In addition, most western countries are sitting on a sea of wasted talent. About 40% of graduates in the USA never get jobs in their field[1], and it&#x27;s similar world-wide. It&#x27;s lower in the engineering fields, but that still leaves a lot of smart people with formal education experience doing things like staffing the reception counter at the local gym.<p>Graduates take these jobs because the alternative is the hell that is student debt collection, but these are jobs that could easily be done by less educated people. The more educated people have the capacity to explore the kind of home-grown science, arts and social projects that brought us to discover electricity, progress to giving women the vote.<p>We&#x27;re sitting on top of a new renaissance because of short sightedness, but the potential boon of having that much home grown R&amp;D could dramatically increase global wealth.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mlive.com&#x2F;jobs&#x2F;index.ssf&#x2F;2011&#x2F;05&#x2F;40_percent_of_college_grads_end_up_settl.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.mlive.com&#x2F;jobs&#x2F;index.ssf&#x2F;2011&#x2F;05&#x2F;40_percent_of_co...</a> or just google that phrase, it makes for depressing reading