Brainiacs drive growth, but our education system is producing fewer of them

The Economist:

 
Better educated students drive growth, and growth makes the pie larger.

"...pushing up maths and science skills in the workforce by an amount equivalent to around 25 points on pisa tests (roughly the gap that separates American teenagers’ maths scores from those of their more numerate British peers). They found that this would increase annual gdp growth in rich countries by half a percentage point. They reckon that if a country were to start pumping out these smarter youngsters in 2030, it would finish the century with an economy about 30% larger than otherwise."

Growth means that we avoid a zero-sum fight over a fixed pie.