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
Author: Matt Bruenig
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
Teach for America’s poverty safari
I am not a fan of Teach for America, as regular readers probably know by now. I don’t think they have properly diagnosed the cause of the gap between rich and poor students, and I wish they’d rename their organization Give Poor People Money for America, and go from there. For the most part, TFA… Continue reading Teach for America’s poverty safari
Austerity for the gander
JW Mason relays a pathetic argument for austerity out in the Financial Times. The basic thrust of the argument, as Mason’s title mockingly summarizes, is that austerity is good for the soul. Austerity, which here just means having less, will lead to better health by limiting food access. It will promote “common purpose and comradeship.”… Continue reading Austerity for the gander