As budget debates heat up in state legislatures around the country it is a good time to review economic arguments for investing in early learning and Nobel Prize-winning economist James Heckman’s ideas are a great place to start.

With videos, flyers, pamphlets and a slide show, the University of Chicago economist makes a powerful case for the Heckman Equation, which argues that investing in child care returns 10 percent per annum.

The most economically efficient time to develop skills and social abilities is in the very early years when developmental education is most effective. – Heckman Equation slideshow.

Later on, Heckman presents a graph that shows a declining return as programs shift from the first three years of life to preschool then school and finally job training, which offers the lowest return. Heckman also recognizes “families play a vital role in helping children acquire critical skills at an early age.”

Heckman, who ranks among the world’s most influential economists according to Bing, adds that we need to support those who lack resources needed for their children’s successful development in the first years of life.

Many of these ideas are well-known in the early learning community, but Heckman is among an important group of voices from powerful halls of economic thought, which also includes The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis economist Arthur Rolnick, who argue for greater investment in early education.   These economists look at things differently, and their ideas from the imprecise but critical study of economics are welcome and helpful in the growing debate over creating a higher quality early learning system.