Caroline Pellegrin, Chapter Six, Question Four

In Chapter Six, Wheelan attributes the increasing wealth gap to the enlarged gap between those who have a tremendous amount of "human capital" and those who do not. Human Capital is defined as "the total sum of skills embodied by an individual." Think of human capital as what you are left with if your entire house was destroyed in a natural disaster. You are not left with your Mercedes or you expensive TV, but rather your character, skills and knowledge (relative to secondary education). Having human capital is what separates the so called "burger flippers" from the Bill Gates' of the world. Wheelan believes that the best way to solve this problem is to invest and support education; I am of the same mind. As noted in the chapter, when Taiwan doubled their female high school graduation gap the country's feritility rates dropped to almost a half. Those girls will move on to get jobs, start companies and expand the economy. Hopefully, they will not be burdened by a life of total poverty as they try to raise children at such a young age. This solution will work because there aren't a set amount of jobs in the economy, meaning if more people get higher education they won't be "stealing jobs." Infact their education will lead to further economic growth, more creation of jobs and the expansion of new technologies. Education expands the pie- it is not a detrimental reslicing of the pie. I love pie. Thus, the further education of many individuals is an investment for us all. Now lets go educate young women and men equally, social AND economic justice!