FP columnist Niall Ferguson says the historical lesson for working class people in deindustrialized cities is clear: “The only way out of the working class… is education. Where the American people have been failed, especially the working class, is that their education has deteriorated… The problems can’t be blamed... on trade policy, can’t be blamed on China, when they really have much more to do with an unsustainable policy mix ranging from public finance through to education. Donald Trump’s [idea] that we can return to our glorious industrial past via tariffs is a fantasy.” Listen to his full conversation with Bari Weiss now:show more

This is "learn to code" all over again, and it's completely at odds with available data and reality. More Americans have bachelors degrees than ever before (38%! in 2021), and they're also struggling to make those degrees stand out in the marketplace. And as the number of Americans with degrees has risen, the wealth gap has never been wider, with the bottom half of the US barely maintaining their share of net worth in real terms. For those in poorer areas who seek out degrees on their own volition, great -- they should have the opportunity. But prescribing this as the only solution for this population is not just patronizing but also insensible.

𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Scott Galloway, multi-millionaire professor, gives dire warning about the decline of American capitalism, expanding wealth inequality and far-right CEOs. ★ NEW ARTICLE ⬇️

@TheFP @nfergus "The only way out of the working class" (as if working class is something to desperately escape from) is one of the most Ivy League deskfag things I've read in quite a while.

@TheFP @nfergus Eplain that to all the over educated Social Justice Studies majors… working at underperforming jobs. If your talking education such as acquiring skills and trades training, spot on, otherwise, another fairytale

@nfergus From 1980-1985 Pittsburgh lost 250,000 manufacturing jobs, the result was by 1990 50% of the population left Pittsburgh. For every one manufacturing job, ten office jobs are created. It's not an education problem, free trade destroys American communities.

@nfergus Umm... is there something wrong with blue collar work? These people are the bedrock of our economy. This guy seems really out of touch.

@nfergus Education, yes, but in what. Until robots control the world, people still need to live lives - air con, plumbing, mechanics, etc. This is what I don't get about AI - while the smarts are smarting all, who's fixing the toilet?

@nfergus Found it interesting That Niall believes the Trump tariffs are incompetence on parade but readily admits 70 countries have come to the table to negotiate. Niall's main concern seems to revolve around China.

@nfergus The IQ curve prevents "education" from having much of an effect. You post is the same clown world BS I grew up with. Tool the economy to the workers instead. You can't ever have 90iq folk designing rockets.

@nfergus Ferguson's stream of puerile straw manning is hard to watch, given his illustrious career. "magical restoration of 1950s glory through a bunch of random tariffs'' etc & for a person who normally understands big picture dynamics his superficial and myopic diatribes are astonishing

your insistence on education as the “only” solution is obtuse to the reality that academics, something you excel at, isn’t something many people excel at. We don’t differ on our belief in basic education, through the 6th year, as important, but there should be gainful employment opportunity for those with that education level. I believe a free market will supply that opportunity. But can we call any market where cheap off shore labor abounds, held up by government intervention as in the case of China, a free market?