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Bryan Caplan

What Bryan Caplan thinks about education

@bryan-caplan · 22 positions · On ppll ↗

Bryan Caplan did not write this page.

We collected these quotes from things they published elsewhere, and every quote links to where it was said. They have no account here and have not endorsed this site. Quotes are word for word; the short line under each one is our own restatement, not their wording. Their own site. Is this you? Claim it or ask us to remove it. Or tell us what is wrong here.

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Only Bryan Caplan on education. See everyone on education

12 dated positions, 2023 to 2025, in their own words. Our reading of what Bryan Caplan has said — not written or endorsed by them.

  1. Our readingStandardised testing is a good idea badly executed: the tests in common use are the problem, not testing itself.

    Their wordsStandardized testing is glorious, but many standardized tests royally suck.

    ↗What's Really Wrong With Standardized Testsbetonit.ai 1st of 4 in this piece

  3. Our readingA test meant to find the best candidates must make perfect scores vanishingly rare, so that the top of the distribution can still be told apart.

    Their wordsFirst and foremost: Perfect scores should be vanishingly rare. Instead of clumping the best candidates together, you should be able to clearly distinguish the 99th percentile from the 99.9th, 99.99th, and so on.

    ↗What's Really Wrong With Standardized Testsbetonit.ai 2nd of 4 in this piece

  5. Our readingElite programmes stay with tests that cannot separate the best candidates because doing so is a stealthy move in a wider war against merit.

    Their wordsWokeness is the obvious answer. There are many lines of defense in the War Against Merit.

    ↗What's Really Wrong With Standardized Testsbetonit.ai 3rd of 4 in this piece

  7. Our readingBad admissions tests survive on herding: no programme wants to be the one asking for a different exam, even a far better one.

    Their wordsSo a lot of the problem is mere herding: If every other top engineering program is using the GRE, it’s too weird to require a different test even if the alternative test is a far superior selection mechanism.

    ↗What's Really Wrong With Standardized Testsbetonit.ai 4th of 4 in this piece

  8. 5 weeks earlier

  9. Our readingFunding education does not make a country rich; being rich is what makes a country fund education lavishly.

    Their wordsLavishly funding education doesn’t cause countries to become rich; being rich causes countries to lavishly fund education.

    ↗Educational Austerity and Progress Studiesbetonit.ai 1st of 3 in this piece

  11. Our readingAt the national level there is no clear evidence that more education raises living standards at all.

    Their wordsAt the national level, it’s not clear that education increases living standards at all, much less that education makes countries’ living standards increase at a faster rate.

    ↗Educational Austerity and Progress Studiesbetonit.ai 2nd of 3 in this piece

  12. 3 weeks earlier

  13. Our readingThe main function of education is signalling rather than building skill, so subsidising it mostly inflates credentials.

    inflationgovernment

    Their wordsSince signaling, not building human capital, is the main function of education, the main effect of government subsidies is credential inflation.

    ↗Selfishly Speaking, Who Should Skip College?betonit.ai 1st of 5 in this piece

  15. Our readingCollege is not a good career investment for most of the population.

    economists

    Their wordsDespite misleading statements by mainstream education economists, college attendance in particular is not a good career investment for most of the population.

    ↗Selfishly Speaking, Who Should Skip College?betonit.ai 2nd of 5 in this piece

  17. Our readingParents and teachers are not trustworthy judges of how intelligent a young person is.

    Their wordsDon’t base your life choices on whether parents and teachers constantly tell you that you’re “smart.” They’re not trustworthy assessors of your intelligence.

    ↗Selfishly Speaking, Who Should Skip College?betonit.ai 3rd of 5 in this piece

  19. Our readingWhether to go to college should be decided on objective evidence about your own ability, starting with a test score.

    Their wordsWhat should you do instead? First and foremost: Get objective evidence on your own intelligence.

    ↗Selfishly Speaking, Who Should Skip College?betonit.ai 4th of 5 in this piece

  21. Our readingMost of a degree's value comes from finishing it, so starting one you will not complete is a bad investment.

    Their wordsSince about 70% of the college payoff comes from completion, non-completion implies a terrible return on investment.

    ↗Selfishly Speaking, Who Should Skip College?betonit.ai 5th of 5 in this piece

  22. 23 months earlier

  23. Our readingAn AI can already earn an A on a university economics midterm, years earlier than informed forecasters expected.

    OpenAI

    Their wordsTo my surprise and no small dismay, GPT-4 got an A. It earned 73/100, which would have been the fourth-highest score on the test.

    ↗GPT Retakes My Midterm and Gets an Abetonit.ai