Is educational success key to the wealth of nations?

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Australia’s economy is suffering from slow productivity growth and stagnant wages, partly caused by a decades-long decline of the education system. In the long run, smarter countries are richer countries; higher educated individuals generally earn more and ‘knowledge capital’ is key to the wealth of the nation.

CIS research fellow, Glenn Fahey and the Hoover Institution’s Eric Hanushek ask; What are the costs of educational underperformance? Will East Asia’s superior education systems today mean a poorer Anglosphere in future? What can turn around educational decline? How can smarter investments be made in teachers and schooling? Will school closures due to covid-19 further hurt our future prospects?

Eric Hanushek is the Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University. He is widely recognised as the world’s leading authority in the economic analysis of education issues, with his research impacting education policy around the world. In his book, The Knowledge Capital of Nations: Education and the Economics of Growth, he establishes that countries’ long-term rates of economic growth are closely related to their education systems’ effectiveness.

Glenn Fahey is a research fellow in education policy at CIS with a particular focus on education finance and accountability.