Nasim Taleb, author of “Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder,”  argues that education pays real benefits at a micro level because it  allows families to lock in their economic status. An entrepreneurial  father can ensure his kids will do OK by paying for them to become  doctors and lawyers. But what is true at the micro level is not always  true at the macro level.
 Think about it this way: Growing economies spend a lot on education,  but that doesn’t necessarily mean that spending makes them grow. During  the so-called Gilded Age, the U.S. economy roared faster and longer than  ever before or since, while the illiteracy rate went down. But the  rising literacy didn’t cause the growth. Similarly, in the 20th century,  in places like China, South Korea and India, the economic boom — and  the policies that create it — always come first while the investments in  education come later.