All the merit money can buy

Chris Hayes has an excellent piece in The Nation about the slipperiness of meritocracy in the United States. In it, Hayes establishes what he calls the Iron Law of Meritocracy: The Iron Law of Meritocracy states that eventually the inequality produced by a meritocratic system will grow large enough to subvert the mechanisms of mobility.… Continue reading All the merit money can buy

Unions and inequality

Declining union density is one of the contributing factors to the last few decades of rising inequality. Estimates on its impact vary, but one often-cited study found that declining union density accounts for around 20 percent of the recent inequality growth. The Economic Policy Institute had a blog post yesterday with graphs and other resources… Continue reading Unions and inequality

Desert theory and taxing the poor

James Kwak has an article in The Atlantic today about the ideological motivations of the modern-day Republican party. Specifically, he tries to explain why Republicans — the pre-eminent haters of taxation — often suggest raising taxes on the very poor. Kwak suggests, Republicans are believers in just deserts: The other, even-more-disturbing explanation, is that Republicans… Continue reading Desert theory and taxing the poor

How effective is student aid?

Our system of college financing is a mess. Within the present system, it is hard to put downward cost pressure on universities, which has resulted in a cost explosion. Acquiring a college degree — although usually a lucrative move — requires some risk, and that risk is not properly spread out. The problems could go… Continue reading How effective is student aid?