The Case Against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money

by Bryan Caplan

Signaling weaves a contrary tale—one where malemployment reflects workers’ never-ending struggle to outshine each other. Picture the labor market as an arms race. Rising education automatically sparks credential inflation; as credentials proliferate, you must study harder and longer to convince employers to hire you. In an everyone-has-a-B.A. dystopia, an aspiring janitor might need a master’s in Janitorial Studies to land a job scrubbing toilets.30 When a B.A. bartender asks, “Why oh why can’t I get a better job?” signaling ruefully answers, “Because too many competing workers have even more impressive credentials than you do.” As two noted sociologists explain: In an over-qualified labor market, employers will fill the “highest” jobs with those who have the “highest” credentials. Since over-schooling means there are too many workers who are highly educated, some of these workers are necessarily allocated to “mid-level” jobs. This process is repeated for those with mid-level qualifications, where, since there are not enough mid-level jobs, many are forced to compete for low-level jobs.31