Jay Greene, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and author of Education Myths, writes on one of the most widely accepted education myths, school spending:
This is the most widely held myth about education in America–and the one most directly at odds with the available evidence. Few people are aware that our education spending per […]
Archive for January, 2007
Jan31st2007
Jan30th2007
Quote Of The Day
Published by in Books, Communism, Economics, General, Hispanics (Minority Issues) and LatinAmerica. 7 Comments“Since the collapse of the Soviet empire, many defenders of socialism have argued that dictators, including Mao, Stalin, and Pol Pot, were aberrations; they took Marx’s ideas in the wrong direction. They claim that nationalization of the means of production (call it communism, socialism, or Marxism) and democracy can be compatible. In The Road to […]
Jan29th2007
“The only way that has ever been discovered to have a lot of people cooperate together voluntarily is through the free market. And that’s why it’s so essential to preserving individual freedom.” –Milton Friedman
Today, January 29th, is designated Milton Friedman Day. The Economist magazine will host a day of web-discussion and there will be a […]
Jan27th2007
In about an hour I hop on a plane to Dallas, Texas for the weekend. I am in going in part business, in part personal, but anybody who reads this blog and lives in the Dallas area, shoot me an email via the contact form, maybe we can meet up for dinner or drinks (or […]
Jan27th2007
“Mrs. Clinton’s acolytes are floating the idea of Hillary as another Margaret Thatcher to get past the question, “Can a woman be elected president?” This is based on the many, many things Hillary Clinton and Margaret Thatcher have in common, such as the lack of a Y chromosome and … hmmm, you know, I think […]
Jan26th2007
“Much of the measured growth in income inequality has resulted from natural demographic trends. In general, there is more income inequality among older populations than among younger populations, if only because older people have had more time to experience rising or falling fortunes. Furthermore, more-educated groups show greater income inequality than less-educated groups. Uneducated people […]
Jan25th2007
Historically Low Minimum Wage, Historically Low Unemployment
Published by in Economics, General and Minimum Wage. 1 CommentThe Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) recently released its unemployment rate for the year and a look at the report, see here, shows that many states (15 or so) have reached or surpassed their historically lowest unemployment level on record.
Is it a mere coincidence that at a time when the minimum wage is at a […]
Jan24th2007
The Minority Case Against The Minimum Wage
Published by in Discrimination, Economics, General, Hispanics (Minority Issues), Minimum Wage, Personal and Poverty. 1 CommentMost of you have heard the standard arguments against the minimum wage - that it is a weak poverty reduction tool, it increases prices, increases unemployment, hurts small businesses, makes the economy less efficient, etc, etc, but what I want to write about today is the harm done by the minimum wage that is least […]
Jan23rd2007
“Nobody spends somebody else’s money as carefully as he spends his own. Nobody uses somebody else’s resources as carefully as he uses his own. So if you want efficiency and effectiveness, if you want knowledge to be properly utilized, you have to do it through the means of private property.” –Milton Friedman
Jan22nd2007
“One’s initial surprise at finding that intelligent people tend to be socialists diminishes when one realises that, of course, intelligent people will tend to overvalue intelligence, and to suppose that we must owe all the advantages and opportunities that our civilisation offers to deliberate design rather than to traditional rules, and likewise to suppose that […]
Jan19th2007
“Two major arguments are offered for introducing socialized medicine in the United States: first, that medical costs are beyond the means of most Americans; second, that socialization will somehow reduce costs. The second can be dismissed out of hand — at least until someone can find some example of an activity that is conducted more […]
Jan18th2007
I normally don’t participate in online tags but being that I’ve known LatinoPundit before I started blogging (on forums), that my friend Oso is also encouraging this particular tag, and since it is consistent with my new years resolution to blog more about my experiences, I decided to give in this time. The topic is, […]
Jan17th2007
Further Thoughts On Bunche Elementary School
Published by in Education, General, Personal and Vouchers. 2 CommentsOne of the things that stood out to me in the Bunche Elementary School story I reported on Monday was this:
The campus sits in what looks to be a solidly middle-class minority neighborhood in the city of Carson. But a closer look suggests the classic profile of a school with poor achievement: The student body […]
Jan16th2007
Milton Friedman On Government
Published by in Capitalism, Economics, General, Poverty and Welfare. 0 CommentsIn 1975 Milton Friedman appeared on The Open Mind, a television show that is no longer showing, and in the interview he gave the fundamental problem with using the government to solve social problems:
And that is the fallacy — this is at the bottom of it — the fallacy that it is feasible and possible […]
Jan16th2007
“The most important single central fact about a free market is that no exchange takes place unless both parties benefit.” –Milton Friedman
Jan15th2007
A Successful Elementary School
Published by in Education, General and Hispanics (Minority Issues). 8 CommentsThe Los Angeles Times has an article on how Bunche Elementary School in the Compton Unified School District is doing what many thought impossible:
Bunche students have responded with remarkable gains, defying the conventional wisdom that poor and minority students are virtually destined to land on the downside of the achievement gap. And Bunche did this […]
