The Human Progress Podcast Growth Comes From Ideas, Not Degrees | Bryan Caplan | Ep. 66
9 snips
Aug 29, 2025 
Bryan Caplan, a Professor of Economics at George Mason University and bestselling author, dives into the often-overlooked relationship between education and innovation. He argues that formal education primarily serves as a certification tool rather than a genuine driver of economic productivity. Caplan highlights the need to nurture prodigious talent in diverse fields and critiques education spending inefficiencies, advocating for practical skills development over traditional paths. The discussion also touches on the promising role of AI in fostering innovation amidst demographic shifts.
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Ideas Drive Long-Term Growth
- Economic growth mainly comes from technological progress and new ideas, not just more machines or labor quality.
- Small annual growth compounds into enormous long-term gains in wealth and wellbeing.
Education Vs. Innovation
- The common belief is education builds human capital that powers growth, but evidence challenges that.
- Most college grads apply existing technology rather than inventing breakthrough ideas.
Schooling As Certification
- Empirical research struggles to show that education causes large national growth effects.
- Much of schooling's labor-market payoff looks like certification, not skill-building.
