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If that's the case, then why can't the average teenager of today pass an 8th grade final exam from 1900? Just wondering.

My belief is that a certain percentage of people are stupid in any generation, and there is simply no changing that fact. However, back in 1900, the stupid ones weren't babysat through 12 years of public school. If they were stupid, they dropped out in the 2nd or 3rd grade, or maybe never went to school, and thus the remaining students by 8th grade were, across the board, more capable of learning advanced things. Nowadays, kids are kept in school no matter how stupid they are, and the curriculum is dumbed down to their level, even for the smart kids. The effect goes well into college, too, because college is now seen as an entitlement. My experience in college 12 years ago was that, at least for the general ed stuff, the material was dumbed down to what I would consider junior high level and full of leftist pablum.

Nice analogy there to why the S&P 500 is such a good long-term investment: the failing companies get swapped out before they can crater completely.

Cheers!