A blog about economics instruction. "Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler."--Albert Einstein

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

QuickTake: Poor Writing Costs Taxpayers Millions

Direct cost of poor writing: $250,000,000 spent on remedial writing instruction.

Indirect cost of poor writing: not easily measurable, but undoubtedly quite high.

Hidden cost?

Another hidden cost is that good ideas may never see the light of day.

"I see that all the time in writing and political speaking," Huckabee said. "There are some really bright people who can't communicate and as a result their ideas probably aren't given the attention they deserve."


Magnitude of the problem:

While two-thirds of companies surveyed in the 2004 report said writing was an important responsibility for workers, 100 percent of the 49 states responding to the anonymous survey said it was. More than 75 percent said they take writing skills into account when hiring.

An economy functions more efficiently when its labor force can read well and write clearly. Encouraging students to develop their writing skills is something that any economics instructor can do.

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