Rita Hammer, Chapter 6, question 6

Something that particularly stood out to me in chapter 6 was towards the end. It was concluded after talking about how the key to becoming successful is through human capital, that if everyone becomes a doctor, engineer, entrepenuer, etc. there will still be "sludge work." As I first read this, I started to ask the question, is poverty/people who lack education and talent necesarry for the economy to keep running smoothly? Wheelan quickly affirms the answer as no by saying, "the wage for hauling sludge would get bid up to the point that some individual- a doctor, or an engineer..- would be willing to leave a more pleasant job to hail sludge. Thus a world rich in human capital may still have unpleasant tasks...but no one has to be poor." Some people might even do these sometimes satisfying jobs and settle for less money. Simply by saying "well, somebody has to clean toilets and work at McDonalds," is no excuse for people not to become educated and develop skills associated with human capital.