David Brooks calls for a “New Human Capital Revolution”

As one of the nation’s “must-read” opinion columnists, David Brooks carries great weight with all of the candidates running for public office. In today’s New York Times, Brooks attributes American economic success during most of the 20th Century to the fact that “American workers were better educated, more industrious and more innovative than the ones that came before. That progress stopped about 30 years ago.” Brooks goes on to say that while liberals have spent time thinking about human capital, conservatives have not; they have tended “to imagine that if you build a free market, a quality labor force would magically appear.” He advises the Republican nominee for President to call for “a new human capital revolution” to recapture the can-do spirit. Among other things, Brooks promotes policies that would make programs such as Teach For America, KIPP Schools, and New Leaders for New Schools flourish. Brooks also challenges the Democrats’ version of why more students don’t complete college, asserting that it’s not just about affordability: “The real reasons are that students are academically unprepared and emotionally disengaged.” He calls for making national service a “rite of passage for 20-somethings” and suggests that the volunteers focus on mentoring other students through high school and college. To read more of what Brooks has to say today, read his op-ed.