Education pays but no golden ticket

In a NY Times article “The Wealth Trajectory” Greg Mankiw, a Harvard Professor and a famous economics blogger explains the differences in earnings for average workers and the super rich. I found the following statistics good on value of education

In 2005, each year of college yielded an additional 12.9 percent. The rate of return from each year of graduate school has risen even more — from 7.3 to 14.2 percent.

Another thing to note for the premium on education is due to the age old supply and demand equation. The demand for educated people in the last few decades outpaced the supply there by raising the earnings of educated class. That also explains the reason for immigrant me being here.

But still education can take you limited distance on the path to super richness. The “real” reason for it seem to be being educated and lucky

Maybe educational levels are like Willie Wonka’s chocolate bars. A few of them come with golden tickets that give you opportunities almost beyond imagination. But even if you aren’t lucky enough to get a golden ticket, you can still enjoy the chocolate, which by itself is well worth the price.