Worker mental skills are productive but not scarce, so they pay no wage premium

Evidence

The reader may find our argument, despite its wide statistical support, not only counterintuitive, but actually incredible. For the figures seem to refute the manifest observation that the economy could not operate without the cognitive skills of workers, and these skills are acquired in school. This observation is eminently correct, and by no means contradicted by our data. What our argument suggests is merely that the mental-skill demands of work are sufficiently limited, the skills produced by our educational system sufficiently varied, and the possibilities for acquiring additional skills on the job sufficiently great so that skill differences among individuals who are acceptable for a given job on the basis of other criteria including race, sex, personality, and credentials are of little economic import. At most levels in the occupational hierarchy mental skills are productive, but are not scarce, and hence do not bear a direct monetary return. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 1031

The reader may find our argument, despite its wide statistical support, not only counterintuitive, but actually incredible. For the figures seem to refute the manifest observation that the economy could not operate without the cognitive skills of workers, and these skills are acquired in school. This observation is eminently correct, and by no means contradicted by our data. What our argument suggests is merely that the mental-skill demands of work are sufficiently limited, the skills produced by our educational system sufficiently varied, and the possibilities for acquiring additional skills on the job sufficiently great so that skill differences among individuals who are acceptable for a given job on the basis of other criteria including race, sex, personality, and credentials are of little economic import. At most levels in the occupational hierarchy mental skills are productive, but are not scarce, and hence do not bear a direct monetary return. Indeed, we have suggested that the educational system serves to produce surpluses of skilled labor, thereby increasing the power of employers over workers. Thus the statistical evidence, far from being a striking curiosity, is an expected reflection of the class nature of the production process. Workers’ skills are an absolutely fundamental element in economic growth, but skill differences do not explain the lack of progress toward social justice. — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 1032

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The productive-not-scarce distinction is the theoretical pivot that dissolves the apparent paradox of IQ not predicting income — genuinely the kind of resolution that reframes the whole skill-pay debate.
• XREF: Directly engages Adam Smith/Marx on scarcity and price of productive inputs. — connects to: Education’s economic function operates through personality formation, not skills — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 214; Worker skills exceeding their rank threaten the enterprise’s legitimacy — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 893; Wages compensate time but not enthusiasm workers contribute freely — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism, 65 (+3 more)
• BMF: No - this is economic theory, not evoking a specific plot device in the listed library.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 1031; Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America:…, 1032

Broader Connections

• Wages compensate time but not enthusiasm workers contribute freely #qualifies (0.85) — Yanis Varoufakis, Technofeudalism, 65
• Cognitive skills explain little of education’s link to economic success. #qualifies (0.80) — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 556
• Skilled labour organicity limits competitive wage discipline. #corroborates (0.78) — Antonio Gramsci, Selections from the Prison Notebooks, 1146
• Ignorant workers make more productive industrial laborers than thoughtful ones #corroborates (0.75) — Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis, Schooling in Capitalist America, 542