Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman delivers a talk titled "Schools, Skills, and Synapses: An Economists Perspective on Early Childhood Education and Development" at the 2009 Chautauqua Institution Summer Lecture Series.
Bio
James Heckman
James J. Heckman is the Henry Schultz Distinguished Service Professor of Economics at The University of Chicago where he has served since 1973 and where he directs the Economics Research Center and the Center for Social Program Evaluation at the Harris School. His work on the use of microeconomics for development of public policy garnered the 2000 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (with Daniel McFadden).
Heckman's recent research focuses on human development and lifecycle skill formation, with a special emphasis on the economics of early childhood. This work has given policymakers important new insights into such areas as education, job-training programs, minimum-wage legislation, anti-discrimination law and civil rights.
In addition to the Nobel Prize, Heckman has received numerous awards for his work, including the John Bates Clark Award of the American Economic Association in 1983, the 2005 Jacob Mincer Award for Lifetime Achievement in Labor Economics, the 2005 University College Dublin Ulysses Medal, and the 2005 Aigner award from the Journal of Econometrics.
Heckman received his B.A. in mathematics from Colorado College in 1965 and his Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University in 1971.
The speaker seems to be making a classic mistake. He's associating earnings with assumed productivity. He believes that if you earn, say, $60k then you are 2x as productive as someone earning $30k. This is not necessarily true at all.
In a market-based economy wages are primarly controlled by supply to demand. Highly productive people are often paid poorly due to a market saturation of their services, from effects such as too much immigration too fast.
Education can (and does) also function as a barrier-to-access (system) for certain jobs, which in turn lowers worker-supply for those jobs, which in turn creates *artificial* wage inflations - that is, it creates wage inflations that have nothing to do with the inherent value of the education nor the productivity of the educated individuals' labour.
I do not mean to discredit the tremendous importance of early intervention, but the problem with experts is that they too often lean on assumtpions to form their conclusions - assumptions which need to be more carefully tested.
At one point professor suggests that fostering “soft skills” such as perseverance, confidence and motivation form the early age will lead to rewarding career in the future. On the other hand, his “marshmallow test” example shows that ability of self-control or willingness to wait another ten minutes for a bigger prize are at the core of success. I thought that “motivation” and “self-control” are two notions that slightly contradict each other in the context of modern reality. Marshmallow test was first introduced in (http://venturebeat.com/2007/08/23/the-marshmellow-test/ 1960); in the modern world waiting another 10 minutes for another marshmallow might as well count as a missed opportunity.
The marshmallow test is a simply ilustration of a bigger point: non-cognitive abilities matter.
Interesting idea...that of "waiting another 10 minutes for another marshmallow" could mean a lost opportunity. Not only is this possibly more relevant in a rapidly changing modern world, but I would suggest that this is indeed the norm in the developing world, as in Latin America and many African countries. The idea assumes a certain level of societal and cultural stability, as well as a high level of trust in the person who promises the marshmallow. Is such a high level of trust in others' promises, the general expectation that such promises will be fulfilled still such a good idea in the long term, or a naive fantasy from the world of the 1950's? Just look at the loss of pensions and health care by today's retirees. Interesting idea...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob B
At one point professor suggests that fostering “soft skills” such as perseverance, confidence and motivation form the early age will lead to rewarding career in the future. On the other hand, his “marshmallow test” example shows that ability of self-control or willingness to wait another ten minutes for a bigger prize are at the core of success. I thought that “motivation” and “self-control” are two notions that slightly contradict each other in the context of modern reality. Marshmallow test was first introduced in (http://venturebeat.com/2007/08/23/the-marshmellow-test/ 1960); in the modern world waiting another 10 minutes for another marshmallow might as well count as a missed opportunity.
At one point professor suggests that fostering “soft skills” such as perseverance, confidence and motivation form the early age will lead to rewarding career in the future. On the other hand, his “marshmallow test” example shows that ability of self-control or willingness to wait another ten minutes for a bigger prize are at the core of success. I thought that “motivation” and “self-control” are two notions that slightly contradict each other in the context of modern reality. Marshmallow test was first introduced in (http://venturebeat.com/2007/08/23/the-marshmellow-test/ 1960); in the modern world waiting another 10 minutes for another marshmallow might as well count as a missed opportunity.