THE BIGGEST ISSUE

Why did the United States become the leading economic power of the 20th century? As Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz describe in their book, "The Race Between Education and Technology," America's educational progress was amazingly steady over those decades, and the country opened up a gigantic global lead:

• Educational levels were rising across the industrialized world, but the United States had at least a 35-year advantage on most of Europe.
• In 1950, no European country enrolled 30 percent of its older teens in full-time secondary school.
• In the United States, 70 percent of older teens were in school.

But the happy era ended around 1970 when America's educational progress slowed to a crawl. Between 1975 and 1990, educational attainments stagnated completely. America's lead over its economic rivals has been entirely forfeited, with many nations surging ahead in school attainment. This threatens the country's long-term prospects...

[70's: when we expanded government's role in education. who could have guessed it? Health care anyone?]

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