Introduction

This book is a survey of the principal aspects of the economics of education, such as the demand for education as consumption and as an investment, good education and economic growth, education and manpower needs, and the finance of education. In some cases in recent years, economic theory has been applied to educational problems in order to gain an insight into the workings of the educational system. The result has been a certain amount of confusion and distrust among teachers and educationists: confusion because some theoretical aspects are not easily understood and distrust of the economist’s intrusion into educational policy-making. This book overcomes these problems by making minimal demands on prior knowledge of economics and by emphasizing the limitations of economic analysis applied to policy matters.