George Will profiled Obama's economic adviser, Austan Goolsbee, today. Tucked into the grudgingly positive piece we found this little nugget.
"In 1980, people with college degrees made on average 30 percent more than those with only high school diplomas. That disparity has widened to 70 percent. In the same year, the average earnings of people with advanced degrees were 50 percent more than those with only high school diplomas; today it is more than 100 percent.
The market is shouting, 'Stay in school!' and Goolsbee's conservative colleagues at Chicago say a high tax rate on high earners is 'a tax on going to college.' Conservatives say: Don't tax something unless you are willing to have less of it. But Goolsbee says: Conservatives often exaggerate the behavioral response to increased tax rates."
Wait, do people seriously make the argument that high-schoolers are deciding not to go to college because the rates in that highest-earners' tax bracket look like more trouble than they're worth?
Even if high-schoolers know what the rates in different tax brackets are (we didn't at age 17) B.A.s are still making twice what people with just a high-school diploma make, and that disparity is widening every year.
Share on Facebook
