The latest international student test results have indicated that the United States is not performing well on a global level. Opinion writer Fareed Zaharia examines what this means for the nation’s economy.
In the Washington Post opinion piece, Zaharia states that the United States’ top 1 percent, measured by IQ, has a significant impact on the nation’s success. However, he argues that effectively educating the middle and lower class is necessary for progress:
It’s possible that the top 1 percent will continue generating enough growth to keep the country moving, but it’s more likely that the weight of a stagnant middle class will eventually slow the economy. More important, the politics of a country with a tiny productive elite and a massive underclass with low skills, depressed wages and no prospects will not look pretty.
