From The Huffington Post:
Unfortunately, when it comes to long-term joblessness college grads are no exception. Once a worker loses their job, the duration of unemployment is unrelated to education level, according to a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
This is yet more evidence that increased higher ed spending is unlikely to improve the economy or reduce unemployment in meaningful ways. A host of experts are coming around to this way of thinking, including Paul Krugman, who is generally supportive of government spending at all levels.
But try telling that to students from my alma mater, the University of Michigan, where the announcement of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder as the class of 2011’s graduation speaker has sparked protests. Snyder, a moderate Republican, has proposed a 15 percent cut to higher ed spending–unacceptable to many students, apparently.
Why should taxpayers be forced to make an increasingly unaffordable commitment to higher education, when evidence shows that the economic benefits are slim? But maybe I shouldn’t expect undergrads to grasp this, since studies show that a third of them aren’t learning anything in college anyway.
Read a Michigan senior on the folly of protesting Snyder here.
Please join the conversation about our stories on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, MeWe, Rumble, Gab, Minds and Gettr.