you could argue that a liberal arts curriculum focuses on critical, analytic, and lateral thinking. in which case, a liberal arts curriculum would allow people to learn not just how to do a job, but how to be a good person and citizen.

however, teaching a vocational curriculum prepares people directly for the workplace, and therefore costs companies less to train, and allows companies to get more out of them quickly.

civil society vs the base drive of capitalism

i would argue though, that we live in an age of reflexive modernity (see: Giddens & Beck; Reflexive Modernisation Thesis), and that people rarely work one job for life any more, and are actually having to learn and relearn every few years at different jobs and different roles. therefore, as traditional capitalism has morphed into a more fluid self-aware system, the transferable skills of critical analysis provided by a liberal arts curriculum become more effective in the long term for the success and flourishing of the economy.