The knowledge economy, skills and government labour market intervention

Chris Warhurst

Policy Studies, 2008, vol. 29, issue 1, 71-86

Abstract: The development of the knowledge economy is common policy across all levels of government across the advanced economies. This article recognises the weaknesses inherent in this policy but, based on a critical analysis of the skill needs and skill formation of this economy, it outlines how, if such a policy is to be pursued, it might be better achieved. It first argues that government policy has become centred on an orthodoxy featuring a particular set of ‘thinking skills’ formed through the institutions of higher education – universities. This approach results in an exclusive knowledge economy and is, in effect, creating an over-supply of graduates. The article then outlines other, more inclusive accounts of the knowledge economy that recognise the need for a broader range of skills and which direct government policy towards intervention in the labour market through other institutions through which these skills might be formed – the family and trade unions.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1080/01442870701848053

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