Choosing
the right major in a changing world
Sterling
Harris
More
young people are choosing to pursue a
college degree today than 30 years ago.
In fact, according to the U.S. census,
15 percent more adults aged 18 to 24
are enrolled in college today than in
1972.
The increased competition makes the selection of a major more critical. However,
many believe that simply having a degree is enough to land a highly paid job
in their chosen field. This, unfortunately, is not the case, and a brief discussion
of the bigger economic picture may shed some light on the most lucrative paths
to pursue.
Over the past 30 years, the United States has lost millions of highly paid
jobs in the manufacturing sector. At the same time, America has been incurring
substantial debts both public and private. Our economy now relies heavily on
the service sector, which produces next to nothing for export.
In the global marketplace, we consume far more than we produce. The monthly
trade deficit for the United States is in the neighborhood of $50 billion.
How do we pay for all of those Ipods and flat screen TVs?
The U.S. dollar is the world’s foremost reserve currency. Under previous
monetary regimes, gold was the standard by which currencies were valued. This
is no longer the case as the federal reserve has perfected the art of alchemy,
producing money at will.
Furthermore, the world’s most important commodity — oil — is
denominated in dollars. If China, for example, wants to buy oil from Canada,
it must first acquire dollars to pay for it. In order for China to acquire
dollars, it must sell goods to the United States, so in a sense, the United
States owns every barrel of oil that is extracted from the earth.
Where does that leave us? It is becoming clear the rest of the world is growing
tired of this arrangement. Seven Asian countries including Japan, China and
South Korea, hold more than 1.1 trillion American dollars in their treasuries.
By their continued purchase of U.S. debt, these nations are essentially paying
us to buy what they produce.
This sort of relationship cannot last forever, and sooner or later foreign
investors will come to realize the United States will never be able to pay
off its debts.
This realization will spur a major devaluation of the dollar, making imported
goods — most of the manufactured goods that we consume — prohibitively
expensive.
Entire domestic industries will have to be rebuilt, which brings me back to
my original point. Revitalizing our industrial base is going to require the
kind of technical expertise you can’t get from a degree in the humanities
or social sciences. Law, psychology and communications are all fine fields
of study, but American universities are not training enough engineers, scientists
and mathematicians. It is in these fields that you can get a well paying job
after four years in college.
While jobs in the service sector will wither away, America will always have
a need for individuals with a high degree of technical knowledge.
Sterling Harris is a sophomore electrical engineering major. |
