I know it is low-hanging fruit, but I found myself really tickled at a recent post from Bryan Caplan. So Bryan Caplan doesn’t care about poor people and doesn’t think people should have to “give” to them. He also thinks that we should allow immigration because not doing so would hurt poor people. This seems… Continue reading Bryan Caplan argues against property ownership
Author: Matt Bruenig
Right-to-work is big government
So the Michigan lower house has decided to pass a right-to-work bill. This is a pretty standard right-wing maneuver over the last few decades. The idea is to make it impossible for unions to negotiate closed shops, which creates a free rider problem that will ultimately lead to their demise. That is good for owners… Continue reading Right-to-work is big government
Mike Konczal on the coupon state
Mike Konczal has a new white paper out theorizing on when public provision of some good is superior to handing out coupons that people can use to buy the good privately. What follows are two fairly unstructured thoughts about it. First, technically it is the case that coupons and public provision are very different from… Continue reading Mike Konczal on the coupon state
Federalism sets the stage for corporatism
The New York Times has a fantastic piece about the amount of cash incentives state and local governments provide to businesses. The Times found that local governments provide over $80 billion to firms each year. I do not have anything meaningful to add to the story, but it deserves pointing out very clearly what mechanics… Continue reading Federalism sets the stage for corporatism
Back of the envelope math on universal income-based repayment
I am a fan of the idea that college should be free at the point of delivery, and financed through a universal income-based repayment (IBR) scheme. This would work basically by levying an extra income tax on those who hold college degrees, and using the revenue from that tax to publicly fund colleges. I think… Continue reading Back of the envelope math on universal income-based repayment