What value?!? He's converting grass that is inedible to humans to dairy products that are edible. He is increasing supply and possible lowering the cost to the consumer. He is feeding people. Economics is not a zero sum game. He is either providing a benefit or or he is going out of business. His impact on other dairy farmers is immaterial. He is creating wealth and prosperity....and not just for himself and his investors.

First, I don't throw out resumes solely based on formal education. I use that as just one factor in a fairly complex decision making process to decide who to interview. Second, I do a LOT of interviews. There is no substitute for a face-to-face discussion.

The most important things to me are what problems they have solved in the past and how they solved those problems. What responsibilities they have managed. How they deal with stress and uncertainty. How they learn and how quickly they can become an expert on a new topic. Another key thing I look for is military experience.

Investment has no real value? Lets say you want be a dairy farmer but you don't have any cows and don't have the money to buy them. I invest in you by providing the funds to establish your herd. Have I provided any value to you? I absolutely have! Would this be good deal for you if that value was realized as a dividend to me? Of course it would. Investment provides real value!

And down the rabbit hole we go....

How would you classify dividends and capital gains? In any case your confusing labor with value. Thats the whole point of debate about the Labor Theory of Value. Can all value be equated to labor? It's a complex question and we seem to be on different sides of the issue.

You do provide valid example of cost may be equated with labor. However, doing so is not always valid. The Labor Theory of Value has serious issues.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

In short, while all labor=cost not all cost=labor.

Actually, I can legally ride my horse on any road in my state other than the Interstate Highway. There is no law that limits me to a specific area.

We are in no danger of ideas having little value. We haven't achieved even rudimentary AI. Creativity will always have value.

Your assuming that the reason for a robot is that it was cheaper than human labor. I don't think this is a valid assumption. It may actually be net more expensive. How about these possible reasons for using a robot.

1. Higher precision
2. Higher quality and consistency
3. Safety
4. The particular task is not directly possible with human labor

It's not necessarily about cost.

The corner cases are what make you rich. Thats why playing the odds is, as I said originally, not what you want to to do when your goal is to find truly exceptional people.

Your absolutely right that "hard working, creative, a willingness to step up and take ownership, and high intelligence" is what you want and it's true that the vast majority of the candidates without the degree will not have those traits. Unfortunately, a degree is not a good indicator that they have those traits either.

I've hired and worked with a good number of people over the years that legitimately qualify as a tech "superstar". About 25% had no four year degree and another 25% had a non-technical degree. A tiny fraction had higher degrees. My point was that there are real gems out there that you will miss out on if you blindly require a degree and don't evaluate what they bring to the table.

This is my experience as well. I would avoid going into debt for another degree unless thats the only way you can get the knowledge you need to do the job. However, if thats the only way you can learn it then you should find another field because your not going to make it to the top anyway.

I absolutely agree with this. Go talk to them and find out what fields are available to you. Your existing degree and a few years of real experience will jump you way ahead. You will be much better off than just getting a second degree.

Your analogy is badly flawed. "Orthopedic Surgeon" in not a degree. It is a medical specialty for someone who has an MD ( though it's possible to do it with other doctorates ). It's absolutely possible your Chiropractor and your Orthopedic Surgeon to have the same undergraduate degree.

I hate jump into this greatly over-argued debate but it really depends on what type of employee your trying to hire. Your strategy is fine if you want to find conventional thinking people who follow the standard path from point A to point B. However, if your after the rockstars, the absolute impact players, your strategy will throw away most of them. In 25 years of hiring tech professionals, I've found more superstars without the degree than with. I do throw out 99 out of a hundred resumes but don't do it simply based on formal education.

Just to put the facts on record, here are the stats for Jan-Oct 2014:

(in Millions of dollars)
Germany: exports to: 41,672 imports from: 102,542
Mexico: exports to: 201,714 imports from: 246,124

If you exclude agriculture from both, Mexico is still much higher. Sorry to be obsessive about this but I do a lot of business in Mexico and I'm constantly annoyed by the people who think the whole country is like Cancun, Cabo. They do have their problems, especially in the remote areas, but the middle class is actually GROWING there. Mexico City is one of the worlds largest cities and Monterrey is an industrial powerhouse.