In this episode of the, It’s Not What It Seems podcast, my brother Darron and I discuss April 2019’s book of the month, The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money by Bryan Caplan.

Here’s a little more about Bryan Caplan:

Bryan Caplan is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University and the author of four books including The Myth of the Rational Voter and Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids. He’s been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Newsweek, Atlantic, American Economic Review, Economic Journal, Journal of Law and Economics, and Intelligence. He’s also appeared on ABC, BBC, Fox News, MSNBC, and C-SPAN.

Here’s a little more about the book:

Despite being immensely popular―and immensely lucrative―education is grossly overrated. In this explosive book, Bryan Caplan argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skill but to certify their intelligence, work ethic, and conformity―in other words, to signal the qualities of a good employee. Learn why students hunt for easy As and casually forget most of what they learn after the final exam, why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for the average worker but instead in runaway credential inflation, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely if ever use, and why cutting education spending is the best remedy.

This book will definitely challenge some of the romantic ideas that many people have about education. It addresses the practical and ethical implications of the system as it currently exists, and offers some counterintuitive solutions. Using our own experiences in education―including Darron’s working in public education in various capacities―we discuss many of the key ideas from the book that both support and oppose Caplan’s case.

As always, if you weren’t able to pick up or finish this book for April, don’t worry. You can tune in to our next book club episode, which will air on May 26.

Here’s more on the Book Club for 2019: http://douglasvigliotti.com/blog/bookclub

Here’s the May 2019 Book of the Month - Just Kids by Patti Smith: http://bit.ly/justkidspattismith

LINKS & RESOURCES:

More about “social desirability bias”: http://bit.ly/socialdesirabilitybias
Article about “signaling” in education: http://bit.ly/educationsignaling

BOOKS FROM EPISODE:

The Case against Education by Bryan Caplan: http://bit.ly/caseagainsteducation

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