On the British site Spiked is an excellent interview with Prof. Alison Wolf. She is one of the most effective critics of the notion that just increasing the percentage of people who get college degrees will give the economy a boost. On the contrary, in the words of the interviewer, “An increase in the quantity of graduates will neither create a dynamic, wealth-producing economy nor will it create the conditions for the emergence of lots of dynamic, wealth-producing individuals.”

The idea that we can supercharge the economy by processing more and more kids through college — no matter how academically weak they might be and how little they learn — is on a par with the notion that more government spending will do the same thing by creating “stimulus.” Alas, devoting resources to college courses for disengaged kids is a waste of resources, just as most of the government’s “stimulus” projects.

Hat tip: Arch Allen.