eugenics Archives – Capital As Power

Category: Blog/Featured

The Rise of Human Capital Theory

Posted On February 4, 2022February 4, 2022 By Blair Fix

Originally published at Economics from the Top Down Blair Fix If there was an award for the most pernicious scientific idea ever, what theory should get first prize? I would vote for eugenics, a theory that claims we can ‘improve’ humanity through selective breeding. If there was a second prize, I’d give it to human […]

Category: Featured/Publications

Fix, ‘The Rise of Human Capital Theory’

Posted On March 29, 2021September 18, 2021 By Blair Fix

Abstract Today, human capital theory dominates the study of personal income. But this has not always been so. In this essay, I chart the rise of human capital theory, and compare it to the rise (and fall) of eugenics. The comparison, I argue, is an apt one. Eugenics and human capital theory both focus on […]