The importance of education

The game of Civilization IV has its focus on the immediate future. Lifetimes of leaders and education do not play a part in the game. This integral part to the actual economy shapes the world we live in and thus it should be included in the game. Looking at the world today, and also looking back at my previous blogs about the importance of culture in society, education, the kinds of leaders, and the duration of the reigns not only can single handedly change the face of the economy.

Education, although measured in the game by points and percentages, has a more direct effect on the real economy. Countries in Asia put a lot of emphasis on having a well educated society and they are among the top economies in the world. This strong correlation between the two is not so clearly shown with the game.

Education is hard to gauge since there is all kinds of education. Trade schools, vocational schools and apprenticeships are now considered “alternatives” to “traditional” four year institutions. Looking at these “alternatives” the immediate economic benefits are seen in that the “alternative students” are in the job market sooner, and developing their income sooner than “traditional students.” Also these students contribute to the national economy by means of paying the taxes and spending the money that other members of the job market do. The real contributors, however, can be found at the four year institutions. These students usually have loans that have some kind of credit attached. By allowing students the opportunity to have money now, to repay later increases their client base because people need a way to pay for college. Usually these are the people who have at least some money who intend on making a lot more money. Increasing their consumer base with these kinds of people gives them faithful clients and through the interest rate, makes their profit.

Not only do lending institutions make money but so does the retail world. “Traditional students,” although typically they have very low incomes, spend a lot of their meager earnings on books, clothes, and other “necessities” for their dorm room. It is so easy to get swept up into the idea that we can buy and have anything, especially with the use of a credit card. Most if not all college students don’t typically have a lot of experience on how to manage a credit card, making us easy targets to spend a lot more than we have and then end up owing a lot more than we have. This situation at first is great for the company, not so much for the consumer. If the consumer bankrupts then the company loses a client and then all the retail stores suffer because that individual can no longer purchase anything but what is absolutely necessary. This was seen after the United States experienced a recession a few years ago and reports were coming out that the consumer market had dipped down even on the busiest shopping day of the year: the day after Thanksgiving. The whole nation had to reevaluate what was necessary and as an educated society these are the types of issues that separates our economy over still developing ones in still developing countries.