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Lawrence F. Katz

Claudia Dale Goldin

The Race between Education and Technology First Edition

by Claudia Goldin (Author), Lawrence F. Katz (Author)

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This book provides a careful historical analysis of the co-evolution of educational attainment and the wage structure in the United States through the twentieth century. The authors propose that the twentieth century was not only the American Century but also the Human Capital Century. That is, the American educational system is what made America the richest nation in the world. Its educational system had always been less elite than that of most European nations. By 1900 the U.S. had begun to educate its masses at the secondary level, not just in the primary schools that had remarkable success in the nineteenth century.

The book argues that technological change, education, and inequality have been involved in a kind of race. During the first eight decades of the twentieth century, the increase of educated workers was higher than the demand for them. This had the effect of boosting income for most people and lowering inequality. However, the reverse has been true since about 1980. This educational slow-down was accompanied by rising inequality. The authors discuss the complex reasons for this, and what might be done to ameliorate it.

ISBN-10

0674028678
ISBN-13

978-0674028678
Edition

First Edition
Publisher

Belknap Press
Publication date

June 30, 2008
Language

English
Dimensions

6.25 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches
Print length

496 pages
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Editorial Reviews

Review

If you want to understand the causes of the innovation deficit, I’d recommend adding one serious book to your summer reading list: The Race Between Education and Technology. (David Leonhardt New York Times 2008-07-02)

This is the most important book on modern U.S. inequality to date. (Tyler Cowen marginalrevolution.com 2008-07-04)

[Goldin and Katz] tackle the most important U.S. economic trend, and, hence, most critical domestic issue--growing income inequality...[America] now has the most unequal income and wage distributions of any high-income nation...Goldin and Katz's careful documentation of the changes in income distribution is an important public service. This alone would make their book essential reading. Yet they also offer a powerful explanation for what has driven changes in income inequality and point to solutions for addressing it...The good news is that if Goldin and Katz are right, the cure for income inequality is one most Americans would intuitively support: improving mass education. Mr Obama's spin-doctors should start translating Goldin and Katz's book into a campaign slogan at once. (Chrystia Freeland Financial Times 2008-08-25)

One of the most important books of the year. (Nicholas D. Kristof New York Times 2008-11-13)

Masterful...As the book's title suggests, whether inequality increases or not is best thought of as an ongoing race between education and technology. Combining this simple but appealing idea with a deep knowledge of the histories of the U.S. labor market and educational institutions, Goldin and Katz conclude that whereas education was winning the race for most of the 20th century, technology caught up in the 1970s and has since prevailed. The authors' most insightful point is that the root cause of the recent growth in inequality is not faster technological progress during the past three decades but rather the surprising stagnation in the level of education of young Americans. (Thomas Lemieux Science 2008-09-26)

The Race Between Education and Technology contains many tables, a few equations and a powerfully told story about how and why the United States became the world's richest nation--namely, thanks to its schools...Beginning in the 1970s, however, the education system failed to keep pace, resulting, Ms. Goldin and Mr. Katz contend, in a sharply unequal nation...It is nice to be reminded, in a data-rich book, that greater investments in human capital once put Americans collectively on top of the world. (Stephen Kotkin New York Times 2008-10-05)

Essential reading...Goldin and Katz give a broad historical view of the role of education in economic growth in the U.S. They make the case that, after a century of leading the world in supplying the educated workers needed to serve technology, the U.S. has fallen behind in education. (Thomas F. Cooley Forbes 2008-11-26)

Goldin's and Katz's thesis is that the 20th century was the American century in large part because this country led the world in education. The last 30 years, when educational gains slowed markedly, have been years of slower growth and rising inequality. (David Leonhardt New York Times Magazine 2009-02-01)

Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz establish a clear link between the number of high school and college graduates produced in any modern society and its economic growth. (Thomas D. Elias Appeal-Democrat 2009-02-16)

[Goldin and Katz] combine an acute sense of history with a skillful use of statistics. (Andrew Hacker New York Review of Books 2009-04-30)

During the 20th century both technology and education raced forward in the US, generating massive economic expansion and rising standards of living. Throughout the century, technological changes increased the relative demand for skilled labor, while the rapid expansion of first high schools and then higher education simultaneously increased the relative supply of skilled labor. Goldin and Katz carefully examine the historical and economic forces behind this expansion in education, extracting crucial evidence from the remarkable Iowa State Census of 1915, and they argue very plausibly that the relative demand for skilled labor grew at a fairly constant rate over the century. They conclude that "education ran faster" than technology "during the first half of the century," causing a considerable drop in economic inequality, but that "technology sprinted ahead of limping education in the last 30 years," leading to the recent upsurge in inequality. The rate of return on educational investments has become, once again, very high. Why have education levels increased so sluggishly in the face of these massive rewards? The answers are not entirely clear, nor are the optimal public policies, but the authors offer much food for thought. A must read. (R. M. Whaples Choice 2008-12-01)

Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz have produced a definitive economic history of American education...[It's] tightly reasoned and easy to grasp by anyone who cares about the country's educational history. (Peter H. Lindert eh.net 2008-11-01)

The general brilliance of illumination makes this book a feast of provocation. (Trevor Butterworth Forbes.com 2010-03-24)

Review

This book represents the best of what economics has to offer, combining a broad theoretical perspective, careful consideration of data, detailed lessons from economic history, and a close look at the present. (Alan Krueger, Princeton University)

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Belknap Press; First Edition (June 30, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 496 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0674028678
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0674028678
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.05 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,366,004 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #309 in Education History & Theory
- #505 in Knowledge Capital (Books)
- #739 in Political Ideologies

Customer Reviews:
46 ratings

About the authors

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Lawrence F. Katz
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Claudia Dale Goldin
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Claudia Goldin is the Henry Lee Professor of Economics at Harvard University and was the director of the NBER's Development of the American Economy program from 1989 to 2017. She is co-director of the NBER's Gender in the Economy Study Group.
Goldin is an economic historian and a labor economist who interprets the present through the lens of the past and explores the origins of current issues. Her research covers wide-ranging topics including the female labor force, the gender gap in earnings, income inequality, technological change, education, and immigration. Her book, The Race between Education and Technology (with L Katz) won the 2008 R.R. Hawkins Award. Her most recent book, Career & Family: Women's Century-Long Journey toward Equity, will be published in October 2021.
She was the president of the American Economic Association in 2013 and was president of the Economic History Association in 2000. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and has received numerous honors, including the BBVA Frontiers in Knowledge award, the Nemmers award in economics, and the IZA Prize. She received her BA from Cornell University and her PhD from the University of Chicago. She lives with her husband and golden retriever, Pika, in Cambridge MA.
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Customer reviews

5 star		74%
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3 star		4%
2 star		6%
1 star		4%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Jacqueline M Scharer

Wonderful book, disappointing used copy.

Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2018

Verified Purchase

I needed this book for grad school...working on my thesis. It's expensive so I checked it out of the local library until I just couldn't check it out anymore. Finally found an affordable used copy through an Amazon sub-vendor. Unfortunately, my understanding of 'Good Condition' and the vendors understanding are very different. I am keeping the book, but there are some many high-lighted sections and underlinings in INK that it is distracting. It is what it is....

Helpful

Sherman Dorn

One of the most important books in the human capital vein

Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2010

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I strongly recommend this book, not because I agree with all of it, but because it is the most sophisticated, historically informed argument in the human capital tradition. Goldin and Katz marshall important evidence (including material historians have not touched before ) to argue not only that education is critical to the nation's future in general but to the reduction of inequality.

While there are important limitations to the argument Goldin and Katz make, notably the relatively limited contribution of attainment to GDP growth in their analysis and the fact that the past contributions of education are not necessarily predictive, the book is essential reading to those who care about the relationship between schooling and the economy.

(Side note: the Kindle edition is incompetently formatted. Many of the tables are not viewable in their entirety in the iPad Kindle app. But that is the fault of the publisher, not the authors.)

11 people found this helpful

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Kindle Customer

Important work but two great scholars but kinda boring

Reviewed in the United States on August 21, 2020

Verified Purchase

Might be better to just read the articles through scholar.google.com

One person found this helpful

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Cliff Hawley

As advertised, a beautiful hardback book in excellent condition. All for $8 which incl. shipping.

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2021

Verified Purchase

Book in perfect condition. price is a bargain.

One person found this helpful

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Tiago Ribeiro Dos Santos

Not what I thought it was

Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2011

Verified Purchase

I bought this book because Daron Acemoglu said that anyone interested in inequality must read it, and I am very interested in inequality. While I am sure that the book has a compelling thesis (the reviews are really impressive), as a non-economist I found it really hard to follow it. The fault may well be mine, but lately I got used to excellent books that bring science to the general public with smooth arguments and an engaging prose: Thinking Fast and Slow, Triumph of the City, The Better Angels of our Nature (or any book by Steven Pinker), Launching the Innovation Renaissance.
I understand the importance of sobriety in academic papers. I miss, however, a book for the general public that would do for the understanding of inequality, and the importance of education and technology for that issue, what those books I mentioned did for their respective subjects. From what I hear, the authors are in a better position to do it than anyone else.

4 people found this helpful

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Jay

Only OK!

Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2019

Verified Purchase

Did not grab me and I am interested in this topic.

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AmazonBuyer11

Sometimes Tough to Read, but Very Informative

Reviewed in the United States on December 3, 2014

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This is a good read! I learned a lot in reading this book. It can be dry and hard to get through at times, but it made for some rich in-class discussions, and I took away a lot from it.

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2012

Verified Purchase

A must read on this subject. But also see the review by Acemoglu and Autor in the June 2012 Review of Economic Literature. Expands on the research and the conclusions.

5 people found this helpful

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