Paul Samuelson is now best remembered as praising the Soviet economy in the 1989 edition of his eternal doorstop.
It was P.J. O’Rourke who memorably reviewed the textbook in one of the chapters of his economics-centered work “Eat the Rich”.
Though I like Charles Murray, this proposal is another form of “dumbing down America”. Instead of watered down curricula, his suggestion is to discourage all but “practical” (i.e., vocational) learning for those who do not go to college, and a whole bunch he deems not worthy of college.
Look, if we are to take seriously the concept of an informed and educated citizenry making up our polity, then you encourage continued learning for everyone, no matter how “stupid.” I hear none of this in Murray’s proposal.
He is proposing a very boring life. Moreover, most vocational jobs are dead end jobs that people come to hate.
Instead, while there is a layer of work that stays relatively constant (Construction, repair work, etc.) even that may see significant changes in the near future which will require non-college people to still learn very complex and advanced stuff. Now the Cable Guy needs to know Fiber optic communications?