What if the middle-income trap begins not in factories, trade policy, or investment flows — but inside the classroom?

In this episode, we explore how outdated education systems can hold emerging economies back from becoming high-income nations. Many countries have produced more graduates than ever before, yet employers still struggle to find workers with the right skills. The result is a painful mismatch: young people do everything society asks of them, but the economy has already changed.

From cheap labor and export-led growth to AI, automation, technical skills, and lifelong learning, this episode explains why human capital may be the most important infrastructure of the 21st century — and why countries that fail to upgrade their classrooms may struggle to upgrade their economies.