"How can we live in a world where the losers in high school are, well, losers for life?"

So asks a href=”http://www.cnbc.com/id/29595543″Cliff Mason at CNBC /a after reflecting on a a href=”http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/04/the-economic-value-of-popularity/”new study written about /aby Steven Levitt, co-author of a href=”http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0061234001?ie=UTF8tag=wwwviolentkicomlinkCode=as2camp=1789creative=9325creativeASIN=0061234001″emFreakonomics,/em /aimg src=”http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=wwwviolentkicoml=as2o=1a=0061234001″ width=”1″ height=”1″ border=”0″ alt=”” style=”border:none !important; margin:0px !important;” / which says that popular kids make more money in life:br /br /blockquoteHere’s his summation of the results: br /br /”They find that each extra close friend in high school is associated with earnings that are 2 percent higher later in life after controlling for other factors. While not a huge effect, it does suggest that either that A) the same factors that make you popular in high school help you in a job setting, or B) that high-school friends can do you favors later in life that will earn you higher wages.” br /br /Come on, you’ve gotta be kidding me. br /br /I thought the geeks were supposed to inherit the earth. br /br /What happened to Revenge of the Nerds? …..br /br /We need some more evidence here. I can’t let this stand. How can we live in a world where the losers in high school are, well, losers for life? Man, that’s depressing. And the people with lots of close friends who were on the football team? br /br /They get to win? br /br /If “the same factors that make you popular in high school help you in a job setting,” it’s no wonder we’re headed for a repeat of the great depression. We gave the jerks in the polo shirts the keys to the economy. /blockquotebr /br /Really, seems to me the “jerks in the polo shirts” (at least the ones in and appointed by the White House) were the nerds…