While it’s surely better to have an education than not have one, all things equal, Paul Krugman does touch on some real issues of why education is no guarantee of success anymore and will probably be less so in the future even for those who are highly educated.
Perhaps there are some lessons for parenting here. Instead of worrying where our kids will get into nursery school, so that they start their inevitable progression to an Ivy League school, one might serve them better by instead or also giving them an entreprenurial orientation, useful for whatever they ultimately choose to do. It is no longer the case that one can gain a single technical skill and assume it will be enough to sustain someone through his or her career. Those that can spot opportunity, define a vision, articulate it to motivate themselves and others to follow it, and then execute on that vision will be best poised to succeed in an increasingly exciting, but turbulent world.
