Staying Competitive: Education and Healthcare the Only Sure Bets

When you hear the word "economy," what do you think of? Jobs? Inflation? Debt? Trade? Of course, the economy is all of these things and more, but in this brave new global marketplace, one of the few things we know for sure is that investing in education will create a smarter, more innovative workforce that can’t help but positively affect the economy.

Because even with all of the economists, computer programs, and theories out there, we still don’t know for certain what makes the economy tick. The world marketplace has changed so rapidly that the Congress seems to have less power over the economy than it once did.

For example, Democrats have vowed to cut the deficit during the new Congressional term, but reducing the national debt may not have a major impact on our economy. Even putting more tax dollars into research and development won’t necessarily benefit U.S. workers. With money, goods, and workers flowing easily over borders, new developments don’t stay put in the U.S.

To keep jobs in your town, the workers there need to be educated and healthy. Education and healthcare are the building blocks of a good economy, whether local or global.

The importance of education

To remain competitive in the global market, the U.S. must have competitive workers - workers who can adapt to the changing tides as well as create their own technological, medical, and intellectual advances.

Innovative thinking and technological breakthroughs have made the U.S. economy great historically, and, of course, education is the fertile ground from which such innovation grows.

But by all accounts, our education system is in trouble. Students in public schools test far behind those in other countries, especially in math and science. Fewer students are graduating from high school, with some cities experiencing a 50 percent dropout rate. Some blame the education reform law No Child Left Behind. For more on this, click here. Others say that early childhood education is the key to school success in the future; for more on this, click here. Or, perhaps, American culture does not honor and encourage education the way that other cultures do. To hear a personal essay about the importance of education and duty in China by 13 year old Ying Ying Yu, click here.

College education

College has become less and less affordable for the average American family over the past twenty years, with tuition and expenses for an average four-year university rising as much as 80 percent in that amount of time. For more on tuition inflation, click here.

In the first 100 hours of the new congressional session, Democrats have promised to cut interest rates for student loans in half.

What would you like to see the new Congress do in terms of education?

The importance of healthcare

Also essential to the economy is healthcare.

The U.S. is the only country that connects health care with employment, costing employers and workers a large amount for private healthcare. But the healthcare industry also provides loads of private sector jobs, from doctors and nurses (there is even a shortage of nurses due to a lack of nursing teachers and good nursing salaries), to technicians, to hospital maintenance. Further, healthcare - from prenatal to mental to geriatric - is essential to a productive society and economy.

WomenMatter will continue to track health care policy and how it interacts with education and the economy. Stay tuned.

What do you think?

What would you have Congress do about education and healthcare? How would you make a college education more affordable? Do you have student loans? Tell it like it is on our blog.

Your input matters

Your representatives DO care what you think. Give your senators a piece of your mind! To find your reps, click here.

To explore our archive of past Jobs Issue updates, click here.

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Article Posted on: 11/24/2006