For a variety of reasons, I have always felt myself an outsider. I don't know how to classify myself in economics. I am a loner. I do not like groupthink, which, if anything, has become more important in economics. In… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
Cognitive and character skills work together as dynamic complements; they are inseparable. Skills beget skills. More motivated children learn more. Those who are more… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
Some kids win the lottery at birth; far too many don't - and most people have a hard time catching up over the rest… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
Religion gives you a sense of certainty. It makes you feel that you have the right answers to really big questions and that youve… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
The cognitive skills prized by the American educational establishment and measured by achievement tests are only part of what is required for success in… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
I remember that, one day, I was visiting one training center in the 1990s that was teaching people how to fix Volkswagen engines from… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
I had always had a deep interest in social science, history. So even when I was in high school, I was debating, and in… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
The separate water foundations, park benches, bathrooms and restaurants of the Jim Crow South startled me. These experiences motivated my lifelong study of the… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
There is a responsibility that goes with winning the Nobel Prize, and the responsibility is that if you have a forum, you should use… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
Schools should look behind classroom doors and determine the factors that contribute to the kinds of interactions between teachers and students that promote student… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
I remember sitting there on my father's couch or my mother's couch, listening to this lecture about how there were two groups and we… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
The traditional story of economists has been to say education explains what the returns are to school. I say, 'Okay, that's fine, but what… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
Early intervention programs enrich adverse family environments. The largest effects of the early intervention programs are on noncognitive traits. Now, what do I mean… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
There's no question that we have great value on the sanctity of the family, and there are a lot of competing visions about exactly… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
The goal, I think, of American education, for decades, and across many, many scholars, was basically to teach people broad lessons in how to… — James Heckman Copy Share Image
