Baumol’s Cost Disease and the Trinitarian Pedagogy
Article
First Online:
- 11 Downloads
Abstract
Baumol’s cost disease explains rising costs in education without corresponding increase in productivity. The philosophical meaning of it is in the phenomenon of relational labor that is at the core of education. Its productivity remains constant while cost increases. The total size of education as a non-progressive sector will continue to expand, while progressive sectors of economy will shrink. To avoid large social crises associated with defunding of public education, we must conceive of a cultural shift where relationality becomes the end, while learning—a means of education. The author uses the theory of Trinity developed by early Christian philosophers to construct a framework for such a shift.
Keywords
Baumol’s cost disease Trinitarian theology Pedagogy of relation Jobless societyNotes
References
- Bakhtin, M.M. 1993. Problems of Dostoevsky’s poetics. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.Google Scholar
- Baumol, W.J. 1967. Macroeconomics of unbalanced growth: The anatomy of urban crisis. The American Economic Review 57 (3): 415–426.Google Scholar
- Baumol, W. J., & Bowen, W. G. 1993. Performing arts-the economic dilemma: A study of problems common to theater, opera, music and dance. Gregg Revivals. Original: Baumol, W.; W. Bowen (1966). Performing Arts, The Economic Dilemma: A study of problems common to theater, opera, music, and dance. New York: Twentieth Century Fund.Google Scholar
- Becker, G.S. 1964. Human capital theory, 1964. New York: Columbia.Google Scholar
- Blaug, M. 2001. Where are we now on cultural economics. Journal of economic surveys 15 (2): 123–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- BLS 2018. Labor Productivity and Costs, Bureau of Labor Statistics, https://www.bls.gov/lpc/prodybar.htm, Updated on May 3, 2018.
- Buber, M. 1970. I and Thou, trans. Walter Kaufmann. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons.Google Scholar
- Chen, X., and C.C. Moul. 2014. Disease or utopia? Testing Baumol in education. Economics Letters 122 (2): 220–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Friedman, M. 1973. The voucher idea. New York Times Magazine 23: 22–23.Google Scholar
- Koroleva, D. 2016. Always online: Using mobile technology and social media at home and at school by modern teenagers. Educational Studies 1: 205–224.Google Scholar
- Lederman, D. 2017. “Clay Christensen, Doubling Down,” Inside Higher Ed April 28, 2017, https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2017/04/28/clay-christensen-sticks-predictions-massive-college-closures.
- Mincer, J. 1958. Investment in human capital and personal income distribution. Journal of Political Economy 66 (4): 281–302.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
- Mitchell, M., Leachman, M., & Masterson, K. (2017). A lost decade in higher education funding state cuts have driven up tuition and reduced quality. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Virginia Tech University. https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/bitstream/handle/10919/83618/TuitionReducedQuality.pdf.
- Noddings, N. 2013. Caring: A relational approach to ethics and moral education. Oakland: Univ of California Press.Google Scholar
- Robinson, J. 1969. Macroeconomics of unbalanced growth: A belated comment. American Economic Review 59 (4): 633–633.Google Scholar
- Schleicher, A. 2015. School technology struggles to make an impact. BBC News, http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34174795.
- Schultz, T.W. 1963. The economic value of education. Oxford: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
- Sidorkin A.M. 2017. Human capital and innovations in education. In Reforms and innovation in education Science, technology and innovation studies, eds. Sidorkin A, Warford M. Springer, Cham.Google Scholar
- Zizioulas, J. D. 2010. Relational ontology: Insights from patristic thought. In The Trinity and an entangled world: Relationality in physical science and theology, ed. Polkinghorne J, 146–156.Google Scholar
Copyright information
© Springer Nature B.V. 2019