What We’re Reading
Is College Enrollment Falling?
4-year college enrollment is up slightly since 2019, while 2-year enrollment is down about 5 percentage points. Also, it doesn’t really seem like a pandemic-induced change: this is a long-run decline in 2-year college enrollment of about 12 percentage points since the peak in 2012.
Titanium is a government research success story. Titanium metal was essentially willed into existence by the US government, which searched for a promising production process, successfully scaled it up when it found one, and performed much of the initial research on titanium’s material properties, potential alloys, and manufacturing methods. Nearly all early demand for titanium was for government aerospace projects, and when the nascent industry struggled, the government stepped in to subsidize production.
Why labor shortages could be here to stay
So-called "prime-age" workers are indeed working. The labor force participation rate among those age 25–53 is now at 83.3% — slightly higher than where it was in February 2020. But overall labor force participation — that is the share of the total population either working or looking for work — is still slightly lower than where it was then. That's partly to do with more older workers retiring.
Breaking down China’s manufacturing
China’s manufacturing share of GDP has declined since around 2010, meaning that manufacturing value-added has grown more slowly than the rest of the economy. The value-added breakdown shows that most of that slowdown has come from domestic demand, probably investment. What’s surprising is not so much that China’s investment boom has cooled off from the stimulus-driven peaks after the financial crisis, but that the slowdown has been so gradual.