Why Isn't the Military a Stronger Signal?, by Bryan Caplan

Interesting question from EconLog reader Jonas Graham, reprinted with his permission.
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Dear Mr. Caplan,



I read your book "The Case Against Education," well, as much as I
could read for free off Amazon and Google Books, anyway. :P  I might buy
it, eventually...



You say that college is the best way to signal to an employer that you are
intelligent, conscientious and conform to social norms.  Other ways such
as maintaining a Science Fiction blog, copying the dictionary or eating Kosher,
despite being a goy, would just come off as "weird".



However, there is one way to signal that you are conscientious and conform to
social norms, in fact *WAAAAY* more than college: enlisting in the
military.  The military is very respected and very much not
"weird", especially in the US.  Even in the bluest of "blue
states", you will see USO lounges at airports, military discounts,
etc.  Soldiers work hard, are very disciplined (for example, they have to
make their bed every morning, even though it's stupid and there's really no
point!) and do they ever conform to social norms!



Alas, it doesn't really signal intelligence, but, of the three, that's the
easiest to measure: you could just have them do an IQ test.  The military,
itself, administers an IQ test, of sorts, called the ASVAB.  Although it
would be "weird" to put one's ASVAB score on one's resum��, certain
military jobs are reserved for people with high
ASVAB scores, for example: Military "Intelligence" and Psy
Ops.  Wouldn't somebody with military experience in one of those fields
also signal intelligence?



Have you ever come across any data comparing career success of college
graduates vs. military vets?  I have found the following anecdotal
account about how many employers still prefer a Bachelor's degree to
military experience and the author talks about how military experience should
signal the same things as a Bachelor's degree, but employers don't seem to
"pick up" on these signals.



I have seen your interview on the Rubin Report, by the way, and I know you are
a "pacifist" but, considering how big the US military is and how many
vets there are, I wonder if you ever looked into this or just what's your take?



Perhaps you talk about this in the parts of the book I missed? :P



Anyway, huge fan!  Thanks for the enlightening read!



Sincerely,





Jonas Graham

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