Edward Conard

Top Ten New York Times Bestselling Author

  • “…a comprehensive explanation of the modern economy.” - Julian Robertson, Founder, Tiger Management
  • “…a very valuable contribution.” - Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury and director of the National Economic Council, president emeritus, Harvard University
  • “…serious thinking for serious thinkers. …a thought-provoking blueprint for growing middle- and working-class incomes.” - Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts
  • “…a very valuable contribution.” - Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury and director of the National Economic Council, president emeritus, Harvard University
  • “…serious thinking for serious thinkers. …a thought-provoking blueprint for growing middle- and working-class incomes.” - Mitt Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts
  • “Unintended Consequences should be read by anyone who takes for granted the superiority of progressive taxation and has not thought carefully about the trade-offs involved.” - The New Republic
  • “Unintended Consequences offers deep and well-argued analyses on almost every issue.” - The New York Times
  • “…a must-read for serious students of economic policy.” - Glenn Hubbard, Dean, Columbia Business School, and former Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers
  • “…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
  • “…a fresh argument for the productive value of inequality.” - David Autor, Professor of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • “…a comprehensive explanation of the modern economy.” - Julian Robertson, Founder, Tiger Management
  • “…reminds us that inequality sends a signal of what society lacks most, in America’s case, entrepreneurship and risk taking.” - Lawrence Lindsey, CEO, The Lindsey Group, former Director of the National Economic Council
Upside of Inequality Oxford Unintended Consequences

AI Summary. As university attendance has expanded, the average graduate has shifted from economic elite to norm, placing graduates lower in the socio-economic pecking order than graduates of the past. In both the UK and US, only 10% of graduates are in the lowest earnings quartile, but one in three ranks in the bottom bracket for earnings relative to expectations.

John Burn-Murdoch Financial Times
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John Burn-Murdoch argues that the expansion of higher education has worsened the relative economic status of both graduates and non-graduates. “The average graduate shifts from being the elite to the norm,” and the non-graduate is “ever more disadvantaged.”

Does expanding university attendance leave graduates falling short of expectations?

Core argument: In both the UK and US, only 10% of graduates fall in the lowest earnings quartile, yet one in three ranks in the bottom bracket for earnings relative to reasonable expectations.

The expansion of higher education, while well intentioned and clearly beneficial in many aspects, has upset the balance between expectations and outcomes. The dynamic I’m talking about here is a much broader phenomenon [than the erosion of the graduate wage premium]. As more and more people go to university, the average graduate shifts from being among the economic elite to being the norm, placing them much further down the socio-economic pecking order than graduates of yesteryear. The result is that even though today’s young adults, and graduates in particular, are over-represented in the top quartile of the earnings distribution, they are also far more likely to be at the bottom than the top for earnings relative to reasonable expectations. In both the UK and US, even though only 10% of graduates are in the lowest earnings quartile, one in three is in the bottom bracket for earnings relative to expectations. As a larger share of youngsters go to university, those who don’t are an ever more disadvantaged slice of their generation.

Takeaways by Macro Roundup® AI

  1. In both the UK and US, only 10% of graduates fall in the lowest earnings quartile, yet one in three ranks in the bottom bracket for earnings relative to reasonable expectations.
  2. The expansion of higher education has shifted the average graduate from the economic elite to the norm, placing them further down the socio-economic pecking order than graduates of earlier generations.
  3. As a larger share of young people attend university, those who do not are an ever more disadvantaged slice of their generation.

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