How is the American middle class doing? Are they stagnating or is their standard of living improving? Richard Burkhauser takes up these and a bunch of other interesting issues in the latest EconTalk.
Take these studies with a grain of salt, but the latest word is that Obama’s health care bill—you know, the one that “will not add one dime to the deficit”—will add $340 billion to the deficit.
Speaking of the deficit, the Mercatus Center examines the historic recording concerning fiscal stimulus. “[E]ven if Keynesian theory were correct, and even if policy makers could get the timing right, and even if they had the political will to reverse stimulus spending at the ends of recessions, stimulus spending would become less and less potent over time as a country’s economy grew.” But other than that, it’s great.
I assume this was meant as a defense of Paul Ryan’s budget. I’d consider it an indictment. Either way, it’s a good reality check given the blustery statements from both sides: “‘Radical’ Ryan Budget Spends 46% More than Clinton’s.”
The most common objection to privatizing the school system is that poorer children will not receive an education. But the fact is, even among the poorest people in in the poorest parts of the world, private education is thriving.
“In politics, few talents are as richly rewarded as the ability to convince parasites that they are victims. Welfare states on both sides of the Atlantic have discovered that largesse to losers does not reduce their hostility to society, but only increases it. Far from producing gratitude, generosity is seen as an admission of guilt, and the reparations as inadequate compensations for injustices — leading to worsening behavior by the recipients.” So says Thomas Sowell.
Public education prevents private schools from providing a low to medium quality service, and therefore low to medium cost education, because the government effectively competes the private sector out of the low to medium niches of the market, leaving the private sector only able to provide the sole niche available to them. . . which is a high quality and therefore high cost education - And then critics of private education cry: “Poorer children will not receive an education” whenever people advocate a fully private education system.
The same goes for healthcare and other sectors too.
That’s right. In fact most businesses don’t survive by making a lot off a few customers, but a little off many. So there’s no reason to assume the market would not serve the poor.
4 Comments to “Brain Food”
A good collection of links.
I like the slightly eccentric English girl in the pink dress, who likes private schools. Her opponents have “philosophical baggage,” LoL.
But how do you find such a variety of links - so many different sites? I know you are a full-time advocate , but still. . .
It’s a trade secret.
Public education prevents private schools from providing a low to medium quality service, and therefore low to medium cost education, because the government effectively competes the private sector out of the low to medium niches of the market, leaving the private sector only able to provide the sole niche available to them. . . which is a high quality and therefore high cost education - And then critics of private education cry: “Poorer children will not receive an education” whenever people advocate a fully private education system.
The same goes for healthcare and other sectors too.
That’s right. In fact most businesses don’t survive by making a lot off a few customers, but a little off many. So there’s no reason to assume the market would not serve the poor.