“A Liberal Arts Degree is More Valuable than Learning any Trade.”

Though this may sound like something someone from the humanities department might say, but this is actually the title of an article that came out in the Forbes business magazine. No, I did not go digging through the archives to find the one article that might support my position. This came out yesterday. A distant friend just happened to post this to his general public on his Facebook page, and I thought it was appropriate.

The author is an engineer that runs a multi-billion dollar company. His argument is remarkably short, and would take no longer than five minutes to read. But the essence of the argument comes in two paragraphs:

I believe this to be true for a handful of reasons. The first is that whatever can be done in India and China WILL be done in India and China. Any job that can be outsourced eventually will be, from IT to back-office medical or financial work, for a fraction of the cost.

Also, whatever can be done by a computer will be done by a computer. The people who will succeed in more expensive labor markets like the U.S. will be those who can think creatively and generate the IDEAS that will propel economic growth. Such skills are best fostered in a traditional liberal arts environment.

Now, since Kojo is pro-education perhaps he will post this article on his blog as well?