Michael Barone sets the stage for the bursting of the next bubble:
Imagine that you have a product whose price tag for decades has risen faster than inflation. But people keep buying it because they’re told that it will make them wealthier in the long run. Then, suddenly, they find it doesn’t. Prices fall sharply, bankruptcies ensue, great institutions disappear.
Can you imagine what bubble this is?
It’s the higher education bubble, which Barone predicts will pop soon.
Government money has bolstered high tuition prices, but now more and more people are finding that they get less than was promised from their expensive educations. Barone notes:
Students are no longer taught the basics of literature, history, or science. ACTA [American Council of Alumni and Trustees] reports that most schools don’t require a foreign language, hardly any require economics, American history and government “are badly neglected,” and schools “have much to do” on math and science.
The good news about our terrible education system is that things have reached the point where we are ready to have a real discussion.