Mike Konczal has a post over at Next New Deal today about rents and Nozick. He uses Nozick’s famous Wilt Chamberlain argument as a counterpoint to the anti-rentier arguments that have been floating around recently (see mine here). Nozick’s argument basically challenges people to explain what is unjust about people voluntarily giving an extra bit… Continue reading The late Nozick warmed up to coercive violence
Author: Matt Bruenig
Policy Shop: Why Congress Should Cut Student Loan Interest Rates
Another post over at Policy Shop. An excerpt: With that said, there is something really bizarre about keeping student interest rates so high. The whole point of the Federal Reserve’s zero interest-rate policy is to drive the cost of debt down. That is the channel through which it is meant to be stimulative. Among other… Continue reading Policy Shop: Why Congress Should Cut Student Loan Interest Rates
Policy Shop: The Problem With State-Funded Higher Education
New post at Policy Shop. It is about the way in which state funding of higher education is actually not nearly as good as federal funding. The easiest way to counteract the regressivity on the revenue side is to take states out of the funding mix and replace them with the federal government. Federal taxes… Continue reading Policy Shop: The Problem With State-Funded Higher Education
Policy Shop: The Burden-Free Carbon Tax
New post up at Policy Shop. An excerpt: It is completely feasible to have a carbon tax that is basically burden-free for the bulk of the country, especially the most vulnerable. All the government needs to do is estimate how much households will see their costs increase and then offset that increase through a cash… Continue reading Policy Shop: The Burden-Free Carbon Tax
Policy Shop: Why Poor Kids Really Don’t Go to College
I have a new post over at Policy Shop. It concludes thusly: On average, SAT scores in all subjects track household income very closely: the poorer you are the lower you score, the richer you are the higher you score. Ultimately, it is only by changing that disparity that we can hope to make a… Continue reading Policy Shop: Why Poor Kids Really Don’t Go to College