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Carl Richards: Ways To Increase Your Wealth When Your Income Is Flat
IMHO Technology will continue to alter the workplace; not unlike the technology and methods altered the number of people needed in the agriculture sector to produce "x" amount of product. The technology affects many areas, creating some employment opportunities and eliminating more. Tis not just an education; but an education in what? I will always, however; push for the education, regardless. Exceptions of educational skills, producing acceptable income streams, from university degrees; will of course, have varying levels of satisfaction. A very good mechanic (vocational level instruction) should not have a problem finding employment. 'Course, a large overhang of lack of desire also continues to cause problems for those not willing to really work. These circumstances will not change in my remaining time on this 3rd rock from the sun. Regards, Catch
Perhaps, but if one were to choose a good school like Stanford for example, economics would go a lot further than woman's studies. I do see your point though.
This is not an easy problem. Simply getting a formal education is not sufficient. Given our dynamic economy, one must get the right education to match an ever changing marketplace need. Compounding that difficulty is the nonlinear nature of this job market. It seems to more obey a Chaos Theory power law distribution. It's a tough nut.
It's a tough nut that our formal education system always appears to be behind the power curve in servicing. But it is a complex issue with at least one other major cause: students choose unwisely. They enter educational programs and disciplines that offer a low likelihood of gainful employment. This mismatch is severe, and educators are lax in proposing alternatives. The incentives are misaligned.
Before retiring, my wife provided an excellent illustration of this mismatch between expectations and reality. She ran a scientific laboratory for a prestigious aerospace company. Several times each year, high school students were invited to tour her facility. Her task was to encourage students to consider the engineering and scientific fields. She mostly failed. Almost universally, these students favored social studies and the soft sciences. They feared mathematics.
The problem with that bias was the disparity between the likely employment base rate and the number of candidates for the limited positions. In Southern California everyone wanted to be a marine biologist.
One potential solution is to reinstate a universal military obligation program. The military does a respectable job at assigning military occupational specialties in a fair and productive manner. They train cooks, auto mechanics, computer repairmen, signalmen, medical corpsman, and a host of other useful civilian jobs. Employers respect the work ethic and discipline that the military teaches.
There surely is no single solution here. A military experience is one option worth considering. As in many instances, flexibility is an essential ingredient. I have advanced degrees in Mechanical Engneering and in Nuclear Engieering. However, for most of my career, I worked in the hypersonic speed aerodynamic arena. My wife was trained in the physics and microbiology disciplines. Most of her field experience was in the Materials testing arena. Our kids shared similar transfer experiences.
In a capitalistic society, change is unpredictable but constant.
Comments
Income inequality comes from "skill levels"....tb
Technology will continue to alter the workplace; not unlike the technology and methods altered the number of people needed in the agriculture sector to produce "x" amount of product. The technology affects many areas, creating some employment opportunities and eliminating more. Tis not just an education; but an education in what? I will always, however; push for the education, regardless. Exceptions of educational skills, producing acceptable income streams, from university degrees; will of course, have varying levels of satisfaction. A very good mechanic (vocational level instruction) should not have a problem finding employment. 'Course, a large overhang of lack of desire also continues to cause problems for those not willing to really work. These circumstances will not change in my remaining time on this 3rd rock from the sun.
Regards,
Catch
Yep, a lot of people want a job but they don't want to work. Then they wonder what happened and why when they are laid off.
A bachelors degree in woman's studies is not going to get one inside the door of most corporations.
This is not an easy problem. Simply getting a formal education is not sufficient. Given our dynamic economy, one must get the right education to match an ever changing marketplace need. Compounding that difficulty is the nonlinear nature of this job market. It seems to more obey a Chaos Theory power law distribution. It's a tough nut.
It's a tough nut that our formal education system always appears to be behind the power curve in servicing. But it is a complex issue with at least one other major cause: students choose unwisely. They enter educational programs and disciplines that offer a low likelihood of gainful employment. This mismatch is severe, and educators are lax in proposing alternatives. The incentives are misaligned.
Before retiring, my wife provided an excellent illustration of this mismatch between expectations and reality. She ran a scientific laboratory for a prestigious aerospace company. Several times each year, high school students were invited to tour her facility. Her task was to encourage students to consider the engineering and scientific fields. She mostly failed. Almost universally, these students favored social studies and the soft sciences. They feared mathematics.
The problem with that bias was the disparity between the likely employment base rate and the number of candidates for the limited positions. In Southern California everyone wanted to be a marine biologist.
One potential solution is to reinstate a universal military obligation program. The military does a respectable job at assigning military occupational specialties in a fair and productive manner. They train cooks, auto mechanics, computer repairmen, signalmen, medical corpsman, and a host of other useful civilian jobs. Employers respect the work ethic and discipline that the military teaches.
There surely is no single solution here. A military experience is one option worth considering. As in many instances, flexibility is an essential ingredient. I have advanced degrees in Mechanical Engneering and in Nuclear Engieering. However, for most of my career, I worked in the hypersonic speed aerodynamic arena. My wife was trained in the physics and microbiology disciplines. Most of her field experience was in the Materials testing arena. Our kids shared similar transfer experiences.
In a capitalistic society, change is unpredictable but constant.
Best Wishes.