In today’s Pope Center piece, Jay Schalin dissects recent legislation in North Carolina that aims to increase the number of students studying science, technology, engineering, and math (now usually shortened to STEM subjects) on the grounds that the economy will need a lot more workers with such background in the future. The trouble is that the supposed shortage of people with such training is a complete myth.

What this is all about is political grandstanding — the need of politicians to be able to crow about bills they’ve passed that sound good to the average voter. Politics, however, can’t improve on the invisible hand of self-interest. If and when it seems beneficial for young people to gravitate toward STEM fields rather than other things, they will do so. Central planning here is just as foolish as, e.g., political efforts at increasing the percentage of people who own homes.