Auctioning the Future of Work

The 2008 financial crisis wiped trillions of dollars off the value of the world's financial markets, but it did little to halt the explosion in college education. Difficult economic times in much of the world only reinforce the myth that education triggers economic growth and resolves problems of inequality. Meanwhile, China's new leadership has prioritized expanding the rising middle class. The country is committed to becoming an innovation economy by 2020, driven by an expansion of higher education. In emerging economies, it's assumed that investing in what economists call human capital offers a chance to break into the global competition for jobs as companies look to reduce production costs in mature economies, along with the hope of moving up the value chain. Here, Brown and Lauder discuss how emerging economies like China and India are poised on the cusp of an unprecedented opportunity to leapfrog decades.