Though education spared Massachusetts the fate of other former industrial states, like Michigan, we have have an odd way of showing that our future depends on human capital. The stakes are high as the House and Senate discuss bills to restrain health spending. Unless lawmakers succeed, rising medical spending threatens to crowd out everything else, including the schooling that will determine Massachusetts’ economic future. One key tradeoff is between services that primarily benefit the young, such as education, and those that, like health care disproportionately help older citizens.