Today at 8:50am I hop on a plane to Las Vegas and don’t return until Sunday. No pictures, no evidence, only memories and great times. One of my closest friends from college is getting married next month (I’ll be in the bay area next month for the wedding), and we are celebrating his bachelors party […]
Archive for January, 2006
Jan19th2006
Are Teachers Unions Good for Urban Education?
Published by in Economics, Education, General and Unions. 3 CommentsSo goes the title of a great post by Shavar Jeffries, Professor of Law at Seton Hall Law School.
In a post over at the Black Professors blog, he writes:
Teachers unions wield tremendous power concerning the quality of education delivered to children in America’s urban schools. At the legislative level, teachers unions use their political […]
Jan19th2006
“Of the tendencies that are harmful to sound economics, the most seductive, and in my opinion the most poisonous, is to focus on questions of distribution. In this very minute, a child is being born to an American family and another child, equally valued by God, is being born to a family in India. The […]
Jan18th2006
Robert Kuttner Speaks With Milton Friedman
Published by in (modern day) Liberalism, Economics, Education, General, HealthCare and Vouchers. 2 CommentsThe American Prospect has a very interesting dialogue between Robert Kuttner and Milton Friedman. Health care was one of many topics they discussed:
RK: Another question: In my own work I have argued that in most sectors of the economy markets work as advertised, but there are some sectors such as healthcare where for a variety […]
Jan18th2006
“Well that depends on what insurance is for. In the case of medical care, insurance has become, very different from insurance in other areas. It has become insurance that covers the day-to-day costs. It as if automobile insurance covered your gas. RAND made a large scale study several years back in which they had a […]
Jan17th2006
The Real Problem With Unions
Published by in Economics, General, Hispanics (Minority Issues) and Unions. 0 CommentsThe Los Angeles Times has an expose about the corruption of the United Farm Workers union, the union founded by Cesar Chavez. Many people who read the article - including those in the media - take away the wrong lessons from the corruption, focusing primarily on the corruption instead of the inherent problem of unions […]
Jan17th2006
“Imagine my shock when I found a sensitive and balanced portrayal of pro-life counselors in the New York Times (”Some Abortion Foes Forgo Politics“). Too often, all we hear are the political arms of the movements of life and choice, and we forget that at its core these movements are both about women. […]
Jan16th2006
Wall Street Journal writes:
Deficit hawks in both parties won’t like to hear this too much, but the deficit is already falling, even in the face of near-record spending levels. Last year ended with a fiscal deficit of $319 billion — a big number, yes, but down almost $100 billion from the previous year. Many supply-side […]
Jan16th2006
“The health care market can cope with change just fine. That is, if the regulatory system lets it. The problem with vaccines isn’t that you can’t charge enough money for them; it’s that vaccines are very useful things, which tempts governments to break the patent. It is thus perhaps wiser for pharmas to invest in […]
Jan14th2006
An Economists New Years Resolutions
Published by in Economics, FreeTrade, General and SocialSecurity. 4 CommentsGregory Mankiw, a professor at Harvard University and former chairman of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers gives us his New Years Resolutions:
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Now is a time when most of us sit back and reflect on the past year and on how to do better in the year ahead. Since I know, however, […]
Jan13th2006
Attention: Watch Abc News 20/20 With John Stossel Tonight - Competition In Public Schools Will Be The Topic
Published by in Education, General and Vouchers. 13 CommentsJust a quick note to my readers to encourage you all to watch 20/20 tonight. The title of the show is ‘Stupid in America’, its description:
Jan. 9, 2006 — American students fizzle in international comparisons, placing 18th in reading, 22nd in science and 28th in math — behind countries like Poland, Australia and Korea. But […]
Jan13th2006
Edge.org posed this question to top scientists around the country:
The history of science is replete with discoveries that were considered socially, morally, or emotionally dangerous in their time; the Copernican and Darwinian revolutions are the most obvious. What is your dangerous idea? An idea you think about (not necessarily one you originated) that is dangerous […]
Jan13th2006
“The American economy continues to surge ahead, though you won’t read much about it in the mainstream media. Economic growth in the third quarter was 4.1 percent — despite Hurricane Katrina! — the 10th consecutive quarter with growth over 3 percent. Unemployment is 5.0 percent — lower than the average for the 1970s, 1980s or […]
Jan12th2006
Yahoo reports:
WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito turned aside Democratic attacks on his judicial record and credibility at contentious confirmation hearings Wednesday that left his wife in tears. …
Under persistent questioning, Alito also declined for a second straight day to say whether he believes, as he did in 1985, that the Constitution contains no […]
Jan12th2006
Quote Of The Day
Published by in Economics, General, Hispanics (Minority Issues) and Poverty. 1 Comment“The main domestic concern of policy-engaged intellectuals, liberal and conservative, ought to be to think hard about how to change these social weaknesses….In my opinion, the condition of the black family is the key to the persistence of a large and criminal lower class. We have learned some things about how to improve what disadvantaged […]
Jan11th2006
Why Homes Are More Expensive In One Area Than Another - Environmental Regulations
Published by in Economics, Environment and General. 6 CommentsThomas Sowell writes on the often overlooked yet very significant factor of high priced homes in different parts of the country:
The pattern is this: Despite hysteria over high home prices, in most parts of the United States housing is quite affordable. But in some places housing prices are astronomical — three times the national average […]
