Michael J. Hicks is the director of the Center for Business and Economic Research and the George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Economics in the Miller College of Business at Ball State University. His column appears in Indiana newspapers.
Whenever I explain why Indiana needs more kids to attend college, I get some version of the comment, “a young person doesn’t need college to do well; we need more people in the trades.” While it is true for a few talented individuals, that is not true for a city or state. Economists call this the ‘fallacy of composition,’ which I can explain with a few facts.