellon
Foundation*
The Race Between Education and Technology is a most important
study, both for what it teaches us about the past and also in
presenting policies for the future if America is to regain its
world leadership in education.
*Stanley Engerman, University of Rochester*
The Race Between Education and Technology contains many tables, a
few equations and a powerfully told story about how and why the
United States became the world's richest nation--namely, thanks to
its schools...Beginning in the 1970s, however, the education system
failed to keep pace, resulting, Ms. Goldin and Mr. Katz contend, in
a sharply unequal nation...It is nice to be reminded, in a
data-rich book, that greater investments in human capital once put
Americans collectively on top of the world.
*New York Times*
Goldin's and Katz's thesis is that the 20th century was the
American century in large part because this country led the world
in education. The last 30 years, when educational gains slowed
markedly, have been years of slower growth and rising
inequality.
*New York Times Magazine*
Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz establish a clear link between the
number of high school and college graduates produced in any modern
society and its economic growth.
*Appeal-Democrat*
[Goldin and Katz] combine an acute sense of history with a skillful
use of statistics.
*New York Review of Books*
During the 20th century both technology and education raced forward
in the US, generating massive economic expansion and rising
standards of living. Throughout the century, technological changes
increased the relative demand for skilled labor, while the rapid
expansion of first high schools and then higher education
simultaneously increased the relative supply of skilled labor.
Goldin and Katz carefully examine the historical and economic
forces behind this expansion in education, extracting crucial
evidence from the remarkable Iowa State Census of 1915, and they
argue very plausibly that the relative demand for skilled labor
grew at a fairly constant rate over the century. They conclude that
"education ran faster" than technology "during the first half of
the century," causing a considerable drop in economic inequality,
but that "technology sprinted ahead of limping education in the
last 30 years," leading to the recent upsurge in inequality. The
rate of return on educational investments has become, once again,
very high. Why have education levels increased so sluggishly in the
face of these massive rewards? The answers are not entirely clear,
nor are the optimal public policies, but the authors offer much
food for thought. A must read.
*Choice*
The general brilliance of illumination makes this book a feast of
provocation.
*Forbes.com*
One of the most comprehensive analyses of the spread of the
American educational system throughout the 20th century.
*New York Times*
Claudia Goldin and Lawrence F. Katz’s magnum opus…[An] impressive
work…Enlightens us to rethink the social-economic and cultural
environment of education, the close relationship between education
and technology, and the fundamental aims of education.
*Beijing International Review of Education*
Ask a Question About this Product More... |