The Case Against Education

Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money

By: Bryan Caplan

Narrated by: Allan Robertson

Length: 11 hrs

Publisher's summary

Why we need to stop wasting public funds on education

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 A's 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.

Caplan draws on the latest social science to show how the labor market values grades over knowledge and why the more education your rivals have, the more you need to impress employers. He explains why graduation is our society's top conformity signal and why even the most useless degrees can certify employability. He advocates two major policy responses. The first is educational austerity. Government needs to sharply cut education funding to curb this wasteful rat race. The second is more vocational education, because practical skills are more socially valuable than teaching students how to outshine their peers.

Romantic notions about education being "good for the soul" must yield to careful research and common sense - The Case Against Education points the way.

Cover design by Leslie Flis.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2018 Princeton University Press (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Excellent. Worth a listen - especially today.

I found this to be a compelling case against the current system of government education in the United States.The author certainly presented his argument well and supported his points. He did tire me a bit about signalling - but it's a major problem and central to much of the argument being made.

Educators and those interested in discussions of the problems in the system will likely find food for thought here.

Sadly, this book tells us what we already knew or at least suspected.

True insight into the education I received starting in 1949. I was a very good student squandered on things I have never used subsequently. I have family that have used home schooling with great success. Now they are starting internet college classes and are doing very well.

very informative

this was a very informative book to gives you a different perspective on education I enjoyed it gives me a lot to think about especially since I have two teenage kids

Loved this. Changed my mind.

Excellent. Definitely an original argument that is heavily backed by data. I didn’t give the story 5 stars because I thought the dialogue section at the end was too much of a rehash of the earlier chapters.

Economic view of education

Professor of economics gives a wonderful lecture on the signaling model of education. Definitely worth a listen.

required reading for parents

Required reading for parents who want to be able to offer sensible education advice to their children.

A PHD Thesis With A Breath of Fresh Air

For the lay person like myself it's easy to get lost in the early intellectual slog of numbers and terms. Fortunately Caplan sprinkles diamonds throughout the early part of this work to get you thru the technicals as he lays down foundations for each arguement.

Speaking of each arguement, Caplan does a very good job of covering not only the arguements he supports but also the ones that attempt to counter him. The fresh air is he readily admits when he's filling in information gaps, why he fills those gaps in the way he does and includes common sense in his points.

Wrapping up, Caplan is speaking to each of us who know our education has deep problems regardless of our personal whys. He then attempts to cover every thought about why we believe the problems are what they are. Then he gives suggestions about how to correct these problems. Caplans personal views may be viewed as 'extreme' but it's time to have this 'extreme' discussion and this book provides each person the information to look inward so this discussion can be had. Long but worth the credit. Enjoy!!

Explained my wasted education perfectly

Brain has done an remarkable job explaining my so much is a waste and so many people I know have never used there college degrees.

students, parents, educators and policy makers

What a remarkable work which objectively crystalizes the status quo such that real progress may at least be credibly entertained

Seductive title...listen on

Bravo author, on the title. What a provocative enticement to go on this well thought out and thorough evaluation of the US education system from an economics professor who has benefitted from the critically analyzed commodity that is education. A quant, contrarian and somewhat of a pedant, Caplan deconstructs, reconstructs and theorizes compellingly NOT against education per se, but against wasteful education. Effectively, the essay is like doing one big regression equation with many variables related to the education system and assigning values to the components that ADD to the economy, employment etc., and suggests streamlining from the curriculum that which is more noise or detracts from employability and benefit from the employment and the economy. He is not rigid and even offers means of deriving the benefits from more obscure curriculum content - but just not on the government's subsidized dime. Fair enough I say! Would have loved to have accessed more of the raw data myself - I'm like that and perhaps, as a non American, to have had a comparison of the generalizability of Capaln's studies with respect to other educational systems (I anticipate significant robustness). Finally, I initially cringed, and then really enjoyed the author's symposium / tea party with imaginary stereotypes to summarize and consolidate the main arguments of his thesis.