Just One Thing - Tyler Cowen
Just One Thing - Economist Survey
Dr. Tyler Cowen
Tyler Cowen is professor of economics at George Mason University and at the Center for the Study of Public Choice. He is also the Director of both the James Buchanan Center and the Mercatus Center. Most know him from his contributions to the blog, Marginal Revolution.
Dr. Cowen’s Response:
“I would like to see greater school choice for lower income groups…”
Dr. Block’s latest books:
Creative Destruction: How Globalization Is Changing the World’s Cultures
In Praise of Commercial Culture
Good and Plenty: The Creative Successes of American Arts Funding
- February 11th
[...] Tyler Cowen [...]
[...] libertarians or more importantly, all the others. Draw your own conclusions.The respondents so far:Tyler Cowen Bryan Caplan Walter Block John Chapman Related Topics economy Reply Quote Favorites Contact [...]
Education is also high on my list. i have quite a few teachers as clients and two things stand out about them. First is that contrary to the popular belief about pay, these teachers all have managed to accumulate significant assets. Their starting salaries are not that high but those who stay in the system long enough receive very reasonable salaries. In addition, their benefits package is very, very generous.
The answer to the education problem is to increase competition. I have never understood how the government could spend so much money prosecuting anti trust cases and at the same time spend so much effort protecting the public school monopoly. If monopolies don’t work in the private sector, why would we expect them to work in the public sector? The answer, of course, is that they don’t.
I am also opposed to federal funding of education. We have so many different communities and their needs and social norms are different. What works in Florida may not work in Maine. Federal funding always comes with strings attached that limit the flexibility of the local system.
I can see the logic of state and local government funding of education. There is an obvious public benefit. What doesn’t follow for me though is government running of the schools. Provide the funding to the parents and let them make the choice about where to spend it.
Oops. The second common characteristic about my teacher clients is their dislike of their union. Maybe Miami Dade County is different because of the scandals involving the union, but maybe not.