In my final comments, I took aim at the university administrators. I said that "Education is no longer a public good." I said that education is dominated by special interests, such as teachers' unions. I did not add "and rent-seeking university administrators." Before you give me kudos for courtesy and discretion, you should know that I think what actually happened is that I was working on my next train of thought and dropped the thread. I then did a 30-second rant about credentials cartels, during which I suggested that some of the college wage premium was due to artificial requirements to enter various professions. I said that government should remove the subsidies, regulations, and accreditation barriers that stifle competition in health care and education.Only wish I had been there to hear that. One could indeed argue that universities no longer seem to exist to teach and so research, the primary function for them these days is protecting the rents of administrators, to hell with the academic and students. The idea of that the "government should remove the subsidies, regulations, and accreditation barriers that stifle competition" will not go down well with the aforementioned administrators. Actually if Kling thinks there is a lack of competition among universities in the US he should take a look at New Zealand!
Also you do see barriers to entry in many academic based areas and it would be interesting to know just how much of the "wage premium" in these areas has to do with these barriers. An increase in demand for training in such jobs may not explain the increase in wages as many people claim.
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