There is a fact floating around out there: the single greatest indicator of economic growth is a population's average level of education. If that is true, and it is, then any economic growth initiative passed by the government should include broader access to higher levels of education. Any tax plan or infrastructure plan that does not include benefits for individuals or groups to participate in education will only benefit 1) those that have already been educated, which limits growth to at most one generation, 2) those that preach the entrepreneurship model that doesn't require education--a success rate of under 10%, 3) those that benefit from existing family wealth, which essentially makes us a permanent oligarchy or even aristocracy, and which excludes opportunity, the buzzword of the greatness of a former America.
A tax or infrastructure plan that actively lessens benefits for individuals or groups to participate in increased education will only benefit those 1) that believe education will serve as ideological opposition, in which case it is not an economic growth plan but an active ideological growth plan.
The funny thing about all this is the following: economic growth as an ends in and of itself is a false game. Economies grow, and then what? Did the pursuit of virtue, the good life, self-actualization, and blessedness ever depend on economic growth? Economic well-being, sure, but economic growth? Economic growth is a pursuit of a belief in sine qua non economic growth. The correlation to virtue, the good life, or self-actualization is only made through well-being. But education? That is a good question, and one for another time.
At any rate, I made my point. Tax plans that exclude benefits to education need to be acknowledged as tax plans that have a point of diminishing returns, just like economic growth.
A tax or infrastructure plan that actively lessens benefits for individuals or groups to participate in increased education will only benefit those 1) that believe education will serve as ideological opposition, in which case it is not an economic growth plan but an active ideological growth plan.
The funny thing about all this is the following: economic growth as an ends in and of itself is a false game. Economies grow, and then what? Did the pursuit of virtue, the good life, self-actualization, and blessedness ever depend on economic growth? Economic well-being, sure, but economic growth? Economic growth is a pursuit of a belief in sine qua non economic growth. The correlation to virtue, the good life, or self-actualization is only made through well-being. But education? That is a good question, and one for another time.
At any rate, I made my point. Tax plans that exclude benefits to education need to be acknowledged as tax plans that have a point of diminishing returns, just like economic growth.
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