Podcast
Freakonomics Radio
It was argued that the education system is a waste of time and money and that homeschooling was a better approach, especially for students who found school unengaging and pointless.
Yeah, so in K through six, I was just miserable in school because they kept making us do stuff that seemed pointless to me. Music, art, dance, making posters every day. It was just dreadful.
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It was argued that the education system is a waste of time and money and that homeschooling was a better approach, especially for students who found school unengaging and pointless.
Yeah, so in K through six, I was just miserable in school because they kept making us do stuff that seemed pointless to me. Music, art, dance, making posters every day. It was just dreadful.
I'm going to say I was the reluctant one, but it was my brother Tristan that persuaded me to go through with it. His great pitch, which is still echoed in our family to this day, is do you want to be a poster monkey for the rest of your life?
Our dad just gave us this lifesaver and said, you can come to my homeschool and you will get to learn about ideas. You will get to read. You will get to do what you actually enjoy.
Can you untangle for me what appears to be a slightly paradoxical maze in which you, a university professor at a public university, which is supported in large part by tax dollars, can make an argument totally against education and then use your university professor position, including bringing your kids into your office to homeschool them for the education that you also don't want them to participate in?
I see great internal consistency, but you're totally sensible to wonder what it is. So the first thing is I see myself as a whistleblower. A lot of the reason why people took that book seriously is I could begin by saying the system has been great to me, it's all worked out for me, and yet I don't think that it's a good use of taxpayer money in terms of trying to help my sons out.
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It was argued that a major function of a college degree is to act as a social signal, influencing hiring and social interactions, possibly leading to credential inflation.
In Kaplan's view, this has driven a kind of credential inflation where more and more education is required to have a good career.
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It was discussed in the context of Brian Caplan's homeschooling approach, as a book arguing against the traditional education system and its perceived waste of time and money.
A few years ago, you wrote a book called The Case Against Education, Why the Education System is a Waste of Time and Money.
So the first thing is I see myself as a whistleblower. A lot of the reason why people took that book seriously is I could begin by saying the system has been great to me. It's all worked out for me, and yet I don't think that it's a good use of taxpayer money.