Also, both real GDP and real GDP per capita would be more than 50% higher today.

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From 1985 to 2009, real GDP per capita rose by 43 percent, so per-enrollee spending on higher education has approximately kept pace with that.

FORBES: Public Higher Ed Spending Has Risen Significantly

Yet expected real GDP per capita growth of 4% annually over the next five years in a country of 1.1 billion means a lot of customers to go around.

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No more real GDP per capita.

FORBES: GDP, Job Growth Fail To Match Rosy Fed Outlook

For example, from 1970 to 2010, real GDP annual growth per capita averaged 1.8% and 2.03% in the U.S. and the U.K., both of which dramatically lowered their top tax rates during that period, while it averaged 1.72% and 1.89% in France and Germany, which kept high top tax rates during the period.

WSJ: Diamond and Saez: High Tax Rates Won't Slow Growth

But a government has little to no ability to increase long-run growth in real per capita GDP from 2% per year to 3% per year.

FORBES: Correcting The Economist on long run growth

The real shocker: Ireland's GDP per capita now tops England's by 15% and is second only to Luxembourg's in Europe.

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Since liberalization of its economy, with exports nearly tripling as a percentage of GDP, per-capita real wealth has more than doubled.

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They found that, over the long haul, economies with slower GDP per capita growth produced better real returns on shares than faster-growing ones, and vice versa.

ECONOMIST: Buttonwood