Calculus Comment

Here's a comment from our Dublin correspondent on an earlier posting titled "The Calculus of Living."

   The cost of education and the potential of increased earnings need to be balanced.

   The current economic situation worldwide seems to be causing a number of people to attend school at various levels simply because there is no work available.  At some time their attendance at school will finish, but there may still not be any work for the person with even higher qualifications.
   I remember talking to someone who needed a person to
sweep up and ensure the factory work areas were clean.  One person with a master's degree applied and was turned down simply because the employer felt the highly trained person would leave due to boredom after a short time.

   Boredom and other reasons do not seem to enter the equation if the highly educated person moves to another country.  You may find the person stocking shelves in the local supermarket has a degree from a university in Poland or Russia or the Ukraine or elsewhere, while the graduate from the local university would not consider taking such a
job.  Possibly meeting friends who know them and the qualifications possessed makes the individual reluctant to do such work.  I wonder if the locally educated graduate would take a job in a supermarket in another country.

   Of course, bragging rights are sometimes associated with the work.  A parent is more likely to say their child is in a high position in a foreign supermarket than to say the child is stocking shelves in Warsaw.