RALEIGH, NC — On the second day of the 2015 Emerging Issues Forum hosted by N.C. State University, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond delivered a resounding call for stronger investment in education.

Jeffrey Lacker, a respected economist and member of the Federal Open Market Committee, cited income and wage data that shows a sustained demand for more college graduates.

“There’s been an increase in the number of people with a college degree in response to the rise in demand,” Lacker said. “And yet, the college (wage) premium has continued to increase.”

In 1980, Lacker said, a worker with a college degree earned about 40% more than a worker with a high school diploma. By 2013, a worker with a college degree earned more than 80% more.  “The inescapable conclusion is that we are failing to keep pace with our economy’s growing demand for skilled workers,” he said.

He pointed to the growing complexity of modern jobs, tracing the steady rise in educational attainment needed to be successful in the American economy. The massive growth in high school graduates at the start of the 20th century helped drive American prosperity for decades, but today’s jobs require a deeper set of skills.

“Innovation is essential for economic growth,” Lacker said. “And human capital — the knowledge and skills that make people productive — drives innovation.

Unfortunately, both wage data and employer surveys suggest that we are not fully preparing the next generation of skilled workers. Closing that gap, Lacker said, has to mean greater college-readiness for students graduating from high school, as well as more educational paths outside four-year college degrees.

North Carolina’s public higher education system is focused on both of those challenges, with an ambitious goal to increase university degree attainment and a community college system highly responsive to economic needs.

At least from Lacker’s perspective, the bottom-line message for state policymakers is clear:

“An increasingly better-educated workforce is going to be essential to the long-run prosperity of any region,” he concluded. “I think investing in all stages of the educational process can help us develop people who have degrees and certificates, have skills, and are better prepared for the workforce.”