Tyler Cowen cites Brad DeLong‘s history of America since 1980:
- The end of the Cold War
- Other winner-take-all factors that have, in combination with education, pushed American income polarization back to Gilded Age levels.
- The failure of American taxpayers to support their state and local governments in expanding funding for public education — and the impact of reduced public education effort in sharpening the distinction between rich and poor.
- The computer revolution in productivity growth.
- The rise of China (and soon, we hope, India) as industrial powers.
- The extraordinary social liberalization of America — if you had told any Republican in 1980 that 2008 would see (a) a Negro with an Arabic-Swahili name beating a veteran fighter pilot in the presidential polls and (b) gay marriage as the big cultural issue of the day, said Republican would have blown several gaskets. And if you had said that this would have been the result of an “Age of Reagan” said Republican would have melted down completely.
Point 6 is the most amusing. Point 3 is the least supportable:
It is notoriously difficult to find a convincing link between educational expenditures and educational quality.